She retreated to the safety of her chamber, and stayed there until sunrise. She heard the panicked trumpeting of a mammoth, the shouting of men, then silence. The brothers howled again, this time in a way signifying that they had completed their hunt.
Soon after she emerged from her room, she was greeted by Toho. When she asked about his unusually good mood, he explained. “Last night, we captured Big Black! A bull mammoth so huge it stands eye to eye with our current lead bull, and he’s not even full grown yet!”
“Betsy! Betsy is missing!” Masanori croaked from another room. The old man hobbled out from his room and pointed a finger at Toho. “You! You sold her, didn’t you? Traded her for that big brute to the Wolf brothers? OHHHHH why did I ever entrust her to you? Come, Inuko, we must plan to defeat these fiends tonight!”
Inuko sighed. What a lovely day this was going to be.
The sun had set, and the Bushin Geisha were in position. The moment the Wolf brothers walked through those gates, they would be ready to strike. Yes, Masanori’s plan was going perfectly. Soon, the pack of half demons would be dead, and out of his way forever.
“What’s taking them so long? Last night, they came way earlier than this.” Murmured Hoshi.
After waiting an hour, the Geisha regrouped close to Masanori’s office. “I think they’re just bluffing.” Sighed Maiko. “If they were going to show, they’d already have done it.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Inuko.
“Style, obviously!” Said Aya snobbishly. “Appearing right after sunset is their style. Plus, it’s obviously a part of their routine!”
“Aya, we are warriors of beauty and grace. They are warriors of cunning and strategy.” Said Inuko. “They don’t have a style of doing things, they have tactics. They may be trying to do something unexpected.”
