"It's dark out tonight."
Riichi turns with a look of contempt to his young and arrogant comrade. He was a hairs breath away, in the darkness. It was frustratingly difficult to see the brat, despite their proximity. Yet he could still see the boy's face, unmarked and unproven, crouched besides him. The boy's trying to grow a beard, Riichi notes, if his unshaven face was seemingly implying. The brown scruff matched that of his short hair, recently cut to avoid the men's jokes. He must have dreaded the idea of being seen as nothing more than a mere girl. He wonders whether the gods had punished him for his sins via the boy's idiocy. Riichi wasn't at all surprised when he had been assigned the job of scout. I had scouted successfully on the last seven raids. Riichi had always preferred to scout alone. The thought of being in the wilderness, with only the animals for company, was enticing.
"Of course it's bloody dark, you fucking idiot. Its night what do you expect?" He whispers as he peers back out towards the faint candle lights from the sleeping village. He kept scratching the scruff of his growing beard in both confusion and annoyance.
"Just trying to make conversation Riichi, I suppose." Chino replies with a shrug, Riichi sensing it behind his back. His eyes were too focused on scanning the village to bother looking at his partner.
By the gods the child is the walking definition of an incompetent fool.
"We're here to scout, not talk." Riichi dismisses, trying to keep his voice quiet. The cliff edge risked carrying their voices further than Riichi would like.
Nothing. They have nothing but rice. Fucking rice. Why in the hells would Kumori send us out to this waste of space? Has the scumbag gained a thirst for limitless amounts of rice? I'll have to ask around, see if some of the other lads know something I don't. Not surprising since the man hates me. The bastard makes it his daily past time to threaten that he'll cut my eyes out and feed them to me.
Riichi sighs to himself, not caring about the boy's presence beside him. Kumori's getting me to train my own replacement. Seems like he's finally found the nerve to kill me. Doesn't want the trouble of training this fuck boy himself though. I'll have to get rid of Chino then he decides, slyly stroking the hilt of his katana as he grimaced at the prospect. Another chore.
Not now of course. That would be suspicious and may give Kumori the excuse he needs to finish me off. Another one going to the dirt tonight then.
"We leaving yet Riichi? There's nothing there Damnit." Chino groans, his boredom and thirst for action making him impatient.
Riichi left the question unanswered for several long, dragged out minutes. His eyes watching for anything that could mean trouble; wondering why they were here. There wasn't anything interesting about the place.
Nothing at all.
Just several huts for the villagers, the fields of rice to man north of the cliff. A 'grand' hall in the centre with a lone hut further down to the south of the village. It was separated from the others for some peculiar reason and was surrounded by the oak forest. Hmm, they've cut themselves off from the others.
"We leave when I tell you we leave, you fucking brat." He says with disdain, a contrast to his calm and slow tone, Riichi standing up as he did so to the now annoyed Chino. Towering over the boy, he could see the slight hint of fear on his face, despite the boy's attempts at hiding it. He wasn't surprised, to the young and inexperienced he would look terrifying. He wore a black silk shirt underneath his black painted bamboo breastplate. The shirt and armour were partly hidden underneath his black robe like coat. The startlingly white hilt of his katana blade protruded from the right side of his waist. His scowl was amplified by Riichi's grizzled beard and callous brown eyes. It gave him the appearance of a man just waiting for an excuse to kill.
His scowl soon turned into a dark smile. Picking the still visibly disturbed boy up with one arm, he chuckled with a shake of his head. "Thankfully for you we're done here. Move your ass, boy. It's time to give Kumori the good news."
Riichi briefly glances back at the village, his smile waning ever so slightly. Fools, whatever you did to warrant Kumori's anger, you're going to regret it now. Doesn't matter now, you will all be dead before you realise this fact.
Riichi's smile returns along with a glimmer in his eye. He could already smell the ashes.