The sound of metal clashing upon metal could be heard for miles around in the dense forest. A battle raged on between a group of seven men against what originally seemed to be a fierce army. However, the group proved to be too much for the army, and soon they were laid to waste by the seven strange men. Finally, there was only one soldier left standing, the General, this was not, however, due to the man's personal skill with his sword. No, he survived only this long because he stayed back, away form the battle, watching his men die without regret.

"Please!" The General begs to the leader of the group. He's on his knees, sword still at his side. He never even took it from it's sheath. "Please, spare me! I'll give you anything you want! Money, power, women! Name it and I'll give it to you!"

"Hah!" A young man, roughly eighteen with long, braided black hair and turquoise eyes laughs harshly. "You think I would want anything from you, a coward? That's a laugh."

"Surely you must want something?"

"Yeah, actually I do."

The General looked up hopefully, but before he could ask the young man what the something was, he continued on, "Your head!" And with that statement, he swung his Banryu down and sliced off the man's head, mumbling a soft number under his breath.

"Well, that was a bit dramatic, don't you think, Bankotsu?" A bald, older looking man asked, though his tone was only a teasing one. "Why yes, Renkotsu, I suppose it was." Bankotsu responds, playfully scratching the back of his head. Taking in his surroundings, Bankotsu mentally takes in the amount of bloodshed before him before looking back over his men. Opening his mouth with the intention to give out orders, he's stopped short when his stomach gives out a large rumble. Staring down at his stomach, Bankotsu lets out a hearty laugh before starting again.

"Guess I'm pretty hungry, huh? How 'bout you guys?"

They all nod.

"Well then, I think there's a village not too far from us, let's go get some grub."

With an easy flex of his arm, the leader rests his weapon on his shoulder as if it were a walking stick even though it weighed well over one hundred pounds. Bankotsu began to lead the group into the forest, heading for that village he previously mentioned when Renkotsu spoke up. "Brother, shouldn't we gather our money from the Lord who commissioned us first?"

"Nah, we can collect that later and we're all hungry now. Besides, it's not like we don't have enough money on us right now for food."

"Yeah, Renkotsu, we'll just get it later." Another member of the mercenaries added while fiddling with placing a butterfly pin in his hair.

"Brother," An abnormally tall member of the group started, "Do you think there will be any of my type of food there?" He asked, eying the dead soldiers with a gross look of hunger.

"You want to stay here, Kyokotsu? That's fine. We'll meet up with you when we had back this way. Now, let's go! I'm a growing boy over here!"

With the last of the objections, the remaining six of the group headed out into the forest. The village ended up being farther away than Bankotsu had originally thought. Instead of an easy walk, it ended up to be a two hour trek. Nevertheless when they arrived in the village, the men didn't stop to complain or question their leader. Instead, they continued to follow Bankotsu over to a small shop selling some amazing smelling meats.

Taking their seats over in the far corner of the room, a woman hurried over with a bottle of sake for the group. All the while Jakostu sneered at the woman, impatiently cracking his knuckles until the woman quickly finished her job and practically ran from the table back into the kitchen.

"Well she could have at least taken our order." Jakotsu muttered with a sad sigh. "Shut up, Jakotsu." Bankotsu says shortly, annoyed because his friend is the reason their order wasn't taken.

The sound of laughter behind Bankotsu enticed him to turn around and stare down whoever thought his starvation was funny. His eyes made contact with another pair of light blue ones. A young girl, no older than seventeen, was standing halfway between the group of men and the door. Her eyes were shining with amusement and she had her hand curled over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter. If Bankotsu weren't so hungry, he probably would have invited her over and flirted with her. However, he was in a foul mood and glared at the girl instead.

"What's so funny girl?"

Instead of answering right away, the girl took a few calming breaths to stop her laughter and ended with simply smiling brightly at him. With a small, happy sigh, she shook her head and walked up to the table of men. "You boys need some help ordering?" She asked, fits of laughter attempted to burst out. Jakotsu glares point blank at the new girl and practically spits out a definite "No."

"Of course you don't, dear. You'll have no problem getting a girl back over here to take your order after you gave the first one a look that could kill. Let me guess...ex-soldiers on the run?"

"We most certainly are not soldiers." Renkotsu stated, looking over the girl with a look of want in his eyes.

The girl most certainly was not an eye sore. Her face was pretty enough, but her eyes were her main attraction. Renkotsu thought it was a shame that her bangs fell over them, blocking his view from their main potential. "Oh?" She starts, "What are you then?"

"We are the Band of Seven, and we are mercenaries." Bankotsu states, confused by this girl's interest. Her face slowly drops and she repeats "Mercenaries." Her eyes swiftly glance over then, her eyebrows twitch forward. "Wait a minute, if you're the Band of Seven, why are there only six of you?"

"Our seventh member isn't here, obviously." Jakotsu drawls and smirks when he hears a muffled sound to his right. Ginkotsu had just agreed with him. The girl's eyes flickered up towards Ginkotsu and then over his body. With the corner of her lips pulling down, a look of pity and concern over comes her expression. Shaking her head lightly, she turns her body to look over at the gaggle of girls in a corner of the room. Glancing back at Bankotsu, she asks, "You got money on you?"

"Yeah."

"How much?"

"Enough." Bankotsu replies stiffly. The girl smirks slightly before making her way over to the girls. "Now what is this bitch doing?" Jakotsu groans, Bankotsu simply shrugs and watches. After speaking with one of the girls she returns with a smile on her face, though this time not as bright or as happy as before. "Hope you boys enjoy your meal. See you 'round."

With those parting words, the strange girl walks out of the establishment. Looking over to Renkotsu, who simply shrugs, Bankotsu wonders what just happened. Hardly any time passes from when the girl left them when two girls came out holding four dishes of different assortment of fishes and meats on them. Once they had left, two more girls showed up after them with more foods. Before one had left, however, Renkotsu grabbed them and said "We didn't order this." The girl looked confused but responded, "But, the girl said you wanted one of everything."

Renkotsu released her and looked to Bankotsu who had a smirk on his face. That girl was definitely interesting, now if only he knew her name.

A/N: As promised, the first chapter of the new re-vamped HYEW series. Hope you enjoyed, please review. Also, if you are interested in the old story, let me know, and I will send the old chapters your way.

Pastry~