Getting out of bed, he crept over to the door, slipped on a ragged overcoat and stepped outside. The night air was chill and his breath blew out in ghostly clouds as he made his way along the deserted street. Shuddering against the cold, he walked down to the pond and gazed across the desolate paddy fields. The sky was crystal clear, its stars gleaming brighter than diamonds. And under the silvery moonlight, the snow-clad land looked like a shimmering white sea.

Jack could almost fool himself that he was back on the Alexandria, sailing the oceans with his father. But he knew that life was long gone. He just wished his father was with him now. As always, Jack looked to the stars in hope of guidance from him. Along with the precious rutter that he’d stowed carefully beneath the floorboards in Sora’s farmhouse, the constellations were the only other connection to his late father. As a pilot, his father had spent many a night teaching him how to navigate by their positions. But tonight Jack felt well and truly lost, with no guiding star.

As he stared into the blackness, Jack became aware of someone approaching.

‘When it is dark enough, you can see the stars,’ observed Yori.

Jack laughed at this. It was one of Sensei Yamada’s sayings, meaning there was always hope even in the worst of times.

‘My father used to say, a clear sky makes a clear mind,’ replied Jack. ‘But I still can’t think of a plan.’

‘Give it time – it’ll come.’

‘How can you be so certain? I don’t know the first thing about battle tactics or strategy.’

‘Of course you do,’ replied Yori, his conviction taking Jack by surprise. ‘Masamoto taught you the Two Heavens.’

Jack was a little bemused. The Two Heavens was his guardian’s secret double-sword technique.

‘But that’s for duelling with swords, one-on-one,’ he argued.

‘Won’t a strategy that works against one enemy work against ten … twenty … a thousand?’

As Jack considered the possibility of Yori’s suggestion, Masamoto’s teachings from his final lessons came to mind. The true Way of this style is not solely about handling two swords. The essence of the Two Heavens is the spirit of winning – to obtain victory by any means and with any weapon.

‘It might work,’ Jack admitted, a few ideas from his samurai training already taking hold. ‘But I’m no leader.’

‘You’re a natural, Jack,’ insisted Yori. ‘A leader guides by example, whether he intends to or not. Your courage and determination to protect this village inspire the rest of us.’

Jack had an overwhelming sense that Yori, while not much older, was definitely wiser since he last knew him. It was like talking with a younger version of Sensei Yamada.

‘But no one else was given the chance to be leader,’ Jack argued, thinking Hayato might have been a better choice.