Happiness, joy and bliss, the Yokai Ruins were anything but. A thick haze of despair invaded every nook, cranny and crevice. Every chipped stone, every cracked statue, and every dilapidated building told a story of pain and suffering. Many of the rooftops seemed to have been torn off by a giant. Apertures penetrated the walls of several buildings, resembling the handy work of explosives experts. Burn marks streaked across every surface, melted dishware strewn about. Broken and overturned furniture lay in the dirt beside tapestries torn to shreds. The countless lives lost pervaded in spades. Did their spirits still linger, unable to move on?

“Let’s get this over with. I don’t want to be here all day,” said Obake.

“Relax. We’ll be out of here in no time.”

Although compelled to gripe at Yumo, Obake refrained, instead opting to scrutinize his surroundings again. The city comprised pagoda style architecture interwoven with baroque, evidence of a once flourishing collection of diverse minds. Obake remembered the spots he rummaged through before. He remembered the places he looked for answers yet came up empty.

“There it is.” Yumo ran toward the least decrepit building in the city, a tall house in a large cul-de-sac. “Come on, let’s go.”

On the way they passed a decorative fountain in the center of the cul-de-sac, a family of frogs presided in the swampy water of its base.

At least somebody likes it here.

Next to the tall house, a cathedral surmounted with substantial proportions and great embellishments. All of the damage upon it didn’t detract from that. However, like Yumo, Obake found himself allured by the tall house.

Why does this house always feel so familiar?

A domed roof with a sharp needle mounted the tall house. Long double doors made of platinum barred entry. Expensive in appearance, yet helpless against the blazing flames of old. The doors melted and warped into each other like an abstract painting.

Yumo’s head moved from side to side, examining the former doors. “Dammit. Why didn’t they put windows down here?”

“You said that last time. It’s obvious they wanted it to be difficult to break into. This place was probably important.”

“Well, looks like we’re climbing again.”

“How do you even know this is the right building? You could’ve dropped it in any of these.”

“This is the one. I’m positive.”

Along with Yumo, Obake walked to the foot of the tall house, his curiosity piqued. I shouldn’t get my hopes up. It’ll most likely be like last time. I need to accept that. There’s nothing for me to find in there.

Yumo analyzed the exterior, then without warning jumped onto a short brick wall. He wobbled a bit, relocated his equilibrium then hopped up to a ledge like protrusion on the wall of the house. His hand stretched as far as it could toward the windowsill above, but couldn’t reach it. At last, he grabbed hold with an inelegant foot thrust. The second-floor window's shattered glass left shards jutting from the frame. Yumo slipped between them unscathed.

“You coming?” he asked.

Obake scoffed, then jumped onto the brick wall, then up to the protrusion. With his fingers gripping it, he pressed both feet against the house then launched himself through the window.

 “Show off,” said Yumo, rolling his eyes.

Vestiges of a hard-fought battle cluttered the room. A hole in the roof and the sight of blood stains triggered a nebulous memory. Obake could see himself floating. No, he was in the arms of another. Panicked breathing and a pulsating heartbeat thumped against his eardrums. He was moving fast, wind brushing against his cheeks then, blackness.

What was that?

“You’re going to kill me.”

Snapping out of his daydream, Obake found that Yumo had stopped walking. He was staring through a hole in the wall adjacent to the cathedral which also had a hole.

“Wrong place, huh?”

“Yup, you were right. It happened in the cathedral. I remember now.” In embarrassment, Yumo scratched the back of his head. “I had the money until we ran from whatever made that creepy noise.”

“You think it’s still in there?”

 “I hope not.” Yumo side eyed the hole in the wall. “But if it is, we’re prepared.”

“Don’t tell me—”

“Uh- huh. We have to jump again. Unless you want to waste time looking for another way in.”

“Looks like we’re jumping then.”

Upon completing a series of elaborate stretches, Yumo faced the hole like it was his archenemy then sprinted full speed.

“Don’t die!” screamed Obake.

Yumo hurdled through the hole and fell a few feet into the other hole in the cathedral. A sense of eeriness pervaded Obake as he stood there alone. Regardless of the horrors, he was very much attracted to the house.

“Are you alive up there?”

“Relax, I’m on my way.”  

Obake charged as if he aimed to tackle the hole into oblivion. Instead, he vaulted through it and felt the thrill of danger pulse within his bones as he plummeted.

“Please tell me you got the right place this time,” said Obake, landing inside the cathedral.

“It is, don’t worry,” replied Yumo while glancing around.

Despite the hole, darkness drenched most of the room, causing the left side to vanish. However, the right side of the room was different. In the center of the wall, was a stained-glass window with a strange jewel-like emblem upon it. Dust made it difficult for light to get through, but a few stubborn rays managed. Two hallways, one to the right of the window and one to the left, led into the shadows as well.

“So, who do you think Supreme Sensei was talking about?” asked Yumo.

“I have an idea.”

“Same here. I didn’t want you getting all pissed off at me for saying it, though.”

“It’s ok. My grandparents have been hiding things for too long. They need to come clean already. I’m fed up with being in the dark.”

“Like I said earlier, all that ginyai stuff is likely make-believe.”

“I’ve been thinking that for a while now. I mean… where’s the evidence? No armor, no weapons, no remains, no nothing.”

Yumo stopped listening, his concern, a distant object. “Finally!”

He skipped across the room toward a small pouch on the floor. A jangle of coins reverberated as he picked it up.

“I’m shocked. Didn’t think it would still be here. I was ready to laugh at you.”

“Told you, dummy,” said Yumo, opening the pouch.

“You’re one to talk. You could barely even find the right place.”

“Yeah, yeah. All that matters is I’m rich and you’re not.”

“Rich, huh? Let’s see then.” Skeptical, Obake peered into the pouch. An assortment of decorated coins peered back. “Okay, you got a bunch of carnelians, typical.” He shuffled the pea-sized red ones aside. “Not bad, there’s even some sapphires in here.” Jealousy went off like fireworks as he shuffled away the grape sized blue ones. “Emeralds! How did you get emeralds?” Five green coins the size of sliced beets sat at the bottom of the pile.

“Told you I was—”

A nightmarish growl burst from the left side of the room, slashing the quiet to ribbons. Obake’s heart tried crawling through his ribs. With no hesitation, Yumo sprinted down the hallway to the left of the stained-glass window. His pouch tumbled back to the floor in the process. After picking the pouch up, Obake caught Yumo and latched onto his wrist. Yumo screeched and almost jumped apart from his own skin.

“What is this? Déjà vu? Take this.” Obake slammed the money into Yumo’s chest. “We didn’t come here just for you to lose it again.’

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Where’s the dagger?”

“Fuck that. Let’s just get out of here!”

 “In case it catches us,” said Obake, holding out his hand.

“Here.”

As Yumo handed off the dagger, the acute sound of running bounced amidst the hallway. Something fast, something heavy and something strong barreled right at them. From the darkness emerged a massive grizzly bear, but this bear was far from ordinary. It reeked of death and displayed a body full of open wounds. Behind the many wounds were dirty bones and ruptured organs. Yellow stained fangs, proportional to large knives, poked from its rancid gums. Claws, even bigger than that, poked from its massive paws. Roaring nonstop, the undead grizzly gained on Obake and Yumo.

“Run!” screamed Obake with boundless terror.

As the grizzly’s blood curdling growls closed in, the friends ran for their lives. The bear moved too fast to evade for long, despite its undead state.

“Use your Shadow Cloud and teleport us out of here!” said Yumo as he ran ahead.

Obake gripped the dagger in both hands and closed his eyes, concentrating hard. The grizzly ran right behind him now. A cloud of shadow began emanating from Obake’s entire body. It came out in quick, short bursts then stopped.

“Watch out!” screamed Yumo, who had arrived at a dead end.

Obake opened his eyes, but not soon enough. He smashed into Yumo full force, sending both of them crashing through the fragile wall. They fell twenty feet to the first floor. Debris assaulted them from overhead. To their surprise, the grotesque bear didn’t follow. With its soulless eyes, it stared at them from above.

Back on their feet, the friends hiked over the rubble. The bear remained in their sights until the new surroundings stole their attention. Sun had a much easier time infiltrating this area. Regardless of its many bruises, the ceiling loomed in glorious fashion. Pipe organs fixed along a balcony glistened in the spots where dust was less prominent. A stained-glass window, depicting four ethereal individuals, glistened in spots vacant of dust as well. Two of the individuals were women, two were men. Each of them held out upturned hands, accommodating the same jewel emblem from the window upstairs. Below that was a rostrum with four pedestals stationed in front of it. One had devolved into stone crumbs long ago. Another was cracked and chipped a great deal. The other two looked to be in pleasant condition.

Yumo gazed around in awe. “Wow. This place must’ve been beautiful back in the day.” He held a finger to his left brow, keeping a slight gash on it from dripping.

“You all right?”

“I’m good. Nothing I can’t handle.”

Through snapped pews and leaning support beams, the boys navigated to the exit door on the side. It wouldn’t open, they pounded and kicked, but it stayed in place.

“Now what?” asked a perturbed Yumo.

“There’s got to be another exit around here somewhere.”

Yumo pointed to the spot they had crashed through. “The bear’s gone. It’s gone!”

Jitters paraded around Obake’s arms and fingertips as he awaited the creature’s imminent re-emergence. Not knowing whether to run or fight, hide or freeze.

Yumo located the main exit and ran to it, but rubble barricaded its doors. Hoping to make a dent, he started tossing the rubble aside. No matter how much he scraped, the pile didn’t diminish.

“What are you doing? Help me out.”

“That’s not going to work.”

“Why can’t you teleport us out of here?”

“I don’t know. It’s not working. I’ve never done it under this kind of pressure.”

“We’re dead. It’s going to eat us alive.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not going out like that.”

“We can’t fight that thing.”

“Then why did you bring this dagger, Mr. We’ll Take Care of It?”

“That was before I knew we’d be up against a dead bear.”

“That’s our way out,” said Obake, spotting another side exit hidden behind a fallen support beam.

Yumo went to kick it open, but the undead grizzly blasted in. Ripping from its hinges, the door cartwheeled away. Like a pig during slaughter, Yumo squealed and became sandwiched between the floor and the grizzly. It chomped at Yumo’s horrified face, but thanks to his adrenaline-induced muscles, the bear couldn’t reach. The grizzly shifted, aiming to bite into Yumo’s throat instead. Obake leapt onto the grizzly’s upper back, its fur coarse like wires. He unleashed the dagger from its scabbard and plunged it into the bear’s skull, causing wailing and ferocious thrashing to ensue. While holding onto fur that threatened to shed, he stabbed it several times in the snout. The grizzly stood on its hind legs, elevating Obake eight feet high. It rocked from side to side, causing the patch of fur in Obake’s grip to shed. He slid down to the bear’s mid back before gripping a new patch of fur.

Yumo hurled pieces of debris at the undead terror. With each successful impact, it wailed louder. He then fished out a sharp piece of wood and gutted the grizzly. Putrid innards spilled onto the ground. As if nothing happened, the bear continued standing tall.

“Die already!” shouted Yumo, who was now angry more than anything.

Obake scaled the wiry fur, mounted the bear’s shoulders and stabbed once more. This time he struck the temple. The bear moaned then dropped like a falling tree.

“We did it!” exclaimed Yumo.

“Hopefully it stays dead this time.”

“If you hadn’t… if you didn’t…” Yumo put a hand on Obake’s shoulder. “You’ll make a great bounty hunter someday. No doubt about it.”

A warmth came over the young ninja. “I’ll always have your back. Don’t ditch me next time, though. Okay?”

“Sorry, I was freaking out.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad we’re not dead.”

“I got your back, too, you know.”

“Well, if I didn’t know before, I sure do now. You messed that thing up.”

“Not going to lie, I almost puked.”

They escaped the cathedral through the busted door and soon arrived back in the cul-de-sac.

Yumo took one last glance at the cathedral. “That’s definitely a Kantasian cathedral.”

“You think so?”

“It has to be. I thought that started in Zaidaku though?”

“I don’t know much about it, to be honest.”

“Well, they still worship the Guardians, so you know they’re out of their minds. Have you ever been to a sermon?”

“Nope, seems so boring.”

“You’re lucky. My dad makes me go sometimes. I hate it.”

“Sucks to be you.”

“I think it’s all a bunch of nonsense, but don’t tell my dad I said that.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

The grizzly’s terrible image replayed at the front of Obake’s mind. “Wait, does this mean my grandparents were telling the truth after all?”

“What? Oh no, I’m pretty sure that was a wraith.”

“Isn’t that like a ghost or something?”

“Not exactly. Let me educate your ass really quick.”

Obake chortled.

“There are some Kantasians out there that like to dabble in the dark arts.”

Intrigue lifted Obake’s eyebrows as high as they could go.

“There aren’t very many of them because once they get caught, they’re exiled. I wonder how long that thing’s been lurking around and why nobody ever saw it before.”

“Maybe they didn’t live to tell the tale.”

By the time Obake and Yumo made it through the Tree Corridor, night had swallowed day.

“I better see you riding that Stinger tomorrow.”

“You will. Just you wait.”

“Oh, and watch out for bears.”

Yumo laughed then clutched his elbow.

“You going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. It didn’t get me that bad thanks to you.”

Obake smiled. “It’s kind of late. Want to crash at my place? My grandparents won’t care.”

“Thanks, but my dad is probably pissed enough as it is. I was supposed to be home hours ago.”

“You sure? We’ve been needing somebody with your skills to take a look at our fuel tank. It’s been acting up again. That’ll buy you some of my nana’s famous breakfast for sure.”

“Not going to lie, I’m tempted, but I’ll have to pass. Maybe I can swing by tomorrow and take a look for you, it’s probably an easy fix.”

“You’re the man. By the way, let’s keep this little adventure to ourselves. You know what’ll happen if anyone finds out we’ve been in the ruins.”

“I was about to say the same thing.”

The elaborate handshake that started their adventure ended it as well. Yumo wandered down the trail into the starry night while Obake approached his not-so-distant home. He could see the lights inside flickering incessantly.

Upon arrival, he went around back and opened a metal box filled with teal stones. Using a single-handed shovel, he funneled the stones into a fuel tank. After a few cranks of the attached handle and a few kicks to the tank, an engine purred, and the lights in the cottage stabilized. Jovial chatter and merry making burst from inside. Three voices were present instead of the usual two. Obake went around front to find Kinichi stumbling outside with a bottle of liquor in his hand.

“Obake! Splendid to see you. We missed you at dinner.”

“Sorry. I was hanging out with Yumo.”

“Mischief making per usual, I assume.”

“Uh… something like that.”

“Well, you have a wonderful night. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

Kinichi floundered toward the direction of the Tree Corridor.

“Are you going to be ok by yourself, Sensei?”

Kinichi paused to release a rumbling burp. “I certainly hope so.”