Hitsuzen, Part II

The rustling of armor clanged loudly throughout the forest clearing. The battle was over, and the Hunters were long gone, fled when defeat was on the horizon. Hitsuzen remained, cleaning up what mess was made.
This was no victory, for either guild.
The camp was nearly demolished. Tent pitches were broken, and all of camp seemed to slump sadly, as if too old and too weak to hold the cloth up.
Tadeyo emerged weakly from a tent, followed by a worried towns nurse pleading after him.
"Please, Deyo-San, you need your rest," she begged. "Don't over-stress yourself! You need to lie down!"
"I'll be fine," he re-assured her as he observed the damage and death around him. Men carried bodies of the fallen to the soon-to-be gravesight. Women tended to the injured and dying, heeding their last words and comforting them til they sleep a never-ending sleep.

Lieutenant Dai was already at his quarters with his fellow captains and majors, predicting the Hunters next moves.
"The Hunters fled east," said Yon of the Bowmen Division, pushing an omok piece across the map to the east mountains. "If we corner them there, it'd be like trapping a kitten in the corner of a room. They'd have nowhere to go." Low chatter of comprehension floated around the table.
"So we follow their tracks," proposed Dai. The table agreed, talking of a trap that could possibly be set.
"No," interjected Tadeyo from the back of the canopy. He stood leaning against the empty armor table. The Division Captains turned their heads to Tadeyo and fell silent.
"Following in their tracks would leave us more exposed. How stupid do you think these Hunters are?" He stood upright and strode towards the table, looking at each commander in the eyes. "Quite stupid, I agree," he added, responded with a light laughter, "But not quite as stupid as we may think they are. For the type of warriors they are, they would naturally assume that we'd follow behind them. So why give them the opportunity to stop us in our tracks? Why leave ourselves vulnerable yet again?" The faces of everyone present changed and brightened, as if finally gaining clarity and insight on the situation. "I say," Tadeyo suggested, moving to the table and reaching for the Hitsuzen omok piece and sliding it around the Ellinia forests and to the Western Rocks of the Perion Mountains, "We cut them off."
Arguments blew through the canopy. "Why would we go around," exclaimed Dai. "That would take much longer than it would to just follow in their tracks!"
"That puts us in far more peril than simply following them through the East!"
"It is much more efficient to catch the Hunters off guard," Tadeyo said firmly, slapping his hand to the table. "I know for a fact that the Hunters do not think ahead of possible dangers. There is only one Hunter family that does that. They would be our ONLY challenge. But their voices stand with little influence on the entire militia. Our best bets are to cut around the forest and greet them before they even reach the Western Plains of Perion."
Silence returned to the table, each commander being deep in thought.
"I agree," says Yon, bringing her gaze from the table to the other captains.
"As do I," Tauto, being the Mage Division Captian, submits.
"And I," Captain Swift adds lifting his chin up proudly.
A proud silence floated throughout the canopy, and all eyes were focused on Lieutenant.
With a sigh and a slight smile, Dai spoke.
"Let's give it a shot," he said, surrendering to the majority.

Tadeyo, having being an accomplished Thief Captain and one of the most influential voices of Hitsuzen, only felt the cold rush of fear running through his heart as he sat atop a tree branch, thinking of Yurei.
"Tadeyo," a feminine voice floated up from the ground. He looked below him, and greeted Bo with a simple nod of the head. "Get to sleep. We have a long week ahead of us," she lectured.
"Yeah, I know." He looked up at the milk-white moon, and wondered where his Yurei might be. After a brief silence, Bo asked, "So what is she now."
Tadeyo looked at her, as if startled that she was still there, and startled even further with the question she posed.
"What?"
"What is she now?" Bo tapped the toe of her foot on the ground. "She's definitely not a Hunter anymore. But she's not a Hitsuzen."
"Heh," he huffed loosely. "She..." he trailed off.
"Ta...deyo?" Bo checked curiously.
Tadeyo smiled. "She will be a Hitsuzen."
"B-but she can't be! Unless... Unless she-" Bo cut herself off, understanding Tadeyo's motives.
Tadeyo only smiled. "Exactly."