Subaru Mao
The Business of the Baihu Society[edit]
Like all the members of the Baihu Society, Subaru had memorized the layout of the Plum Blossom Retreat and knew where every shadow fell, the location of each nook into which a body could be squeezed to escape notice. His long ears twitched slightly as he heard movement coming towards him. A girl carrying a tray laden with clean linens and soap passed the stand of ornamental bonsai, wholly unaware of the man pressed behind it.
Remaining still, he watched as other amalgams came and went through the corridor, paying special attention to the ones who were allowed to pass into the inner chambers without question. Patience was the first lesson of those who served under Leaf Shakes the Wind, and only after ten minutes of careful observation did Subaru decide he was ready. Touching the wellspring of solar fire that had been placed into him, he began to reshape his features, darkening his shock of white-streaked orange hair, flattening the long angles of his face, until finally he was all but indistinguishable from the household guards.
Stepping forward, he walked softly towards the first set of double doors, waiting until someone opened them from within, and then quickly slipped inside. He was expecting the guards waiting on the inside and channeled his essence once again so that their gazes drifted past him like water lilies in a soft current. It still made him nervous to rely on magic to keep him safe, but in some situations, like this one, he had no other option.
A second set of doors waited for him at the end of the hall; opening them released a burst of hot, wet air that instantly sent perspiration running down his face. Peering through the ornamental screens, Subaru saw a single person bathing in the hot pool, just as he had expected. His features relaxed and his disguise fell away. So innocent, he thought. So pure for a builder of nations. I must make sure that the corrupting influences of this world do not turn such a noble heart.
Scaling the ornate wooden walls of the bathhouse was easy; his fingers closed easily around carved heads of birds and through the holes in delicate scrollwork. Once safely in the rafters, he crept forward towards a better observation point, moving slowly along the steam-slicked beams as he sought to pierce the clouds below with his vision.
Movement caught his eye, not below him where he expected, but in the rafters, off to his right. An assassin! I was right to come here.
Still maintaining the utmost caution not to be seen by the lone bather below, Subaru crept forward, throwing spikes drawn and at the ready. He hadn’t the essence for a full-out fight, so the first strike had to count. A gust of steam welled up from below just as he reached the place he had seen the movement. Without warning, a long arm shot forward through the mist towards him, just barely missing as he ducked away.
Surprise no longer with him, Subaru threw caution aside, knowing he must protect the solar exalted above all else. He launched himself forward towards the arm’s point of origin, his left hand casting out a fighting chain to wrap around a nearby beam. His foe was not caught unprepared. Long limbs wrapped around him as their bodies struck one another and pitched backwards and off the beam, only the chain still tightly clasped in Subaru’s hand preventing them from falling into the water below.
The two of them dangled, a fleshy pendulum at the end of a few links of steel, each trying to gain the upper hand. The steam around them cleared for a moment, and the two of them locked eyes. Subaru’s vertical pupils took in the pure black orbs of the man who held him in a clinch, recognition lighting each of them in the same instant. Chung Chih?
Their struggles against one another ceasing, each of the amalgams cast their gazes straight downward, seeing that they now hung directly above Rivers Between Us, mere feet from the young godling’s head. The Twilight rose from the water and began to dry himself in quick, efficient strokes before casting the towel aside and taking up a nearby robe. The watchers could almost see his brilliant mind beginning to churn again, slowed only momentarily by the relaxation of the heated water. Subaru and Chung Chih held their breaths, each praying to the Unconquered Sun, Luna, and all five Maidens that the sorcerer would not look up.
He didn’t.
As the door at the far end of the room closed, the two spies released each other and the chain, dropping to the tiles at the edge of the bathing pool with only the faintest of sounds.
Subaru cast a sideways glance at Chung Chih. “Well, obviously, Master Rivers’ security isn’t what it should be.”
His sword brother nodded. “Indeed. We have done well to discover this.”
“Indeed. It is the job of the members of the Baihu Society to discover such problems and report them.”
“Of course. We will tell Master Leaf at once.”
“Of course.”
“Indeed.”
“...”
“...”
“I’m taking his towel.”
