The frozen ground crunched beneath the
weight of father and son like bones, their wooden sandals leaving odd tracks
that stretched for leagues.
Wordlessly the father pointed off into the
woods, a patchwork of dark trunks across a white canvas.
“I
don’t see it father.”
The father held up his hand indicating
silence and slowly unslung his pack and rearranged his travelling clothes for
freer movement. The son followed suit and strung his bow to fill his supporting
role as hunter. However, this was no ordinary hunt. Weeks ago people talk had
spread of strange happenings in the villages surround the Tameikinomori, or
“Sighing Woods”. Wood collectors said that winter had come early to the deepest
wood in an uninhabited valley. A sickness spread to three of the villages. The
sick started to walk feverishly in their sleep into the wood, first the young
and very old, then women, and finally full grown men. The father was renowned
for his skills at tracking and hunting, as well as archery and swordsmanship,
and was duty-bound to protect his vassals that remained.