Darkness

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[|Characters] [|Setting] [|Problem] [|Point of View] [|Plot] [|Climax] [|Resolution] [|Author's Message] New! Seikei's Journey Add a Chapter Write a Sequel ||
 * =**In Darkness, Death**= || [[image:http://a6.vox.com/6a00cdf3a61f35cb8f00d09e44d1debe2b-500pi width="173" height="252" align="center"]] ||  ||
 * Written by || == == ==[|Reviews]== ||  ||
 * **Table of Contents**

Characters
The most important characters in the book //In Darkness, Death// are Seikei, the Judge, and Tatsuno.
 * Seikei** is the fourteen year old son of a tea merchant who was adopted by the Judge to train as a Samurai.Seikei is very independant and he has to travel without the Judge a lot. For example he had to travel from Edo to Lord Inaba's realm to the O-Miwa shrine without Judge Ooka. He is also honorable and if he makes a promise he keeps it. For example, when he promised to take the farmers petition to Lord Inaba's castle when he knew it was dangerous. He is generally kind to people and doesn't like to lie or intimidate.
 * Tatsuno** is an ex-ninja. He is very quik thinking and can usually get out of problems. Like when he singlehandedly rescued Seikei from Lord Inaba's dungeon. He likes to lie and deceive people. He is also very agile, and he carries secret weapons like shuriken (ninja stars) and tennen-bishi which are small spiked things that you drop on the ground to hurt peoples feet when they are chasing you.
 * The Judge** is a big fat man. He likes to eat a lot. Despite his weight, he is very quick and agile. He is well known as an important Samurai of the shogun, and as an intelligent and fair judge. For example, he knew that Seikei would complete hiss mission so he went along and met him at the O-Miwa shrine after waiting for three days.
 * Yutaro** is an odd person. He was the son of the original king, Lord Inaba, and seemed like he was very sad about his father's death. He turned king, and ruled over Japan for about 2 weeks, before Seikei and Judge Ooka found that he was the true murderer of his father, or at least the person that hired the ninja that murdered him.

Setting
The story takes place in 18th century Japan. The places that they go to throughout the book were once real, but they do not exist anymore. This was stated at the end of the book. The authors use words to describe the setting of Lord Inaba's castle like quiet in the night and how you can see many, many shadows. The authors also use words like icy, wooded, and dark to describe the other settings. While reading, you can see the fast moving shadow of a ninja. When Seikei is walking with a broken ankle, the reader can feel his pain. The time period in the book is important because if they don't find Lord Inaba's murderer fast enough, the trail will go cold and the case will never be solved. The time span in this book is four to six weeks. The authors control time by describing the important highlights of the story. The season affects the characters because as it starts to snow they have to find shelter, and it is harder to walk. Because it is hard to walk, Seikei slipped and sprained his ankle.

Problem
The main problem of //In Darkness, Death// was that Lord Inaba was murdered and the only real clue is a little origami butterfly. The main character went traveling with Tatsuno asking people who Lord Inaba's enemies were. They discovered that Lord Inaba's subjects hated his son, and the problem was solved when they found the ninja at the shrine. The problem is solved when the ninja told them who hired him to kill Lord Inaba.

Point of View
The story of //In Darkness, Death// is told in first person from the point of view of the samurai apprentice Seikei. The point of view affects the story because there are parts of the story that get left out, like the path Judge Ooka took to get to the O-Miwa shrine. It also left out what Tatsuno was thinking especially when he gave Seikei the green stone. The reader doesn't understand what is going on as well as he or she could, and you don't know anything unless Seikei knows it.

Plot
Judge Ooka is the best detective in 18th century Japan. He is sent to find out who murdered Lord Inaba. He and his son, along with Tatsuno, team up to find the murderer and along the way run in to many obstacles. They were sent to jail, almost killed by other samurai, fought ninjas, stole sorces of transportation, and did anything to get the mystery solved (and tried to help a whole tribe of the new Lord Inaba, who all were killed in the end.).

Climax
The climax is when Seikei finally finds the ninja who killed Lord Inaba. He goes into a cave but instead of finding the ninja he decides to find out who the employer is by yelling and waking the ninja up. The ninja starts throwing shurikens at him. Seikei ducks and runs out of the cave. Then he hides behind a rock. Then the ninja comes out and Seikei convinces him to write his employer's name on a piece of paper. But in return, Seikei had to give the ninja the green stone which is his only protection from the kami or spirit of the mountain.

Resolution
The conflict was resolved on the mountain when, in exchange for the gofu, the "fox" (or Kitsune) would write the name of the person who hired him to kill Lord Inaba. Seikei was very happy that the mystery was solved. When Seikei was on the mountain, he saw deer tracks which led him to fox tracks. Seikei knew the killer was the Kitsune so he followed the tracks and found the ninja. In the end, he found that the person who killed Lord Inaba was his son, Yutaro.

Author's Message
I think the author was trying to show us that when you try to get justice for another cause, you could also get it for your cause. I think the authors chose this message to tell us that whenever you try to do something, you will always win in some way at the end. It shows this when Tatsuno and Seikei were on the trip looking for the killer but while trying to find the killer, Seikei made a friends with Tatsuno. This book I think tells us that both authors are good people who value honesty and integrity.