Soichiro looked on at the scene. The lake was dotted with ice bubbles. From here, it looked as if the water was crystal clear, but he knew from experience that the majority of it would be at least three feet of solid ice with thinner patches here and there. As long as he was careful, he should be fine.

He took the pram to one side and settled the boy beneath a cherry tree. A single leaf fell onto Kyonosuke's nose, painting his face pink. The boy babbled and grabbed the leaf, looking upon it curiously.

''I will be back shortly, my Lord,'' Soichiro whispered intently. He was already half a mile away; down upon the lake; through the reeds and stepping out onto the ice.

The lake crunched beneath his feet as he made his way across it. It felt as if it would hold, though he had no inclination to test it. Up ahead, it looked as though a troop of mushrooms had burst from the ice. They were three or four feet tall, shapeless in mass, and were being picked at by crows.

''Hm?'' Soichiro muttered as he came upon the first mushroom. As he neared, the crows shouted at him, as if to ward him off, but he paid them no mind. He could already see how they had drawn blood.

A horse looked back at him, six feet deep in ice. Its front hooves barely escaped the surface of the lake. Its eyes were mad, wailing with terror, and its maw showed a plucked tongue. A nearby crow cawed guiltily, its feathered belly distinctly round.

''Eh...?'' Soichiro turned, looking at the rest of the lake.

On and on it went, one horse after another, all of them embedded in ice. He stared at the event for a good seventeen seconds, confused and partly afraid. Something about this scene was very wrong, he judged. These animals had not waded in here by chance. They had been driven towards suicide. He looked back towards Kyonosuke. The pram had not moved, but even from here, he saw the unmistakable curvature of the reeds above the bank. They had burst apart, as if charged and trampled. The animals had hit the surface of the lake from there, perhaps some nights ago, and had swiftly drowned and frozen to death in an effort to escape whatever had been chasing them. What was confusing and perhaps, most horrifying about this realisation was that Soichiro had seen no wagon trails upon the road, nor animal prints in the forest. With the depth of the snow, and the lack of recent storms, he should have.

Soichiro cast one last look at the animals, then went back towards the trail. He performed a final inspection of the surrounding area, though found no evidence of any large predators; nor of human interference. It became abruptly clear to him that whatever had scared these animals, it had left no mark. No trail. He held his katana a moment longer, and realised he had been gripping it tightly for the last few minutes. His palm was clammy, and he abruptly let it go, tutting softly as he returned to Kyonosuke.

''[i]Let us go, my Lord. We will be late for your breakfast,[/i]'' he said softly, with one last glance towards the lake. He saw the crows had resumed their feast, and with worry in his heart, and a little sweat across his brow, he went unhurriedly back to the estate; though in spite of his untroubled demeanour, he could not set aside the memory of those animals. They had been culled.