Dayu appeared from a crack, finding herself in a clearing deep in the forest surrounding the town. She didn't really know the area well, but she knew as soon as she came through that she was close to what she was seeking.
Night had fallen, but the moon illuminated the area well. She could already hear a few owls beginning to hoot. It didn't matter that she didn't really know where she was, or where she was headed, she wasn't tracking by any form of sight. She was searching with the feeling she had, the instinctual bond she felt to the man she had loved for centuries that meant she could usually find him, even when others couldn't.
Feeling the subtle shift in the air temperature, she knew that his campfire was close, and just beyond a little brush, she could see it too. He was there, sitting as always, Urumasa close by, resting against a rock. She came out of the tree-line, approaching him, making sure he could see her to prevent him attacking.
"Are there any rabbits left in this area?" She asked him, gesturing to the spit on the fire. He just gave her a little smirk at the remark. He had been highly active, hunting in the area. One of the things about his existence was that while he didn't really need to eat to survive, in his human form he would still feel hungry at times. He was just used to eating a couple of meals a day out of comfort.
"There are always vermin to hunt." He assured her. "Given the fact you live in the Netherworld, you should know that more than most."
She sat opposite him, watching him as he ate. There was no threat this time, no warning not to make a move. She knew it was too much to hope for that he knew she would never attack him if she had a choice, more likely he simply knew that she was no threat to him so long as he knew she was there.
"I have to think you're taking a big risk with these visits." Dekker commented. "Master Xandred made it pretty clear the last time we met how feels about me."
"He has." She commented.
"Then I doubt he'd be too keen on his concubine..."
"I am NOT his concubine!" She shot out sharply. Dekker looked a little taken aback by the harshness in her tone and the strength of her assertion. He could tell that this distinction was important to her by how aggressively she spoke. He held up a hand.
"I meant no offence." He said apologetically. "I merely thought...you are the only female aboard his Junk..."
"Master Xandred made it clear he had no such interest in me." She told him. "I am merely a servant."
"Yet you still visit his sworn enemy." He reminded her. "I can't imagine that will sit well with him given his temper."
"I was not always his." She told him. "I am bound to serve him. That doesn't mean I always was."
"You are half-human?" He asked her. "Like me?"
"Not exactly." She sighed. He just smiled.
"Well I did sense something different about you." He admitted. She felt her heart lifting a little as he said this. She knew he still had no memory of her, but just having him acknowledge her as different let her know that the chance she was taking was worth it.
"I came to warn you." She began. "There is a plot against you. You are in terrible danger."
"You say that like it's something new to me." Dekker scoffed a little. She just looked to him, a little worried by the fact he did not seem to take this seriously.
"Octoroo plots against you." She told him. Dekker looked like he was about to choke on his meal as he started to laugh.
"That noodle-faced coward?" He asked her. "I seriously doubt..."
"He has recruited a half-nighlock to help him." She told Dekker. "They are seeking the blade of The Blessed Warrior."
"Kasamune?" He gasped, remembering his defeat. It was the only time he had ever been defeated before.
"He believes that with this warrior and Kasamune, he can destroy you!" She told him. "You must..."
"Perhaps this will give me the challenge I seek." He interrupted her. "Let him search."
"You don't understand!" She yelled. "What if he does defeat you? What if he does manage to destroy you?"
"Then the curse will be over." He told her. She already knew that somewhere in him, Dekker had something of a death wish. The curse of Urumasa would not allow him to fight to lose, nor would it allow him to die. He would only be released from the curse once someone bested him in a duel and took his life.
"It will be over for you!" She reminded him. "You took up the curse when you bested the last Cursed Warrior and took up Urumasa. If one of them took up Urumasa, then controlling both blades..."
"No one would be able to stop them." Dekker concluded, realising what this meant. "The curse of Urumasa would never end."
"I heard them talking, they said the Yellow Ranger's sister is heading for the Tengen Gate." She informed him. "Octoroo's servant, Kenzo is heading there too."
"Then that is where I must go also." Dekker announced, taking up Urumasa and disappearing into a gap. Dayu disappeared into another, hoping that she had warned the man she loved before Kenzo had too much of a head start.
The following morning, Mike and Emily were seeing Serena off at the airport. She wasn't letting them know where exactly she was going, but as soon as Emily had heard she was going to the airport, she insisted on going with her. Mike was along for the ride, and to carry the bags. She wasn't carrying much, but it gave Emily and Serena a little longer with each other before she boarded.
"Alright, this is my gate." Serena told her, turning back to her kid sister. She just smiled to her and ruffled her hair.
"Japan?" Emily asked her, seeing the board over the gate. "You never said you were going to Japan."
"Yeah, mom and dad thought it might be a great trip for me." Serena told her, trying to think of a suitable explanation. She hated lying to Emily, but Mentor Ji still insisted that it could potentially present a great risk if her quest became common knowledge. "You know, when I spent all those months in bed, mom kept me going by telling me all the Samurai legends over and over again. When I got better, she suggested that now might be a good time to go and see some of it for myself."
"Well from what little I saw of it, I know I'd love to go back." Emily said with a little smirk, reminding her sister, and somewhat teasing her over the fact it was something she had done that Serena hadn't yet. Serena just grabbed her around the neck and gave her a nugie as Emily squealed in discomfort.
"You know, there are a lot of nice police officers walking around that might get the wrong idea." Mike chuckled as Serena finally released her sister. "I got your bags checked in; you just need to get to the gate."
"Remember to send me a postcard." Emily told her. Serena just smiled, trying to imagine whether or not the Tengen Gate would have anything of a postal service.
"Well, I don't know when I'll get somewhere I can send a postcard, but I promise you I will." Serena assured her sister, hugging her tightly. She then turned to Mike. "Just you remember..."
"If Emily becomes a mommy, her baby becomes an orphan." He chuckled, reiterating her warning to him. She was never serious about it, she had spent a fair amount of time with Mike when she realised how he felt about Emily, and actually liked him. The sisterly warnings were something of their running joke. He hugged Serena as well. "Take care of yourself, and next time you come, try giving us a bit of warning so we can set something up."
"That would be great." Serena told them, looking out her ticket. "Alright, give the others my best."
"We will." Mike assured her. "Have a safe flight!"
Serena just forced a smile, having to try hard to push aside memories of her last flight. She went through the gate, into the departure lounge, taking a seat as she waited for her flight to board.
On the beach, a long way from the airport, Kevin and Mia were enjoying some time to themselves. With Mike and Emily gone for the morning to see Serena off at the airport, Kevin had used his position as interim team leader to give everyone the morning to themselves. He figured there really wasn't any point in staggering training times for the team, plus he had to admit that he liked the idea of spending some time with Mia by himself. It was something that he didn't really get the opportunity to do as much as he'd like.
He had brought her to the beach, remembering how much fun they'd had there in the times they had been there with the others. Before, he'd probably have thought of a trip to the beach in terms of it being a challenging swim, having to account for the tide and the temperature of the water, but with Mia, swimming was the last thing on his mind.
They spent some time splashing around in the water, barely getting in more than knee deep, laughing as they chased each other around. It was only as he spent that time with her, seeing her in the early morning light in her bikini that he really started to appreciate what he was missing by not taking time like this more often.
Mia ran out onto the beach, snatching up her towel and started to dry herself off. Kevin approached her, picking up another towel as he approached her. He could see that she was shivering slightly. Coming over behind her, he placed it around her shoulders gently, before leaning over and kissing her cheek. Mia smiled brightly at the gesture.
"You seemed cold." He told her.
"The water is a little cold." She agreed, turning to face him. "Of course, if you give me both towels that means you'll be cold."
"I'm kind of used to it." He told her with a shrug. "Different pools used different heaters. Some didn't heat them at all. I just got used to it."
"Well, I kind of thought maybe there was another solution." She replied, taking the massive towel and moving into him, wrapping it around both of them. Kevin smiled broadly as she moved in, kissing him deeply. "You know, I really like this new side of you. You should show it more often."
"What side is that?" He asked her.
"Confident, decisive." She began, kissing him another couple of times softly. "And may I say...a little more open to having a good time?"
"I have to admit that I've taken a while to figure out the balance. I was terrified by the responsibility, but I never had any idea how much I had to take on before." He confessed to her. He looked back to her and grinned. "I really appreciate you supporting me in this. I don't know if I'd have lasted if it wasn't for you."
"I always had faith in you." She assured him.
"There is one thing though." He told her, holding her more tightly. "I have to admit that I never knew being the leader has a few...privileges."
"Like deciding to have a morning off once in a while?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow. "When you talk like that, you could give a girl ideas."
As they started to kiss passionately, they were only interrupted as they heard some giggles and wolf-whistles from a little way off. As they turned, they saw that in concentrating on each other, they hadn't noticed a school-bus full of kids and a somewhat disapproving looking teacher standing there. By the looks of the inflatable toys and towels they were carrying, it looked like one of the nearby schools had arranged a field-trip for the kids. Maya just blushed as she cleared her throat.
"Um...maybe we should..."
"Yeah, that sounds like an idea." Kevin agreed as they made their way to the jeep as fast as dignity would allow.
In a forest, deep within Japan, Kenzo was making his way through the woods as silently as he could. Since he had left the Tengen Gate, he was sure that he would be far from welcome, and wanted to approach as quietly as possible.
Having grown up here his entire life, he was well aware of the lay of the land. He was able to slide through these forests unseen and unheard long before Octoroo had offered to imbue him with the powers of a Nighlock, and the properties of the black mamba.
He approached the temple grounds from one side, stopping just by the tree-line, and smiled as he saw the guardians there going about their business. Some were meditating, others were tending the gardens, but most of them were, by now, in the main refectory for evening meal. Kenzo gave a cocky smile as he watched his father Daisuke make his way through the grounds, heading for the refectory.
"Home sweet home." He scoffed. "Now all I need is for that Samurai bitch to put in an appearance. Let's see what the old man has to tell her."
As he started to head off, looking for somewhere out of the way nearby he could camp for the night, he thought about how he had been sent back to this place, the place where his father has wasted the life he knew he could have. His name could have been legend, breathed in whispers as the true greats. Unfortunately, his father had other plans. He was to one day become the Head Guardian. He was intended to train and study, but he was never to leave the temple. He would waste all that skill guarding a temple no one knew even existed.
As he arrived at a clearing, he checked to see that he could still see the temple from this vantage point, and started to look around for somewhere to build a fire. He found himself pausing with a start as he saw a man with long, dark hair, and a flowing white robe sitting on a rock behind him. He was cradling a white nodachi nonchalantly in his hands. He looked to Kenzo and smiled.
"You are the one Octoroo sent for me?" Dekker taunted him. "He must be losing his touch in his old age."
"Dekker?" Kenzo asked, looking a little surprised that Dekker could have snuck up on him without being noticed. "Where did you...?"
"I've been doing this a lot longer than you boy." Dekker warned him. "If I were you, I'd cut my losses and walk away."
"Like you did with The Cursed Warrior?" Kenzo asked him, becoming indignant at being addressed so disrespectfully by Dekker. He was a powerful foe in his own right. "You know, there is another way to look at this. Why would you allow me to walk away? Why not simply destroy me?"
"It would be a worthless battle." Dekker told him. "You are barely a pup. An irritating puppy that snaps at the big dogs to be noticed and make himself seem dangerous, and the same thing always happens to those."
Kenzo pulled out a katana and rushed at Dekker, at which Dekker defended himself. Kenzo was a skilled opponent, and Dekker had to respect the fact he had underestimated him a little, but inevitably, he ended up disarming him and throwing him to the ground.
"Do not embarrass yourself further boy, leave warfare for those who have the teeth for it." Dekker warned him as he turned and walked away. "Go home. Perhaps daddy will forgive you."
As he left, Kenzo sat up and punched the ground in frustration. He had trained his whole life, strived to be the best, only to end up being shoved in the mud like a troublesome child when the time came. He got to his feet and turned into his Nighlock form.
"I have the teeth for it alright." He snapped. "You were but a human when you claimed Urumasa. Next time, I hold nothing back. Next time, we see who is worthy."
With that, he started to slowly gather wood for his fire, all the while fuming about his defeat. While Octoroo wanted him to stop Serena and find Kasamune, now he had another goal. He would succeed where everyone had failed. He would be the one to defeat Dekker.