Post by Admin on Dec 3, 2017 21:24:11 GMT -5
Yuzuki is 13 years old.
The snow had begun to fall already this year. It is Winter, the 12th day of the 10th month. The snow is nearly a foot deep in this part of the country.
And young Yuzuki is barely wearing anything in it.
She is wearing a light silk kimono, which offers basically zero resistance to the bitter cold air. She walks in a circle in the snow, her feet only covered in worn sandals, which offer just as little protection as the kimono. She is hunched forward, her arms hugging herself. Her hair has grown back for the most part, but it is still rather short. She almost feels dizzy, she is so cold. But she isn’t out here alone. A tall man stands not terribly far from Yuzuki on a small deck that has been erected in this forest. His hands are folded behind his back as he watches the girl, a deep frown on his lips. He speaks to her in a stern tone (translated from the Japanese) “So, child. You wish to serve me?” Yuzuki nods quickly as she continues to walk in circles in the snow, stumbling every few steps. “Answer me, wench!” Yuzuki flinches and calls out in a broken tone. “Yes, master!" She stumbles again as the man nods a little, his gloved hands folding behind his back. “Would you not rather be back in your father’s palace, nice and warm next to the fire? Enjoying your lavish bed and spoiled lifestyle?” Yuzuki’s eyes close a moment as she continues, but she shakes her head. “I wish to serve you, master!” The man nods again, his eyes studying Yuzuki carefully. “You come to me as a spoiled child. In order to create a force for good in this world, I must first destroy you. And then we will remake you into the image of the Buddha. Is that what you want, whelp?” Yuzuki calls out again, falling to one knee for a moment, but quickly getting back to her feet. “I wish to serve you, master!” The man, he seems pleased by her answer.
Almost a half hour passes, and now Yuzuki sits huddled under a thick and fur lined quilt. She sits very close to a fire pit that had been dug just the day before, trying to get as warm as she can. She feels tears in her eyes as she sits there, wondering just how bad the frostibite is in her toes and fingers. But in reality she doesn’t have frostbite, but she’s scared she does. Another piece of timber is thrown onto the fire, and now ‘the master’ moves to sit next to Yuzuki on his knees. He sits with his back straight, his hands on his knees. He watches her, and she tries to lean away from him a little. His voice is now softer, almost tender. “When Master Hizashi came to me, I was skeptical. I will admit this to you. I did not think you would do well as one of our elites. But…” he now looks away from her, towards the fire as he continues. “The only image I had of you was when you were playing with Akihiko. Running through the fields chasing one another, learning to ride horses together. Going to festivals together. But…” he now looks back to her “That was a long time ago, child. And you are a much changed person. You have helped forge your own sword. You have shown dedication and loyalty. And so I shall be dedicated and loyal to you. Your father asked me not to go easy on you, to treat you as any other of my apprentices. But.. I will do more than that. I will make you work harder than I would any others. You will not like me most days, Mizuki. But you will be the Date’s greatest and most feared warrior. But for now…” he takes in a deep breath as he looks to her “Get your strength back. With the sunrise, we resume training.” Yuzuki just nods absently, her body swaying a little as she sits there. She feels like she could all asleep sitting up… and in fact she does. The man grins a little as she sits there, and slowly she lays back, pulling the quilt on top of herself. He lets her rest for now… she is going to have a hard day tomorrow when her training begins in earnest.
It’s been almost 12 hours since the Retreat. Since she had told her allies to just… run…
As a group, they were mingling amongst those at the camp lead by Jim. She… isn’t sure she ever heard his last name. If she did, she forgets. She met Niji there… the unicorn that is now her companion. She felt herself a bit taken by Jim. And by Horse, frankly. Maybe she’s just lonely. But that camp is also where she first heard the name ‘Hitler. A menace that was enough to scare Jim and Albert. And that made her very uneasy. Her first thought was to go after Hitler himself. But fate had other plans. The camp came under attack… and Yuzuki saw her father.
With a gasp she wakes up once more… and Niji is suddenly there, leaning down to sniff at her. She lays in the dirt not to far from the river, having passed out once more. Niji blows air out her nose as she leans towards Yuzuki curiously, her wide dark eyes staring down at the woman. With a soft whimper Yuzuki sits up, grasping her left arm. She lost her sword… Aki no Ken… somewhere. She lost if when… something exploded in front of her. The man she was fighting, perhaps he was carrying some kind of bomb. She was barely able to get out of the blast radius, and she was injured at the same time. It’s bad enough that it will impair her fighting. But losing her katana is much more painful. Yuzuki reaches up to grab onto Niji’s bridle, and she grimaces as she pulls herself to her feet. Niji leans her head up to help Yuzuki to her feet, remaining unmoving.
She closes her eyes as she leans on the unicorn, trying to motivate herself to move. But the image of her father is in her head. Holding her emotions hostage. Did he remember her? Were his words meant for her alone, or just someone he didn’t recognize? Why would he be here? And why would he be working with those raiders? So many questions… but right now she can’t get her head or her heart together to figure things out.
With the unicorn at her side, Yuzuki moves on. She knows it would be foolish to return to camp. She could probably make her way back to it, but who knows what happened after she fled. The camp was being overrun. If she were to return, there’s a good chance she could be captured. She didn’t have time to see if Anne, Albert and the newer future man made it out. She just hopes they heeded her warning. But with that warning came instruction. She told them she would meet them in Gatecia. That’s where they all were going. But she doesn’t have the map. She did ask, though… “Niji… do you know way to Gatecia?” And unfortunately, all she got back was a blank stare or a playful nudge. Neither of which provided a ton of help to her. But she was near a river… rivers always lead to civilization. That was evident in the Barbin camp, that was evident in Jim’s camp. So if she follows the river… and moves away from the direction of Jim’s camp… she should find someone.
Unfortunately she finds someone.
She and Niji walk for nearly 2 hours, then. Stopping occasionally to eat or drink from the river. Niji was happy gobbling some of the grass they found. Yuzuki grazed on some odd looking berries she comes across. She vaguely remembers seeing them being served in the Barbin village. So hopefully they won’t kill her. But one never knows in this land. And in the time they have been traveling, she has to admit her arm was feeling much better. Perhaps she wasn’t hurt as bad as she thought. Or perhaps her dark thoughts and self doubt made her body ache more than it should have.
As they walk, Niji comes to a sudden stop, her ears perked up. She stares ahead of them, and she snorts softly. Yuzuki comes to a slow stop next to her, staring up at her. Niji might be a unicorn, but she seems to share many traits with normal horses. She’s seen that kind of stance before, that sound Niji makes when she snorts. It means she is suddenly sensing what could be danger. Slowly Yuzuki looks ahead of them into the forest, her eyes squinting a little. But those eyes widen as she abruptly launches herself away from Niji. Just as she moves, an arrow rockets passed her, actually grazing her shoulder. She clutches her shoulder as she lands in a roll, gritting her teeth with the pain, feeling blood trickling at her hand. Niji rears up and lets out a startled cry, and then dashes away. Yuzuki draws up to sit on her knees, her upper body slumped forward a little, her hand grasping her shoulder tightly. Her eyes look in the direction the arrow came from, and she hears movement there. She stares, knowing she can’t get away in time. Knowing she’s to exposed here. But she doesn’t have a choice but to face whatever is coming.
The last time she was in a situation like this, she was confronted by a giant walking cat. She doubts this will end as well as that encounter did, though.
From the underbrush emerge 2 beings… well they look human, save for their oddly colored skin. A light orange color, in fact. One of them is carrying a bow, an arrow nocked. They are heard to be chuckling as they emerge. As one they fall silent, now staring at Yuzuki. “That… isn’t the unicorn. I thought you hit the unicorn.” The man speaking… his name is Lubos. And his pal, the one with the bow, is called Otmar. And with those words spoken, Otmar laughs to himself, shrugging. “I thought I did. I mean I think there was a unicorn… here… hey” He now leans closer to Yuzuki as she glares defiantly up towards the men. Otmar crouches down a few feet from Yuzuki then, his bow resting on his lap. “Unicorns are shape shifters… am I right?” Lubos shrugs, glancing around them. “I don’t know a lot about animal folk, Otmar.” He looks back towards Yuzuki and Otmar “So she’s actually the unicorn? She trying to trick us?” Otmar stares Yuzuki in the eyes, and he speaks. “Look at how she’s shabby dressed. And her eyes are weird.” He now leans a little closer and addresses her with a stern tone. “Say something and prove you’re not a unicorn, woman.” There is a pause, and now Lubos draws a dagger from his belt. By the way… these men are dressed in light leather armor. They are, most likely, part of a hunting party. Or they are the hunting party. But it isn’t their armor or weapons that gets Yuzuki’s attention.
It’s the swastika imprinted on the back of their hands.
But Yuzuki complies, obediently. “I am going to kill you both, take your weapons, and kill everyone in whatever encampment you might have.” The 2 Maleese stare at her wordlessly, and then they start to laugh. Yuzuki narrows her eyes at them, and Otmar looks over his shoulder towards Lubos as he continues to crouch in front of Yuzuki. “Well not unicorn. Should we take her back? Or… have a little f-” He feels something right on top of him suddenly. “Wha-?!” He cries out as Yuzuki bounds towards him, the palm of her hand covering his eyes. Her other hand reaches over his shoulder to grab an arrow out of his quiver. Lubos looks on, astonished, as she draws the arrow and stabs it right into the side of Otmar’s neck in one smooth motion. The hand covering his eyes moves down his face to cover his lips now, just as he lets out a scream. Said scream now muffled by her hand. “Troa’s eyes!” Lubos cries out as he stumbles back, genuinely not knowing what to do. Otmar’s body slumps down as Yuzuki’s angered gaze snaps towards Lubos, and she now leaps towards him, reaching out to him with blood covered hands. He tries to swing his dagger at her… and Yuzuki notices he’s drawing in a deep breath as he backpeddles. That simple action, the look of panic in his eyes… he’s about to call for help. One of Yuzuki’s hands comes up to slam against Lubos’ wrist, causing the dagger to fall from his hand. Her other hand jabs forward as she flattens it, and his Lubos right in the throat. He tries to yell, but only something of a gurgling sound as he stumbles. His hands move to grab his throat, staring wide eyed at the young woman. “Ore to wa kakawaranai hou ga ii!” She cries out as she jams her elbow into his face right between his eyes. She doesn’t realize it (since she hears everything in Japanese), but the medallion seems to have slipped, her words actually coming across as a nonsensicle (to those that don’t know Japanese) language. But the jist of the phrase is ‘don’t mess with me’. Lubos falls with a thud to the ground, and Yuzuki stands as she breathes heavily, looking around herself for more of them. She doesn’t think there are any more of them. But they came from somewhere. Somewhere with more wearing the swastika on their bodies.
Slowly then Niji pokes her head into the clearing, looking around cautiously. She lifts her head a little as she snorts, trying to determine if there is any more danger. Yuzuki looks towards the unicorn as she grasps her shoulder, it still bleeding a little. “Come, little one.” She says softly as she now looks towards the 2 men… more specifically their weapons and armor. Otmar is a rather beefy fellow. And his armor reflects that size. But the now unconscious Lubos… well he’s a little fella.
Yuzuki starts to grin a little as she gets an idea.
It’s about 20 minutes later, and now Yuzuki walks away from the little clearing wearing leather armor. Her kimono is wrapped about itself and slung over her shoulders. She did also make room for the quiver of arrows, and she carries the bow. She has the dagger tucked into the belt she now wears, her hair tied back into a ponytail. Niji trots merrily behind her, flicking her head up and down as she does so.
For Yuzuki, tracking the men’s path doesn’t prove to difficult. While they were hunters (she thinks), they also seem to have been sloppy. Perhaps not out hunting, persay, but just relaxing a little. Maybe they were part of the raiding party in Jim’s camp. They think they won, so now they can relax. That’s just a theory on Yuzuki’s part. But whatever the circumstances… she has found their camp. And it seems at least part of her theory is right.
She ensures Niji stays put away from where she is, tying her reins to a tree not far from here. Niji didn’t like the prospect at all, at first. But Yuzuki was able to calm her enough to be able to move off without her. Of course she had to ensure Niji she would return, which seemed to help the unicorn. More and more Yuzuki thinks Niji is far more intelligent than most animals.
So at this moment Yuzuki is crouched behind a tree, looking towards the camp. The sun is starting to set, so they are setting up their guards for the night. Putting together a fire pit. She sits there in the shadows for nearly an hour, having to move a few times when she thought they were getting close to discovering her. She has counted 7 men… and she has studied them enough as they go about their business to see that swastika emblem on their hands and clothing. She also makes note of their armorments, the weapons they have access too. She sees some bows leaning up against a log… a few swords resting in their scabbards on that same log… a couple spears… but one of the men, he carries something different on his person. He seems to be the one ordering the others around, and they comply with him. Yuzuki can make out the pistol he has at his hip. It looks sort of kind of similar to the one Anne had been playing with. But she doesn’t know that was a semi-automatic pistol, and the one that man has is a revolver. She wouldn’t be able to recognize the difference, at least not from this distance. But it has a similar shape, and so Yuzuki will assume that’s what it is. If she’s right, she can prepare to deal with it. If she’s wrong… well she will have fretted for nothing.
Now her mind moves to a more tactical sense. They don’t know she is here. They are reveling in what she assumes is their victory at Jim’s camp. People in that mindset don’t expect to be attacked. They have won the day, and those they have defeated are to busy licking their wounds to retaliate. So they relax, revel in their victory. She would admit she is guilty of such things at times in her life. And then scolded appropriately. She studies the men… and then slowly she looks upwards. They are still in the forest. She could scale a tree and attack from there.
But perhaps an errant thought… why attack these men? More than once she has professed to her ‘crew’ that they don’t need to get into conflict if they can avoid it. Talking them out of finding Wallace’s camp, wanting to avoid possible danger, amongst others. But now… she could just simply move on. These men have no idea she’s here. She had to deal with those ones from before because they attacked her. That was more defense than anything else. Mercy is one of the hallmarks of Bushido (in her opinion). She has let more than one of her enemies in this world live, shown them mercy. Attacking these men now here in the forest… it speaks ill of her character. She knows this. She is ashamed of her thoughts right now. But she saw the others of this group attack and kill innocents within the camp… they might have been behind the attack on the Barbin. For all she knows… they killed Albert. They might have killed Anne. They might have killed Jim. They might have killed Horse. They might have killed Xing. It isn’t justice in her heart right now, it is vengeance. Good old fashioned vengeance. And she is ashamed of that. But… none of her friends are here right now… so she’ll make peace with herself about what is about to come. She’ll make peace with her Gods when she meets them, and it may not end well for herself. But she will kill these men, just as she promised before.
Like a coward in the shadows (which she knows she is right now), she draws the bow from her shoulders. She silently nocks an arrow as she now moves into a crouch, and she gets ready to move. She was trained in the use of the bow… even if it was a different kind of bow. Not this.. odd tiny bow. She mostly used a longer bow… a taller one… but this seems closer to a bow she has encountered in battle against the Chinese or Arabians. It’s awkward… but she is still skilled in its use. She raises the bow and draws its string as she pushes herself to her feet... and she lets loose the arrow. Silently flies through the air… and it impacts the shoulder of the man with the revolver. He screams out as he falls back, the arrow protruding from his left shoulder. 3 of the men around the fire leap to their feet and look around for whatever is attacking, and she sees some of the tents in the camp stirring as men wake up within. She curses softly and hisses “Damnable awkward bow!” That should have been a killing shot, and if she had a proper bow it would have been. One of the men start towards that log with the weapons leaning on it, and Yuzuki is in sudden motion. She bounds into the camp, the men looking towards her in astonishment, a couple of the men moving to help the man with the arrow in his shoulder. She grips the bow as she would a baseball bat and swings at the man going for the weapons, and smashes it right across his face. It bursts into pieces as she knocks him down, his face bleeding. Huh… bow was good for something after all! The commander tries to reach for his pistol… but he can’t move the arm he would use to reach for it. The other men start towards Yuzuki as they cry out… and Yuzuki scoops up one of the spears.
It’s a heavy spear… and it feels damn good in her hands. It’s not a naginata… but she likes it. One of the men reaches for a sword, and she brings the shaft of the spear down on his arm, as if punshing a child for reaching for something they shouldn’t. His arm breaks as he screams in pain, falling back. The men stumble away in shock, and now Yuzuki defends the log with the weapons. Her eyes move between the men, silently daring them to step forward. And to their credit, they do exactly that. Some of them try with knives they had on them. Some actually do get to a sword or spear, but against Yuzuki they don’t do so well. And the whole time the commander is trying to get away, crawl away. He’s already decided to use the men as pawns, to keep the woman busy while he escapes. But he can’t move fast, feeling the arrow digging into his shoulder. At one point he thinks about breaking it off, or pulling it out all together. But when he grasps the arrow shaft, it causes shots of pain to run through his body. He isn’t a terribly brave man, but he is good with tactics and inspiring people. He gets just outside of the camp and is moving in a northern direction… and that’s when the screams of his men are silenced. Wide eyed he looks over his shoulder, and he forces himself to his feet. He tries to get to his pistol, and clumsily gets it from its holster. He really should have done that earlier… but the pain in his shoulder is messing with his mind. He was only concerned with escape.. not defense. Not after that arrow found itself inside of his shoulder. He looks behind him again, and he lets out a startled gasp as he realizes Yuzuki is behind him now. Like… RIGHT behind him. She is a silent minx when she wants to be. He slowly and awkwardly starts to turn and raise his pistol… not using his dominant hand… and Yuzuki’s hand snaps out to grab the pistol right out of his hand as she speaks in an angered tone “Give me that!” With that same anger she throws it to the side, and she grabs the shaft of the arrow. He cries out and whimpers as he drops to his knees, Yuzuki crouching down in front of him to keep herself at eye level. “I am Yuzuki Date. Tell me your name” She twists the arrow, and he cries out again “Now!” He whimpers and nods quickly, his shaking hand hovering over her hand on the arrow. “Osbald Carver! Please it hurts so much!” She grits her teeth and wiggles the arrow, causing him to fall back onto his butt, Yuzuki still looming over him. “Osbald Carver. You are not going to die. Not today, not at my hand this day. You are my messenger boy. Yes?” He nods quickly as he stares up at her in horror. “Get word to your Hitler. Tell him Yuzuki Date will take his head and proudly display it in a shrine to his memory.” She snaps her hand to one side, and a majority of the shaft of the arrow breaks away. He cries out as Yuzuki stands slowly, tossing away the broken arrow. “You killed… all of those men… how… what are you…” She turns, scooping up his pistol and stalks away from him, back towards their camp as she speaks.
“I am nothing now.”
Sleep did not come easily. At all for Yuzuki. She has a spear now, and she has gathered arrows which she carries in the quiver on her back. She has the revolver, but she has it in a bag she found in the men’s camp, and it hangs from her sash. She doesn’t want to use it, as she is sure she would cause herself more harm than others with it. She of course retrieved Niji, who was delighted to see her. They traveled together for a few hours, and then Yuzuki made camp. Niji wanted to be more adventurous, and wanted to go after every new sound she came across. But Yuzuki had finally gotten onto the saddle of the unicorn, and has been learning the subtle differences between guiding Niji and guiding Yukana. Niji, of course, is more spirited. And finally in their camp Yuzuki tried to sleep. Eventually her body simply shut down, not able to stay awake any longer. But that didn’t last. She found herself in tears a few times as she laid there in the dirt. She even thought about ending her life a few times, she was so ashamed of what she had allowed herself to do. And once more… the words of her father ring in her ears. He was right, he was absolutely right. And she proved it, didn’t she?
The sun comes up… as it is known to do. And Yuzuki is awake before the sun breaks the horizon. She was able to find more berries to eat, and some odd fruits from the camp of Hitler’s men. Niji seemed thrilled to share one of the fruits with Yuzuki, but mostly ate of the grass around their camp. Niji never wandered far from Yuzuki, despite the fact she wanted to run in the forest. Yuzuki stands in the middle of the clearing they had chosen to stop in, and she secures her ragged kimono around her body once more. Arrows are slung on her back, her new spear in hand, the pistol-in-a-bag secured to her sash. She draws in a deep breath of the fresh air, and then looks towards Niji as she speaks softly. “So… how do we get to Gatecia, little one?” Niji looks up from her grazing of grass towards Yuzuki… and then goes back to eating her breakfast. Yuzuki just smiles tiredly to Niji… and then jumps a little as a new voice is heard.
“Are you hurt? You look like you might be hurt.” Yuzuki stares wide eyed at Niji “Was… that you?” She questions, and Niji just continues her breakfast. Was that her imagination? Is she truly going insane. “Well?” The light voice is heard again, and Yuzuki now looks… down… and staring up at her is a tiny fairy woman… and she is astride on a… small dog… a corgi, more precisely. Although Yuzuki wouldn't know what a corgi was specifically. She stares wide eyed at the fairy and her mount, the corgi panting happily as it’s tail wags quickly. The fairy looks oddly up at Yuzuki… and Yuzuki utters “This is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my whole life.” The fairy narrows her eyes up at Yuzuki, seeming offended for a moment. “So… ya don’t need aid?” Now Yuzuki crouches down, holding her hand out. The corgi sniffs at her hand, and then licks it as the fairy speaks once more. “Since my steed trusts you, I won’t kill you. You said you had to get to Gatecia?” Yuzuki looks to the fairy and just nods blankly, still a little mind blown from seeing a fairy riding a corgi! “Well I’m to deliver a coin to the King… we can lead you there. I mean… just as long as you can keep up.” Yuzuki glances to Niji, and then back to the fairy as she nods again absently. The fairy sighs and shrugs, grasping the reins of the corgi and tugging it in one direction. “I’m Melio, by the way.” Yuzuki continues to stare as if she is in love… and finally stutters out. “Uh.. I’m.. uh.. Yuzuki.” IT’S A FAIRY ON A PUPPY! Melio nods and they start to move off “Okay Yuzuki. Let’s go. I know a quicker path than the main roads.” Yuzuki stands quickly and moves to Niji, hoisting herself up into the saddle. She guides Niji to follow the FAIRY RIDING THE PUPPY, staring wide eyed at it.
To be continued….
The snow had begun to fall already this year. It is Winter, the 12th day of the 10th month. The snow is nearly a foot deep in this part of the country.
And young Yuzuki is barely wearing anything in it.
She is wearing a light silk kimono, which offers basically zero resistance to the bitter cold air. She walks in a circle in the snow, her feet only covered in worn sandals, which offer just as little protection as the kimono. She is hunched forward, her arms hugging herself. Her hair has grown back for the most part, but it is still rather short. She almost feels dizzy, she is so cold. But she isn’t out here alone. A tall man stands not terribly far from Yuzuki on a small deck that has been erected in this forest. His hands are folded behind his back as he watches the girl, a deep frown on his lips. He speaks to her in a stern tone (translated from the Japanese) “So, child. You wish to serve me?” Yuzuki nods quickly as she continues to walk in circles in the snow, stumbling every few steps. “Answer me, wench!” Yuzuki flinches and calls out in a broken tone. “Yes, master!" She stumbles again as the man nods a little, his gloved hands folding behind his back. “Would you not rather be back in your father’s palace, nice and warm next to the fire? Enjoying your lavish bed and spoiled lifestyle?” Yuzuki’s eyes close a moment as she continues, but she shakes her head. “I wish to serve you, master!” The man nods again, his eyes studying Yuzuki carefully. “You come to me as a spoiled child. In order to create a force for good in this world, I must first destroy you. And then we will remake you into the image of the Buddha. Is that what you want, whelp?” Yuzuki calls out again, falling to one knee for a moment, but quickly getting back to her feet. “I wish to serve you, master!” The man, he seems pleased by her answer.
Almost a half hour passes, and now Yuzuki sits huddled under a thick and fur lined quilt. She sits very close to a fire pit that had been dug just the day before, trying to get as warm as she can. She feels tears in her eyes as she sits there, wondering just how bad the frostibite is in her toes and fingers. But in reality she doesn’t have frostbite, but she’s scared she does. Another piece of timber is thrown onto the fire, and now ‘the master’ moves to sit next to Yuzuki on his knees. He sits with his back straight, his hands on his knees. He watches her, and she tries to lean away from him a little. His voice is now softer, almost tender. “When Master Hizashi came to me, I was skeptical. I will admit this to you. I did not think you would do well as one of our elites. But…” he now looks away from her, towards the fire as he continues. “The only image I had of you was when you were playing with Akihiko. Running through the fields chasing one another, learning to ride horses together. Going to festivals together. But…” he now looks back to her “That was a long time ago, child. And you are a much changed person. You have helped forge your own sword. You have shown dedication and loyalty. And so I shall be dedicated and loyal to you. Your father asked me not to go easy on you, to treat you as any other of my apprentices. But.. I will do more than that. I will make you work harder than I would any others. You will not like me most days, Mizuki. But you will be the Date’s greatest and most feared warrior. But for now…” he takes in a deep breath as he looks to her “Get your strength back. With the sunrise, we resume training.” Yuzuki just nods absently, her body swaying a little as she sits there. She feels like she could all asleep sitting up… and in fact she does. The man grins a little as she sits there, and slowly she lays back, pulling the quilt on top of herself. He lets her rest for now… she is going to have a hard day tomorrow when her training begins in earnest.
It’s been almost 12 hours since the Retreat. Since she had told her allies to just… run…
As a group, they were mingling amongst those at the camp lead by Jim. She… isn’t sure she ever heard his last name. If she did, she forgets. She met Niji there… the unicorn that is now her companion. She felt herself a bit taken by Jim. And by Horse, frankly. Maybe she’s just lonely. But that camp is also where she first heard the name ‘Hitler. A menace that was enough to scare Jim and Albert. And that made her very uneasy. Her first thought was to go after Hitler himself. But fate had other plans. The camp came under attack… and Yuzuki saw her father.
With a gasp she wakes up once more… and Niji is suddenly there, leaning down to sniff at her. She lays in the dirt not to far from the river, having passed out once more. Niji blows air out her nose as she leans towards Yuzuki curiously, her wide dark eyes staring down at the woman. With a soft whimper Yuzuki sits up, grasping her left arm. She lost her sword… Aki no Ken… somewhere. She lost if when… something exploded in front of her. The man she was fighting, perhaps he was carrying some kind of bomb. She was barely able to get out of the blast radius, and she was injured at the same time. It’s bad enough that it will impair her fighting. But losing her katana is much more painful. Yuzuki reaches up to grab onto Niji’s bridle, and she grimaces as she pulls herself to her feet. Niji leans her head up to help Yuzuki to her feet, remaining unmoving.
She closes her eyes as she leans on the unicorn, trying to motivate herself to move. But the image of her father is in her head. Holding her emotions hostage. Did he remember her? Were his words meant for her alone, or just someone he didn’t recognize? Why would he be here? And why would he be working with those raiders? So many questions… but right now she can’t get her head or her heart together to figure things out.
With the unicorn at her side, Yuzuki moves on. She knows it would be foolish to return to camp. She could probably make her way back to it, but who knows what happened after she fled. The camp was being overrun. If she were to return, there’s a good chance she could be captured. She didn’t have time to see if Anne, Albert and the newer future man made it out. She just hopes they heeded her warning. But with that warning came instruction. She told them she would meet them in Gatecia. That’s where they all were going. But she doesn’t have the map. She did ask, though… “Niji… do you know way to Gatecia?” And unfortunately, all she got back was a blank stare or a playful nudge. Neither of which provided a ton of help to her. But she was near a river… rivers always lead to civilization. That was evident in the Barbin camp, that was evident in Jim’s camp. So if she follows the river… and moves away from the direction of Jim’s camp… she should find someone.
Unfortunately she finds someone.
She and Niji walk for nearly 2 hours, then. Stopping occasionally to eat or drink from the river. Niji was happy gobbling some of the grass they found. Yuzuki grazed on some odd looking berries she comes across. She vaguely remembers seeing them being served in the Barbin village. So hopefully they won’t kill her. But one never knows in this land. And in the time they have been traveling, she has to admit her arm was feeling much better. Perhaps she wasn’t hurt as bad as she thought. Or perhaps her dark thoughts and self doubt made her body ache more than it should have.
As they walk, Niji comes to a sudden stop, her ears perked up. She stares ahead of them, and she snorts softly. Yuzuki comes to a slow stop next to her, staring up at her. Niji might be a unicorn, but she seems to share many traits with normal horses. She’s seen that kind of stance before, that sound Niji makes when she snorts. It means she is suddenly sensing what could be danger. Slowly Yuzuki looks ahead of them into the forest, her eyes squinting a little. But those eyes widen as she abruptly launches herself away from Niji. Just as she moves, an arrow rockets passed her, actually grazing her shoulder. She clutches her shoulder as she lands in a roll, gritting her teeth with the pain, feeling blood trickling at her hand. Niji rears up and lets out a startled cry, and then dashes away. Yuzuki draws up to sit on her knees, her upper body slumped forward a little, her hand grasping her shoulder tightly. Her eyes look in the direction the arrow came from, and she hears movement there. She stares, knowing she can’t get away in time. Knowing she’s to exposed here. But she doesn’t have a choice but to face whatever is coming.
The last time she was in a situation like this, she was confronted by a giant walking cat. She doubts this will end as well as that encounter did, though.
From the underbrush emerge 2 beings… well they look human, save for their oddly colored skin. A light orange color, in fact. One of them is carrying a bow, an arrow nocked. They are heard to be chuckling as they emerge. As one they fall silent, now staring at Yuzuki. “That… isn’t the unicorn. I thought you hit the unicorn.” The man speaking… his name is Lubos. And his pal, the one with the bow, is called Otmar. And with those words spoken, Otmar laughs to himself, shrugging. “I thought I did. I mean I think there was a unicorn… here… hey” He now leans closer to Yuzuki as she glares defiantly up towards the men. Otmar crouches down a few feet from Yuzuki then, his bow resting on his lap. “Unicorns are shape shifters… am I right?” Lubos shrugs, glancing around them. “I don’t know a lot about animal folk, Otmar.” He looks back towards Yuzuki and Otmar “So she’s actually the unicorn? She trying to trick us?” Otmar stares Yuzuki in the eyes, and he speaks. “Look at how she’s shabby dressed. And her eyes are weird.” He now leans a little closer and addresses her with a stern tone. “Say something and prove you’re not a unicorn, woman.” There is a pause, and now Lubos draws a dagger from his belt. By the way… these men are dressed in light leather armor. They are, most likely, part of a hunting party. Or they are the hunting party. But it isn’t their armor or weapons that gets Yuzuki’s attention.
It’s the swastika imprinted on the back of their hands.
But Yuzuki complies, obediently. “I am going to kill you both, take your weapons, and kill everyone in whatever encampment you might have.” The 2 Maleese stare at her wordlessly, and then they start to laugh. Yuzuki narrows her eyes at them, and Otmar looks over his shoulder towards Lubos as he continues to crouch in front of Yuzuki. “Well not unicorn. Should we take her back? Or… have a little f-” He feels something right on top of him suddenly. “Wha-?!” He cries out as Yuzuki bounds towards him, the palm of her hand covering his eyes. Her other hand reaches over his shoulder to grab an arrow out of his quiver. Lubos looks on, astonished, as she draws the arrow and stabs it right into the side of Otmar’s neck in one smooth motion. The hand covering his eyes moves down his face to cover his lips now, just as he lets out a scream. Said scream now muffled by her hand. “Troa’s eyes!” Lubos cries out as he stumbles back, genuinely not knowing what to do. Otmar’s body slumps down as Yuzuki’s angered gaze snaps towards Lubos, and she now leaps towards him, reaching out to him with blood covered hands. He tries to swing his dagger at her… and Yuzuki notices he’s drawing in a deep breath as he backpeddles. That simple action, the look of panic in his eyes… he’s about to call for help. One of Yuzuki’s hands comes up to slam against Lubos’ wrist, causing the dagger to fall from his hand. Her other hand jabs forward as she flattens it, and his Lubos right in the throat. He tries to yell, but only something of a gurgling sound as he stumbles. His hands move to grab his throat, staring wide eyed at the young woman. “Ore to wa kakawaranai hou ga ii!” She cries out as she jams her elbow into his face right between his eyes. She doesn’t realize it (since she hears everything in Japanese), but the medallion seems to have slipped, her words actually coming across as a nonsensicle (to those that don’t know Japanese) language. But the jist of the phrase is ‘don’t mess with me’. Lubos falls with a thud to the ground, and Yuzuki stands as she breathes heavily, looking around herself for more of them. She doesn’t think there are any more of them. But they came from somewhere. Somewhere with more wearing the swastika on their bodies.
Slowly then Niji pokes her head into the clearing, looking around cautiously. She lifts her head a little as she snorts, trying to determine if there is any more danger. Yuzuki looks towards the unicorn as she grasps her shoulder, it still bleeding a little. “Come, little one.” She says softly as she now looks towards the 2 men… more specifically their weapons and armor. Otmar is a rather beefy fellow. And his armor reflects that size. But the now unconscious Lubos… well he’s a little fella.
Yuzuki starts to grin a little as she gets an idea.
It’s about 20 minutes later, and now Yuzuki walks away from the little clearing wearing leather armor. Her kimono is wrapped about itself and slung over her shoulders. She did also make room for the quiver of arrows, and she carries the bow. She has the dagger tucked into the belt she now wears, her hair tied back into a ponytail. Niji trots merrily behind her, flicking her head up and down as she does so.
For Yuzuki, tracking the men’s path doesn’t prove to difficult. While they were hunters (she thinks), they also seem to have been sloppy. Perhaps not out hunting, persay, but just relaxing a little. Maybe they were part of the raiding party in Jim’s camp. They think they won, so now they can relax. That’s just a theory on Yuzuki’s part. But whatever the circumstances… she has found their camp. And it seems at least part of her theory is right.
She ensures Niji stays put away from where she is, tying her reins to a tree not far from here. Niji didn’t like the prospect at all, at first. But Yuzuki was able to calm her enough to be able to move off without her. Of course she had to ensure Niji she would return, which seemed to help the unicorn. More and more Yuzuki thinks Niji is far more intelligent than most animals.
So at this moment Yuzuki is crouched behind a tree, looking towards the camp. The sun is starting to set, so they are setting up their guards for the night. Putting together a fire pit. She sits there in the shadows for nearly an hour, having to move a few times when she thought they were getting close to discovering her. She has counted 7 men… and she has studied them enough as they go about their business to see that swastika emblem on their hands and clothing. She also makes note of their armorments, the weapons they have access too. She sees some bows leaning up against a log… a few swords resting in their scabbards on that same log… a couple spears… but one of the men, he carries something different on his person. He seems to be the one ordering the others around, and they comply with him. Yuzuki can make out the pistol he has at his hip. It looks sort of kind of similar to the one Anne had been playing with. But she doesn’t know that was a semi-automatic pistol, and the one that man has is a revolver. She wouldn’t be able to recognize the difference, at least not from this distance. But it has a similar shape, and so Yuzuki will assume that’s what it is. If she’s right, she can prepare to deal with it. If she’s wrong… well she will have fretted for nothing.
Now her mind moves to a more tactical sense. They don’t know she is here. They are reveling in what she assumes is their victory at Jim’s camp. People in that mindset don’t expect to be attacked. They have won the day, and those they have defeated are to busy licking their wounds to retaliate. So they relax, revel in their victory. She would admit she is guilty of such things at times in her life. And then scolded appropriately. She studies the men… and then slowly she looks upwards. They are still in the forest. She could scale a tree and attack from there.
But perhaps an errant thought… why attack these men? More than once she has professed to her ‘crew’ that they don’t need to get into conflict if they can avoid it. Talking them out of finding Wallace’s camp, wanting to avoid possible danger, amongst others. But now… she could just simply move on. These men have no idea she’s here. She had to deal with those ones from before because they attacked her. That was more defense than anything else. Mercy is one of the hallmarks of Bushido (in her opinion). She has let more than one of her enemies in this world live, shown them mercy. Attacking these men now here in the forest… it speaks ill of her character. She knows this. She is ashamed of her thoughts right now. But she saw the others of this group attack and kill innocents within the camp… they might have been behind the attack on the Barbin. For all she knows… they killed Albert. They might have killed Anne. They might have killed Jim. They might have killed Horse. They might have killed Xing. It isn’t justice in her heart right now, it is vengeance. Good old fashioned vengeance. And she is ashamed of that. But… none of her friends are here right now… so she’ll make peace with herself about what is about to come. She’ll make peace with her Gods when she meets them, and it may not end well for herself. But she will kill these men, just as she promised before.
Like a coward in the shadows (which she knows she is right now), she draws the bow from her shoulders. She silently nocks an arrow as she now moves into a crouch, and she gets ready to move. She was trained in the use of the bow… even if it was a different kind of bow. Not this.. odd tiny bow. She mostly used a longer bow… a taller one… but this seems closer to a bow she has encountered in battle against the Chinese or Arabians. It’s awkward… but she is still skilled in its use. She raises the bow and draws its string as she pushes herself to her feet... and she lets loose the arrow. Silently flies through the air… and it impacts the shoulder of the man with the revolver. He screams out as he falls back, the arrow protruding from his left shoulder. 3 of the men around the fire leap to their feet and look around for whatever is attacking, and she sees some of the tents in the camp stirring as men wake up within. She curses softly and hisses “Damnable awkward bow!” That should have been a killing shot, and if she had a proper bow it would have been. One of the men start towards that log with the weapons leaning on it, and Yuzuki is in sudden motion. She bounds into the camp, the men looking towards her in astonishment, a couple of the men moving to help the man with the arrow in his shoulder. She grips the bow as she would a baseball bat and swings at the man going for the weapons, and smashes it right across his face. It bursts into pieces as she knocks him down, his face bleeding. Huh… bow was good for something after all! The commander tries to reach for his pistol… but he can’t move the arm he would use to reach for it. The other men start towards Yuzuki as they cry out… and Yuzuki scoops up one of the spears.
It’s a heavy spear… and it feels damn good in her hands. It’s not a naginata… but she likes it. One of the men reaches for a sword, and she brings the shaft of the spear down on his arm, as if punshing a child for reaching for something they shouldn’t. His arm breaks as he screams in pain, falling back. The men stumble away in shock, and now Yuzuki defends the log with the weapons. Her eyes move between the men, silently daring them to step forward. And to their credit, they do exactly that. Some of them try with knives they had on them. Some actually do get to a sword or spear, but against Yuzuki they don’t do so well. And the whole time the commander is trying to get away, crawl away. He’s already decided to use the men as pawns, to keep the woman busy while he escapes. But he can’t move fast, feeling the arrow digging into his shoulder. At one point he thinks about breaking it off, or pulling it out all together. But when he grasps the arrow shaft, it causes shots of pain to run through his body. He isn’t a terribly brave man, but he is good with tactics and inspiring people. He gets just outside of the camp and is moving in a northern direction… and that’s when the screams of his men are silenced. Wide eyed he looks over his shoulder, and he forces himself to his feet. He tries to get to his pistol, and clumsily gets it from its holster. He really should have done that earlier… but the pain in his shoulder is messing with his mind. He was only concerned with escape.. not defense. Not after that arrow found itself inside of his shoulder. He looks behind him again, and he lets out a startled gasp as he realizes Yuzuki is behind him now. Like… RIGHT behind him. She is a silent minx when she wants to be. He slowly and awkwardly starts to turn and raise his pistol… not using his dominant hand… and Yuzuki’s hand snaps out to grab the pistol right out of his hand as she speaks in an angered tone “Give me that!” With that same anger she throws it to the side, and she grabs the shaft of the arrow. He cries out and whimpers as he drops to his knees, Yuzuki crouching down in front of him to keep herself at eye level. “I am Yuzuki Date. Tell me your name” She twists the arrow, and he cries out again “Now!” He whimpers and nods quickly, his shaking hand hovering over her hand on the arrow. “Osbald Carver! Please it hurts so much!” She grits her teeth and wiggles the arrow, causing him to fall back onto his butt, Yuzuki still looming over him. “Osbald Carver. You are not going to die. Not today, not at my hand this day. You are my messenger boy. Yes?” He nods quickly as he stares up at her in horror. “Get word to your Hitler. Tell him Yuzuki Date will take his head and proudly display it in a shrine to his memory.” She snaps her hand to one side, and a majority of the shaft of the arrow breaks away. He cries out as Yuzuki stands slowly, tossing away the broken arrow. “You killed… all of those men… how… what are you…” She turns, scooping up his pistol and stalks away from him, back towards their camp as she speaks.
“I am nothing now.”
Sleep did not come easily. At all for Yuzuki. She has a spear now, and she has gathered arrows which she carries in the quiver on her back. She has the revolver, but she has it in a bag she found in the men’s camp, and it hangs from her sash. She doesn’t want to use it, as she is sure she would cause herself more harm than others with it. She of course retrieved Niji, who was delighted to see her. They traveled together for a few hours, and then Yuzuki made camp. Niji wanted to be more adventurous, and wanted to go after every new sound she came across. But Yuzuki had finally gotten onto the saddle of the unicorn, and has been learning the subtle differences between guiding Niji and guiding Yukana. Niji, of course, is more spirited. And finally in their camp Yuzuki tried to sleep. Eventually her body simply shut down, not able to stay awake any longer. But that didn’t last. She found herself in tears a few times as she laid there in the dirt. She even thought about ending her life a few times, she was so ashamed of what she had allowed herself to do. And once more… the words of her father ring in her ears. He was right, he was absolutely right. And she proved it, didn’t she?
The sun comes up… as it is known to do. And Yuzuki is awake before the sun breaks the horizon. She was able to find more berries to eat, and some odd fruits from the camp of Hitler’s men. Niji seemed thrilled to share one of the fruits with Yuzuki, but mostly ate of the grass around their camp. Niji never wandered far from Yuzuki, despite the fact she wanted to run in the forest. Yuzuki stands in the middle of the clearing they had chosen to stop in, and she secures her ragged kimono around her body once more. Arrows are slung on her back, her new spear in hand, the pistol-in-a-bag secured to her sash. She draws in a deep breath of the fresh air, and then looks towards Niji as she speaks softly. “So… how do we get to Gatecia, little one?” Niji looks up from her grazing of grass towards Yuzuki… and then goes back to eating her breakfast. Yuzuki just smiles tiredly to Niji… and then jumps a little as a new voice is heard.
“Are you hurt? You look like you might be hurt.” Yuzuki stares wide eyed at Niji “Was… that you?” She questions, and Niji just continues her breakfast. Was that her imagination? Is she truly going insane. “Well?” The light voice is heard again, and Yuzuki now looks… down… and staring up at her is a tiny fairy woman… and she is astride on a… small dog… a corgi, more precisely. Although Yuzuki wouldn't know what a corgi was specifically. She stares wide eyed at the fairy and her mount, the corgi panting happily as it’s tail wags quickly. The fairy looks oddly up at Yuzuki… and Yuzuki utters “This is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my whole life.” The fairy narrows her eyes up at Yuzuki, seeming offended for a moment. “So… ya don’t need aid?” Now Yuzuki crouches down, holding her hand out. The corgi sniffs at her hand, and then licks it as the fairy speaks once more. “Since my steed trusts you, I won’t kill you. You said you had to get to Gatecia?” Yuzuki looks to the fairy and just nods blankly, still a little mind blown from seeing a fairy riding a corgi! “Well I’m to deliver a coin to the King… we can lead you there. I mean… just as long as you can keep up.” Yuzuki glances to Niji, and then back to the fairy as she nods again absently. The fairy sighs and shrugs, grasping the reins of the corgi and tugging it in one direction. “I’m Melio, by the way.” Yuzuki continues to stare as if she is in love… and finally stutters out. “Uh.. I’m.. uh.. Yuzuki.” IT’S A FAIRY ON A PUPPY! Melio nods and they start to move off “Okay Yuzuki. Let’s go. I know a quicker path than the main roads.” Yuzuki stands quickly and moves to Niji, hoisting herself up into the saddle. She guides Niji to follow the FAIRY RIDING THE PUPPY, staring wide eyed at it. To be continued….