This story is based on Umei no Mai's Compass of thy Soul, with permission. There are a few differences from "canon" Compass, however, which will be elaborated on as the story progresses. Some elements from Team Ninja's Nioh games have also been included.

Waking up was one of those rare times where her eyes opened and Kim felt instantly alert. In most circumstances, she would've puzzled over what aligning of the planets had occurred for that miracle, but in this case, she was willing to chalk it up to 'unfamiliar environs' because this was sure as sure not the Itabashi-juku Guest House. Beyond that, she could identify little else except that the room looked like something she'd expect to see in some kind of Jidaigeki, though she didn't exactly watch many of those.

A soft noise on the edge of her hearing turned out to be a woman maybe a year or so older than her, her dark hair done up in that bun thing she was always forgetting the name of and wearing a plain kimono, winding a bunch of loose fibers around a wooden top-looking thing that didn't actually look all that much like a top.

Is she… spinning thread? Is that how they used to do it?

Almost as if she could sense the eyes on her, the woman looked up from… yeah, she's definitely spinning something. She jerked as if startled, before leaning forward into a seated bow. "My lady, I didn't notice you were awake."

"It's fine," Kim reassured her, "I only just woke up."

The spinning woman was already standing as she spoke again, the spinning-top-thing and the fiber left behind on the floor. "If you will excuse me, my lady, I must inform Ishidō-sama. He wished to be informed the moment you awoke." She was out of there surprisingly quickly, the door sliding shut before Kim got a chance to do more than blink.

"Um… okay," she lamely acquiesced to an empty room. Self-consciousness quickly gave way to antsy nervousness and Kim sat up. Looking down revealed she was wearing the red nagajuban that was part of her convention getup and she spent a good minute trying to look for the rest of it without moving. She was having a hard time believing she was actually awake. The situation just felt too bizarre to be real.

The door sliding open drew her focus and she tensed. The man entering must've noticed her unease, because he held up his hands placatively as he kneeled beside the futon. He looked about the same age as the woman from earlier for all Kim could tell, with short black hair and equally dark eyes, and a face that looked as worn as the kimono he was wearing. Right behind him was the woman from earlier, now carrying a small stack of folded material that Kim recognized with a start as the rest of her kimono.

"I am pleased to see you are awake, my lady." The man said with a little bow from his seated position. He gestured behind him, where the woman had settled into seiza near to his right. "Shiome has collected the rest of your apparel, but is there anything else you require?"

"Who are you?"

"I am Ishidō Nobuie, my lady. I serve Morioka-dono as his chief retainer and chamberlain."

Well, that told her… virtually nothing at all. "Morioka?"

"Yes, my lady. Morioka Ienari-dono is the lord of Mikawa-jō, and its estate."

Maybe I've traveled back in time, she thought to herself, half-hysterically. "And… where is that?"

If Ishidō was feeling annoyed by her questions, he was doing a very good job of hiding it. "Northwestern Fire Country, my lady; at the point where the river Mion diverges into the Gokase and the Omaru."

It took her a moment to recognize why that sounded familiar. When it finally did, she wanted to… she didn't know what she wanted to do. Laugh? Cry? Both? This was beyond ridiculous, she felt like a spectator in a bad comedy.

"If this is supposed to be a joke…" Kim hated the way her voice broke, the way it made her sound weak. "…it's not funny."

"There is no joke, my lady." Ishidō's frown was so earnest, it was almost painful to see. "You are in the Land of Fire, about a day or so's foot travel east of the Land of Grass."

She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream, wanted to hit something, wanted to make him stop lying he has to be lying. Choking back the desire to lash out took nearly everything she had. Instead, she forced herself to lay back down on the futon, facing away from the other two. If it was a joke, a lie it has to be a lie, she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her crack. If he genuinely believed he was in some fictional world of all places, then he didn't deserve her lashing out.

She heard them rise behind her, and then some low conversation she couldn't make out. The sound of steps fading away, before Ishidō cleared his throat.

"When you are ready, my lady…" he said gently, "Shiome will be waiting outside to attend you."

Only after she heard the shōji slide shut, and the diminishing steps of him moving off, did Kim allow herself to cry. Her last thought as she drifted back to sleep was a miserable prayer.

Please, God… I just want to go home. Please, just let this be a bad dream…

A hare and a monkey and a horse with a dragon's head.

A deer and a boar shelter in the shadow of a girl in a moth wing cloak, and a peacock clashes with a panther in fire and water and earth, circled by a trio of sharks and a fox with a tail like braided rope. The two halves of a kitsune made of fire consume each other while a tanuki made of sand laughs.

A two-headed bird brings down a six-tusked elephant with tears in its eyes. A blue dragon and a white-red tiger put out a burning forest and find a palace among the timbers. One-eyed children with mouths full of knives help tend a graveyard with two shiba inu trailing the pungent scent of ozone, and a well-dressed lute plays itself to the applause of an unseen crowd.

Kim woke up on the same strange futon, in the same strange room, and her heart sank. Not that she had really expected anything else, but a miracle would've been nice. She forced herself up with an absolutely bone-weary sigh. She couldn't just wallow in self-pity, no matter how much she wanted to do nothing else; her pride wouldn't let her. After vainly searching the room in the hopes her kimono had been left behind, she moved for the shōji to continue her search. It opened just before she could reach it, and the sudden appearance of the other caused both her and the woman from earlier to start with surprise. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Kim stepped aside and gestured for her to come in.

"I have the rest of your clothing, my lady," the woman (What was her name again? Shizune?) said with a little bow, "if you would like to dress."

"Uh…" She'd been more out of it earlier, but now that she was noticing it, Kim wasn't sure what to do with this level of deference. Sure as sure, she wasn't very comfortable with it. "I guess?"

There were several aborted attempts to actually put on the rest of her kimono because they kept getting in each other's way trying to do the same thing. For a long awkward moment, they simply stared at each other before Kim broke the silence.

"Would you like me to stop trying to help?" she asked, trying to hide her embarrassment behind a smile.

"That would be preferable, my lady." It wasn't hard to notice the woman (No, not Shizune, don't be ridiculous.) trying to hide her own smile, but Kim decided not to comment on it.

Instead, she asked, "How long did I sleep?"

"It is the next morning, my lady."

Kim winced. She hadn't really meant to sleep at all, much less that long. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to waste your time like that."

"It is no concern, my lady." The woman (Not Shiki, either …though that'd be pretty funny.) shrugged, as she finished knotting the obi.

Kim really wanted to dispute that but wasn't sure how. Or even what she was trying to dispute.

Folding her hands in front of her, the woman (It's definitely 'Shi'-something.) bowed to Kim again. "Morioka-sama has invited you to join him for breakfast, if you are willing."

Not sure what to do with her hands, Kim copied her posture, minus the bow. "I suppose I should accept, then."

She followed the woman (Shiome! It's Shiome …I think.) through the halls, before stopping outside a room that had the outer shōji pushed aside to reveal the beautiful spring day. A weight settled in Kim's gut. It was November, wasn't it? Why did look like it was April outside?

Somewhat dazedly, she drifted into the room, thanking Shiome almost absent-mindedly as she took it in. The man she assumed was Ishidō's 'Morioka-dono' by dint of not recognizing him was seated at one side of a small square table, arms crossed over his chest and frowning as he stared forward at empty air. He didn't actually look that much older than she did, six or seven years maybe, but they had definitely taken their toll. Even his kimono, though finer than Ishidō or Shiome's had been, looked shabby compared to hers.

Ishidō was seated at the left side of the table, reading off of a sheet of paper. "-been defeated along the Tōkaidō. Okuda Tomonobu has moved to besiege the capital, and demands we swear fealty to him. He also includes in here – in his own hand, even – that Ranmaru is well, and gets on agreeably with his own son."

Morioka-dono's expression collapsed, and he let out a sigh just like she had earlier. He dragged a hand over his face, before letting it linger over his mouth for a minute. "Tell Okuda he can rely on the Morioka to protect the western border as we always have," he eventually responded, his voice deeper than she'd expected and rough, "and express my regrets that I can't travel. Don't forget to include-"

"-include that we would be better able to defend the border if Mikawa-jō was rebuilt, yes, lord." Ishidō was already making notes with a stylus on a wax tablet.

Dang, these guys are some dedicated LARPers. She couldn't quite convince herself she meant it.

Morioka-dono lifted his cup to drink just in time for Ishidō to notice her. "Come on, Nobuie, what's next?" he prodded.

"My lord, your guest has arrived."

Caught mid-sip, Morioka-dono hurriedly swallowed and set the cup down. "Ah, the mystery woman. Come, sit, eat." He waved her in, his eyes fixing just to her right. His pupils almost took up the entirety of the iris, she couldn't help but notice as she sat down at the right side of the table. "You know who I am?"

Ishidō's despairing grimace was making it very hard for Kim to not laugh, even as she tried to figure out what was up with Morioka-dono's eyes. Is he… blind? "I am told you are lord of the castle."

"What's left of it." He coughed sharply, a fist pressed against his sternum. "And of me."

"'Left of it'?" she parroted. Weren't they in this 'castle'?

"What, you don't remember the castle?"

"I remember very little of how I came to be your guest," she replied, unconsciously imitating the people around her.

Morioka-dono grunted, waving a hand at his retainer. "Nobuie can arrange a tour after this, then."

A distinctly unimpressed look flashed over Ishidō's face before he bowed to Kim, shoulders tense. "If the lady is willing, of course."

Kim returned the bow with a smile. "I appreciate it."

"Is there any other pressing business?" Morioka-dono asked, his gaze turning to land just left of Ishidō, who was shuffling through the notes he had by his side.

In a soft puff of light, a lightning-yellow hare peeked into existence behind Morioka-dono. Her eyes widened. The hare hopped over to her, a staticky feeling building as it came closer. It wasn't at all uncomfortable, but still very noticeable. After a brief staring contest, the hare sat back on its hindquarters and held up a small square of… was that mochi? A quick glance at the table's other occupants revealed neither of them seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Ishidō was, in fact, reading off of his notes. "The Inoue are on the move again, headed south this time. Rumor has their holdings are being threatened by…"

A little hesitantly, Kim accepted the mochi and took a bite. It was surprisingly good. The hare's nose twitched adorably, and it butt its head against her knee before hopping back over to Morioka-dono and curling up in his lap, to which he didn't react at all.

"Good, then I won't feel bad about indulging my curiosity." Morioka-dono's face turned back to her, his cup in hand, and she scrambled to keep her own straight as the hare vanished from his lap the same way it had appeared. "I can't keep calling you 'the mystery woman' in my head, so what's your name?" Ishidō directed an extremely unimpressed look at his lord, and she found it very entertaining.

"I am Fuyuno Kim."

Morioka-dono promptly choked on his drink and started coughing.

"Fuyu no… Kimi?" Ishidō sounded oddly hesitant.

She strangled an exasperated sigh. She could argue the point, but having this conversation with seemingly every Japanese person she spoke to was tiring, and made her feel like an ass for insisting. "Sure."

Ishidō looked like he desperately wished he was anywhere else right now for all of a moment, before very quickly schooling his expression into a polite smile. "We are honored to meet you, Fuyuno Kimi," he responded with surprising formality and a seated bow.

Morioka-dono was still breathing heavily, interspersed with sporadic coughs. "Hideo," he croaked out, a hand over his chest. The summoned man, seated unobtrusively in the corner, moved to his master's side, and Kim fought back a surge of embarrassment as she realized she'd completely overlooked him. Morioka-dono made an apologetic motion as Hideo helped him up and escorted him from the room.

Kim turned to Ishidō with a concerned look. The thought that she might have caused his lord's coughing fit embarrassed her into silence, though she managed to keep it off of her face.

"Morioka-dono's body troubles him from time to time," he explained, "He will be well after some rest."

She wasn't very reassured, but her question about seeing a doctor died on her lips when she remembered that health care in this period was far from universal, and often prohibitively expensive when it was available. As much as she wanted to deny this was happening, she only had to look at the all-too-real mochi in her hand to disprove that. (She still refused to entertain the idea she was in a fictional country, though.) "I pray that he recovers swiftly, then."

From the pitying look Ishidō very quickly buried, she's missed something about Morioka-dono's condition. Maybe it's terminal. "If I may be excused, Fuyuno Kimi, I must return these notes to my lord's study. I would be honored to provide you escort through the castle town after you have broken your fast."

"Please, don't interrupt your schedule on my account, Ishidō-san," she demurred. Ishidō's deep bow hid whatever expression he might've made - Kim suspected Morioka-dono's blindness meant he wasn't as practiced as he probably wanted to be - and he left.

Kim nibbled on the mochi, deep in thought. They said this place was Mikawa, right? That was the home province of the Tokugawa. But this lord is Morioka. Wait, Ieyasu is the one who changed the clan name to 'Tokugawa' though, right? So is this an ancestor? She'd been interested in learning more of her people's history than what the American education system had covered, once upon a time. Right now, she wished she could remember more of it.

She'd finished the mochi and was poking at the offerings still on the table when Ishidō returned. "If the food is not to your liking, Fuyuno Kimi, I could speak to the kitchens..." he offered.

She shook her head and rose to her feet, quietly pleased her legs hadn't fallen asleep on her. "No, nothing like that, Ishidō-san," she assured him, "I'm just not that hungry." Soon enough, they'd donned sandals and Kim got her first real look at this odd place she'd landed. Her breath hitched in her throat, her train of thought completely derailing by the sight.

A terraced, forested hill dominated the western skyline. This wouldn't really be odd in itself, were it not for the strange appearance of the trees (if she'd been pressed to explain, she might've said they looked "just left of deciduous"), or the alien way they had been grown. The ruins of a castle could be seen between the trees, but not in the way of nature reclaiming its own. The trees and branches bursting from underneath the stone-faced earthen base, forcing their way through the plastered walls and towers, overrunning the crumbling structures, painted an image of violence completely at odds with the overwhelming feeling of life, of growth, it gave off. It was uncomfortably heady, and Kim couldn't resist the shudder that crawled up her spine.

That isn't natural.

Ishidō was looking at her with concern, so she forced a wry smile, saying, "Well… I think I can guess at how Morioka-dono writes his name now."

He chuckled at that, if somewhat bleakly. He was also, Kim noticed, incredibly tense. The odds that it was unrelated to the state of the castle seemed vanishingly small to her.

"Does the castle town hold uncomfortable memories for you?"

He shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. "I apologize for my distress, Fuyuno Kimi, but it will not affect the execution of my duties."

It didn't escape her that this was the third or fourth time he'd used her full name, but that wasn't really important at the moment. "I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said, smiling sympathetically. Ishidō shifted again uncomfortably, and she decided to have mercy on his nerves. "The town can wait, but I'd still like to see where I was found, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he replied with an undertone of what sounded suspiciously like relief, "It was just past the edge of town, if you would permit me to guide you."

She gestured for him to take the lead, and they set off. Silence reigned as they moved through the streets, and it took longer than she would've liked for Kim to realize just what was so off-putting about it.

It shouldn't be this quiet outside, not in a town.

She wanted to ask what had happened, but it was very obviously a sore point for Ishidō, so she kept it behind her teeth. She could always ask someone later. Maybe Morioka-dono.

They came to the edge of the town, and Ishidō led her to a field of tall, wild grass that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Stepping forward into it, she ran her hands over the surface of the grass. With her back to the castle, Kim could pretend she was standing in the middle of a sea of it, and with her face turned up toward the sun, she could almost imagine this might be what Heaven felt like.

"Why am I here, Lord?" she prayed in whispered English, aware of Ishidō's presence just a few steps behind her. "I don't understand. Please, I want to go home."

The only reply was a breeze, cool against her skin, blowing in the direction of the castle.