Chapter 3

Fuu scratched at the sweat that trickled down her neck. The afternoon heat was near unbearable, and they had only been treading on for an hour. The air was thick-breath too deeply and you could suffocate on it. Rolled up sleeves and tightly knotted hair did nothing to compensate for the heat, and it was only worse for the two men that walked in front of her.

Fields of tall yellow grass sprawled out before them, the sky a muggy blue. Mugen coughed- probably the most exciting thing to happen for the past several minutes.

"Can we please stop soon? I'm gonna die…" moaned Fuu.

"That wouldn't be the worst thing."

"Shut up, Mugen…" she droned. Blinding heat made for lazy retorts.

"As soon as we reach the forest we'll rest," Jin said quietly. She squinted into the distance, and to her dismay, the slim line of green seemed miles away. So they trudged on, the shimmer of the sun mirroring off the path in front of them. Another day of travels.

There wasn't much to be said, but no one felt like talking anyway.

A weak breeze touched the side of Fuu's neck, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Making an effort to squint again, she saw the lines of treetops. Encouraging, in the least. Jin wrung his hands on the tsuka of his katana. Mugen rolled up the sleeve that had just fallen down. Everything seemed slow and timeless, as if they didn't have a real motive for anything.

Fuu wanted to take action against it. "Ugh, walk faster! It looks like you want to be out in this weather."

As if on cue, both men sprang forward and started running. Fuu looked on, shocked.

"Hey! Wait up you idiots, that isn't what I meant!"

But yelling was useless. She ran after them.

She was almost wheezing by the time she stepped into the cool shade. She doubled over, waiting for her pulse to slow. She stared up at their nonchalant and quite unamused faces.

"Man, what is…wrong…with you? How…can you even…run in this heat?!"

"It's because we're fitter, obviously. You just sit on your fat ass and eat all day," Mugen smirked. Now, Fuu did have enough energy to fight back.

"You WISH I could eat all day, jerk! It's because of you that we can't even get normal jobs! And I'm not fat!"

"No, it's because of YOU we can't stay anywhere for long!"

She snorted. "Oh, and with your 'peaceful' behavior you would even be able to last? As if."

Mugen tightened his fists. "Don't even worry about me, girlie. I soon as you find your stupid flower guy I'm clearin' out of here before you can say thank you."

"As if I would even want you to stay…" she scowled. Mugen rolled his eyes and turned to Jin.

"Man, do you know where this trail leads to? I'm getting' tired and I sure as hell don't wanna camp out again."

"…the nearest village ahead is Okurano. I'd say it's a couple of hours."

Fuu let out another groan. "Great, so we're gonna stop and rest now, like you said. Okay? Okay." She plopped down on a fallen branch and stretched out her legs,sighing.

"Fine," Mugen grumbled. He pushed the scraggled hair away from his eyes and leaned against the nearest tree.

"Do we have any water?"

"You drank the last of it."

"Aw…"

"Cow."

"HEY!"

Suddenly Momo popped out from her chest and stared at him, causing him to jump in the slightest. Fuu couldn't help but giggle.

"Why do you carry that damned rat around with you anyways?" he yelled.

"To cheer me up when you piss me off."

Mugen growled. "Hah, as if you don't piss me off 24/7. But look at me, I don't need no stupid flying rodent!"

"Yea, well you don't need friends! I do!"

"You're damn right I don't!"

Jin pinched the bridge of his nose, agitated at their incessant arguing. If only they could go through one day without bickering. If only.

However something caught his eye for a split second. A shadow. He turned quickly and immediately removed the sword from its sheath. Mugen looked up at him, fully alert.

"What is it?"

Jin scanned the perimeter of the forest of which they entered, waiting. This was the second movement he had picked up on, and he was not letting it slide this time.

"…there's someone following us."

Mugen's gaze immediately hardened, and he too unsheathed his sword. They stood for a minute; listening, watching. However no further sound was made. Jin suspiciously narrowed his eyes.

"We should walk more quickly."

"Shouldn't we just fight them?" Fuu pleaded.

"No. We don't want to be lured into a trap by looking for them. It's best to wait."

"…then let's get out of here!" she whispered loudly. She stood up cautiously and looked at the two man. Jin always had the same expression, but Mugen…he had changed. She was amazed at how quickly his demeanor could change. At first glance, he looked like your run-of-the-mill ragged, lazy idiot. But now…his expression was still, deadly. He looked like a samurai. Snap out of it, she thought, and strode ahead.

"Be careful, Fuu," Jin warned.

"Right."

The three went on for few a minutes, walking briskly. Rays of sun filtered through the canopy, printing strange patterns on the backs of the travelers. All silent, staring ahead.

Fuu decided to break the silence. "Wouldn't they attack by now? Usually that's what happens…"

"They must be waiting for something," answered Mugen.

The sound of rushing water grew nearer and nearer, making it hard to hear anything else. The path sloped downhill as they approached a fast-flowing river about 30 feet wide, causing them to stop.

Jin's grip hardened.

Suddenly an arrow flew through the air and struck a tree inches away from Mugen's face. He turned and saw the shooter. All of a sudden two other men came sprinting out of the brush with swords ready, and stopped.

"We are the Yokishima police, and you are under arrest for murder! Now submit peacefully, or we will have to use force!"

Mugen smirked. "Now we all know that we sure as hell won't let you pigs take us anywhere."

One of the men spoke. "Yes, I figured. I was there when you first escaped your execution, and it was that moment then that I swore to bring you in myself. Who knows the countless amount of people you've slaughtered like animals. You deserve to be killed!"

"Don't we all!" Mugen laughed. Jin looked at him.

"So why didn't you attack us in the first place? Was it because you were waiting for us to arrive at the river, blocking our escape?"

The policeman gave her a cold stare.

"Correct, Miss. And now we'll see if these two murderers really live up to word."

As if on cue, both men sprang forward, swords in hand. Jin reached the policeman first, swinging at him only to be blocked by his silver katana. Mugen pounced at the second man, fully aware that the third man with the bow could shoot from range. The two exchanged slashes while Jin fought hard with the first man, who jumped back after a hard blow.

"Mugen, take down the archer first, he's more dangerous," Jin shouted.

"Fine," he replied. He then shoved his foot into the second policeman's shoulder blade and kicked him hard, sending him flying. Mugen used the spring from that to bolt forward towards the man in the brush. Upon seeing the deadly swordsman charge, the man set up another arrow and shot. Mugen moved an inch to the left as the arrow went spiraling past him, cutting his cheek.

"You're gonna regret that," he murmured, and swung his sword at him.

While all the chaos was going on, Fuu just backed herself against the bark of a tree, waiting for her bodyguards to take care of business. She just hoped Mugen would take care of the archer before he shot any more random-"AHHH!"

The arrow that had missed Mugen headed straight for Fuu's head before she ducked down at the last second. Oh my god that was close…

She stomped up a few yards before yelling at him. "HEY! Get rid of the damn guy before he kills me!" However, she didn't see the second man get up from where he received the blow to his shoulder.

Mugen ducked another weak punch from the archer before turning to Fuu. Then, without looking, he swiftly drove his blade into the man's stomach, blood spurting onto his tattered shirt.

"There, ya happy?" He yelled back. But he froze.

The man he abandoned stood behind Fuu, sword in hand. But he wasn't looking at Mugen. He was looking at her.

"Look out!" he shouted.

Fuu turned, but it was too late. She only realized what was happening for a second before the man drove his sword into her.

"FUU!"

It seems it's been a long time since I promised my next chapter. And I'm sorry. As you can see my writing style has changed (thank goodness) but I absolutely promise to have the next and final chapter up very soon.