The fear remained. It was there when he slept and there to greet him when he woke in the morning. It was fear that drove him… and fear that pushed him into darkness. 
- — Narrator
Sandman: The Dream Hunters (Volume 2) #2 is an issue of the series Sandman: The Dream Hunters (Volume 2) with a cover date of February, 2009.
Synopsis for "Chapter 3 & 4"
The Fox visits the young monk that lives alone, near a temple on a mountainside and wishes him good dreams. She tells him that she will be nearby should he need her. The Master of Yin-Yang, the Onmyoji, is a wealthy, powerful respected man, but he is afraid. In addition to his great home, he keeps a small house outside of town. Three women live in this house. One young, one old, and one neither young nor old. He often visits this house. During one visit, earlier in our story, he visits the house. The middle-aged woman tells The Master of Yin-Yang that he can find peace if he kills the young monk, and he must kill him without inflicting pain. So, the monk orders demons to the mountain to obtain some of the monk's things. The Master of Yin-Yang crafts a spell with a box, a key, each of the five elements, and a piece of the Young Monks' shadow, which the demons had stolen. That night, the Young Monk dreamt of a box that he could not open. Upon waking, he asks for a Baku to take the dream. On the second night, the Young Monk is handed a key. In the distance, he spies a fox. The third night, the Young Monk expected another dark dream, but instead dreamt of fish. Upon waking, he took it as a good omen until he stumbled upon the body of the Fox. Although the Fox appeared to be almost dead, she was not. The Young Monk prays for the Fox and journeys to town to try to get her healed. Halfway down the mountain, he meets an older man that is upset at the Young Monk for leaving the temple and for meddling with fox-spirits. The old man tells the Young Monk that the Fox is trapped in the Dreaming and that he must go to sleep with a token for the King of Dreams under his bed. The old man gives the Young Monk a token and disappears. The Young Monk believes the old man to be Binzaru Harada, a do-gooder who appears as an old man. The Young Monk returns home and prepares for bed. The Young Monk notices that his shadow has a piece missing which, he decides, is a trick of light. He places the token, a strip of paper with undeterminable writing on it, under his pillow, holds the Fox close, and goes to sleep.
Appearing in "Chapter 3 & 4"
Featured Characters:
- The Young Monk (Unnamed) (Also in a dream sequence)
Supporting Characters:
- Dream/"The King of All Nights' Dreaming" (Narrator)
- The Fox Spirit (Unnamed) (Also in a dream sequence)
Antagonists:
- The Kindly Ones
- The Master of Yin-Yang/The Onmyoji (Unnamed) (Flashback and main story) (Also in a dream sequence) (Origin)
Other Characters:
- Binzaru Harada (Flashback and main story)
- Buddha (Flashback only)
- The Master of Yin-Yang's concubine (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- The Master of Yin-Yang's father (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Dies in a dream sequence)
- The Master of Yin-Yang's wife (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- The Young Monk's father (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- The Young Monk's grandfather (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (In dream sequence only)
- The Young Monk's mother (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- Oni
- Kishmojin (Single appearance) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Tengu (First appearance) (Cameo)
Locations:
- The Dreaming/"All Nights' Dreaming"
- Waking World
- Japan (Also in a dream sequence)
- Mino Province
- The Monk's Temple
- Fox's Den
- Yamashiro Province
- Kyoto
- The Onmyoji's House
- Kyoto
- Mino Province
- Japan (Also in a dream sequence)
Items:
- Black Wooden Key
Concepts:
Notes
- This story is adapted by the novel, Sandman: The Dream Hunters.
- This issue is reprinted in The Absolute Sandman Vol. 5 and Sandman: The Dream Hunters.