It was a warm summer night in the town of Kagoe, a small town with a few shops and a local drinking hole for the farmers and travelers.

The bar was an average one filled with customers drinking, eating and just having all around fun, but there was one particular man that wasn't having the time of his life. He was edgy, but relaxed tonight as he drank his sweet sake. He had been wondering aimlessly for a while now to find himself in this town, but they were all the same to him now. His attire was outstanding in the sense that it was different than others, loose and rugged that matched his personality. His eyes showed a wild man who is searching for something to put him at ease in his life.

His name was Mugen.

He had spent the past couple of months going from village to village doing odd jobs that usually involve his incredible skills in swordsmanship. Still, none of it gave him the sweet taste of a true battle like the ones he found on his journey with Jin and Fuu. Jin had in a strange way became someone Mugen had come to respect, almost care about only because he was the only one he couldn't kill minus Kariya…

"Go." Jin said as his eyes focused on Kariya.

"Huh?!" Mugen grunted in surprise.

"Go on, I'll handle this."

"No, you go!"

Jin glanced at Mugen with a look Mugen has never seen before. "Please take care of Fuu…"

Mugen remembered that moment clearly, for the first time ever he had felt respect for Jin. He honestly thought when leaving him that it would be the last time he'd see Jin for the fact that Kariya almost scared Mugen with his sword skills…almost.

Still that fear and uncertainty was the thing that he missed. Living on the edge of another man's blade with death only inches away is what he wished for again and sadly…he might just miss Fuu and Jin…

xxxx

The walk from Oda was a long one filled with mountains didn't show any mercy to the lone traveler as many would lose their way and starve to death. Hills were steep and paths were narrow and laced with a ton of natural dangers. Bandits also laid traps for unsuspecting travelers, but that was no problem for this swordsman in fact it was sort of fun. He had seen plenty of battles in his time to handle his own against a few lightly armed and unskilled bandits.

His name was Jin.

He too had spent months searching for his place in an era where samurai were becoming extinct and all the same was yearning for the taste of a true battle again, not only that, but an adventure. His thoughts turned to Fuu and Mugen, the two most interesting people he had ever met. Fuu gave him something to work toward; her goal of finding her father and Mugen was a man who in the end he had to learn off of to defeat Kariya and maybe learn to loosen up himself. Still his feet and head were weary from the long walk and needed to find somewhere to stay. He only had 200 mon on him and couldn't find too much work in the previous villages.

He finally stepped into a small town and after taking sometime found a cheap inn on the far side of town. He walked into the inn to find and old man sitting behind the counter, half asleep. As Jin stepped up the old man awoke and squinted as he looked at Jin. "Excuse me," Jin said in a polite manner. "Do you have any vacancy for the night?"

The old man slowly made his way over to the key holder and grabbed the 27th room key and made his way back to his seat at the counter. He put the key on the table. "That'll...be...fifty mon." Jin kindly paid and took the key. "Would you...like our...special...ehh...company...young man?" The old man asked with a slight grin.

"No thank you." Jin said as he took his key and dropped fifty mon on the counter. "Goodnight."

"Ehh…goodnight young man."

Jin made his way upstairs and followed the numbers on the wall to room 27. He slid the door open and looked at the room. It was a small dusty room with a futon. It was better than sleeping outside. He disarmed himself of his blade and laid them next to the futon before laying down himself.

xxxx

Mugen took the last sweet gulp of sake before slamming the cup down. He was more relaxed now as he felt the slight high of the sake. He would most likely end his night with women and heavy action at the nearest red light district. "Oye tender!" Mugen called out as he got the attention of the cute looking bar tender. "Another sake."

"Coming right up!"

Three men dressed in black walked into the bar, but unfortunately they weren't there for the laughs, food or drinks. They looked around the bar until their eyes fell on Mugen who was enjoying his fresh cup of sake.

"Is that the guy?" One of the smaller men asked the larger man who was the leader.

"Yeah, that looks like Mugen." He replied as he made his way toward him with his lackeys close behind. The leader towered over Mugen and looked down at him as their eyes met. "You Mugen?"

Mugen took another sip of his sake. "And what if I am?"

"We have been ordered to take you to Yoshida…" He replied sternly, ready to use force if need be. "So let's just make this easy."

"Get the fuck outta here…I'm not interested." Mugen said in a cocky manner. "No one tells me what to do without paying me, especially from some big dumb retard and his two butt buddies who want to interrupt my happy hour."

The two smaller men grabbed their swords, but the leader signaled to them to hold. The leader grinned, choosing to resort to non-violence to try and persuade Mugen to cooperate. "Fine…but what about your friend Fuu, hmmm?"

Mugen raised an eyebrow and turned back to the bar and took another swig of sake. "And what about the dumb broad, did she get herself in some trouble again?"

The leader bent down to Mugen's ear. "We have her…all tied up and waiting to die unless you come to Yoshida. With some 'persuading' we got her to tell us where you were heading."

"Do you really think I care for that scrawny little brat?" Mugen kicked back the rest of his sake.

The leader stood up and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well…I guess I'll do some more…'persuading' with her…" He said as he grabbed his crotch.

He only closed his eyes for a second as he laughed, but his face was crushed inward by a graceful dropkick that sent him flying backwards into a wall with a severely broken nose.

The two men behind the leader couldn't react fast enough to Mugen's surprise attack as Mugen landed in a breaking spin and shot a kick into the chin of one of the lackeys sending him over a table into a few patrons.

Mugen continued his spin as the second lackey drew his sword and swung down on Mugen only to have his sword blocked by the steel plating under Mugen's geta and his sword kicked out of his hands. "Shit!" The lackey made a move to his second sword. Mugen grabbed the first sword and thrust off the ground into a baseball slide and with ease cut through the man's legs as he slid between them.

The whole bar gasped as the man fell and screamed in pain, spewing blood everywhere. Mugen swung his legs around once more into a breaking spin and flung his sword at the recovering lackey, impaling him through the throat and quickly out of the spin, dashed over to the leader and with a quick draw of his sword, impaled him through his crotch.

The leader tried to scream, but only whimpers came out as tears poured out of his eyes. Mugen slightly twisted the blade, feeling the leader wince at the pain. "Hurts…doesn't it?" Mugen asked with a grin as he dug deeper. "You know what? I needed an adventure and you gave me one, so sure…I'll head to Yoshida and I'm also happ that you won't be able to 'persuade' anyone else for the rest of your life…" Mugen ripped the sword out of the leader and dipped it in a nearby bucket of water to clean.

He quickly stepped outside into the night and looked at the moon. He grinned at the fact that he was to find himself on another adventure and to save Fuu (Again) for the umpteenth time. Yoshida was pretty far from where he was, but that made it all the more fun. Suddenly he felt what was missing slowly come back to him…

Xxxx

Jin's sensitive ears picked up movement in his room as his slender eyes opened to see his sword shining in the moonlight. Whoever it was, wouldn't last long. In a split second Jin grabbed, drew and had the edge of his blade on the neck of the intruder who let out a gasp. Jin's nose picked up a wave of perfume and looked more closely. He then found that it was a brothel worker. "…I told the old man I didn't want company for tonight…"

"B-but…someone sent me up here…" She said in return.

Jin looked at her in confusion as to why someone would send him a girl, but quickly shifted his body and blocked an incoming sword from behind him. The brothel worker shrieked as she moved away from the two. Jin looked closely at his attacker as they pushed on their crossed swords, gauging strength. It was a ninja. "Who are you?" Jin calmly demanded.

"Just a messenger…" The ninja replied as he pulled back to strike at Jin once more only to have it blocked. Jin went on the offensive to find his attacks blocked skillfully. The ninja evaded back to get space and maintain a safe distance.

"You're quick." Jin complimented. "And that ninjato is perfect for space like this."

"Leaving you and that katana at a serious disadvantage."

"So if you're a messenger…what is the message?"

"I have orders to bring you back to Yoshida."

"Yoshida?"

"We have one of your friends…Fuu is her name, I think." His eyes squinted showing his grin. "And boy…What me and some of the boys have in store for that lovely little piece of meat when we get the chance…"

"Fuu…"

"I know I'm supposed to take you alive, but…I could always lie and say that you tried to kill me first. So I can claim title to killing the one of the best swordsmen in Japan, Jin!" The ninja rushed in and kept his eyes on Jin's sword as it moved, but suddenly it became blurry and disappeared altogether. "The hell-!?" Before he could stop or evade the sword appeared in his chest. "H-how…did…you?"

"In close quarters, swinging against a ninjato is a suicide tactic, but by thrusting my sword from a unorthodox angle I caught you off guard. So there's no need to lie about me trying to kill you now."

"S-Shit…" The ninja cursed one last time before crumpling to the ground, dead.

Jin sheathed his sword and looked over at the girl. "You at least deserve payment…" Jin said as he checked the ninja and found his wallet. He checked it and it was loaded with mon. Jin tossed her 300 mon. "There, sorry to frighten you."

The woman hurried and took the money before scampering out of the room. Jin watched her leave and looked back down at the ninja. The thought of Fuu came to mind as the girl he left and thought he wouldn't meet again was once more in trouble. "No use staying for the rest of the night." Jin said as he stood and walked down stairs to see the old man lying in a pool of blood with his throat slit. Jin made his way outside into the night and looked at the moon as the wind blew. He adjusted his glasses and looked north. The journey would be long and hard, but once again he had something to really draw his blade for.

"Hold on Fuu…I'm coming."

Once again Mugen and Jin's fates were intertwined to find Fuu