Distant Shores

Roach awakens on the beach, still coughing up water and discovering that he can now breathe it, due to the Blood King's intervention. He finds himself surrounded by life-sized versions of his bone sculptures, who mock him for surviving so many close encounters with death. They vanish and Roach is soon drawn into the forest by footprints and a song carried along the wind.

Farther north, a large barrel from the wreckage washes ashore near Taigus, Azak-si, and Falconmyr. Tingle crawls out of it, having drunkenly spent the last two weeks in the ship's hold without anyone knowing. The castaways begin bickering and blaming each other for losing the ship, but they quickly set aside their differences and agree to trek into the forest.

Roach stumbles across a singing monk named Takashiro. When asked for directions, the man recognizes Roach as a mainlander and tells him to listen to nature to find his way. Doing so, Roach is guided northward by the wind, where he comes to a small fishing settlement called Cloudstep Village. Most of the villagers steer clear of Roach, but a man named Nishida welcomes the boy inside his hovel and gives him tea.

Later, a group of mounted samurai arrive at the village and demand a payment of 30 gold. The money is allegedly owed to the shogun, but the villagers don't have it. Roach confronts the samurai and gives them his own gold, forcing them to reluctantly leave. The villagers thank him for standing up to the samurai and begin preparing a celebratory feast.

Back in the forest, Azak-si, Tingle, Taigus, and Falconmyr run afoul of orochi scouts, who sense the pureblood's treachery and attack the party. The orochi warleader is killed, but so is Azak-si. Meanwhile, Falconmyr panics during the fight and flees farther into the forest, leaving Tingle and Taigus alone with Azak-si's corpse. Hearing the distant sounds of activity and merriment, they find Cloudstep Village and reunite with Roach. That night, Azak-si is cremated atop a pyre and given a last farewell. The party agrees to inform Hachiman of her passing when they next meet him.

The shogun's band of samurai return in the morning, but with twice as many men. Their captain accuses Roach of shortchanging him the day before and wasting his time, since he was only given 12 gold. As recompense, he demands a new payment of 60 gold from the village, threatening to slaughter the party and the village if they do not oblige. Refusing to give in, the party brazenly attacks the samurai, but are surrounded and defeated. Roach, bargaining for his life and the lives of his friends, tells the samurai captain that he is aware of the super soldier program and will help the shogun in their fight against the orochi. The captain binds and gags the party and carries them away.