Chapter 3: Machibusu; Ambush

Mikan was lightly sleeping when a loud bang awoke her. She shot straight out of bed and the first thing that greeted her was the orange glow behind the closed curtains. Pulling the covers off her legs, she grabbed the satin ribbon by her bedside and started the tie her hair up while walking to the curtains. Clutching the thick fabric, she pushed the curtain to the side and there was destruction everywhere. Houses were burning and below her, she saw the guards running out to the courtyard. Then a group of men dressed in black with the faces covered suddenly appeared and attacked the guards.

"IT'S AN AMBUSH! PROTECT THE ROYAL FAMILY!" A young guard shouted, but he had his throat slit by an unsuspecting enemy.

Mikan clutched her mouth tightly, preventing a scream from emitting as she saw the bloodshed. Moving backwards in fear, she tripped over her long nightgown and fell towards the ground. Despite all her training with the King's Guard, she did not prepare herself for the sight of death and bloodshed.

"Mikan-hime, you must be strong."

"You must regain your courage."

"Hime, you must remember what your father instructed."

Looking towards her study room, she saw the many figures standing in a line, urging her on. Some of the younger ones went up to her and stretched out her hand. Fear that once gripped her heart was soon replaced by warmth and courage.

Taking the small hands that were outstretched to her, she got to her feet and started packing essentials in the small knapsack. Stuffing a few shirts and pants, she quickly pinned on some broaches, which could be sold for money, to one of her shirts. Throwing off her nightgown, she slipped on the nearest clothes that her hand reached, which was a dark brown cotton dress.

"According to my experiences, it would take another 10 minutes for them to reach this corner of the palace."

She placed the knapsack by the window and threw open her bedroom door. Running as fast as she could to Sumire's room, she reached the cream-coloured door and barged in.

Sumire was staring out of her own window, petrified in fear and horror. Upon hearing her room door slam against the wall, she turned around and was about to scream but Mikan quickly placed her hand over her sister's mouth.

"Hush, if you scream, you'll only lead them here faster. Otou-san has designed this wing such that it would take perpetrators a while to reach us."

Feeling Sumire relax in her arms, she slowly released her hand.

"What are we going to do now?" Sumire looked at her older sister fear.

"We have to do what otou-san instructed us. We are going to get the sword." Mikan replied firmly while packing a few articles of clothing into a knapsack she found in Sumire's closet.

Once the sentence registered in Sumire's head, she immediately shot back, "Are you mad?! It will take us right across the main hall to reach otou-san's study! We will be killed before we even step one foot in that cave!"

After tightening the straps of the bag close, Mikan swung it over her shoulders and looked at her sister. "We have to get it at all cost. All that freedom that is given to me by you mother is going to be paid off. Get changed into something that allows more movement, I'll drop this off at my room because that's how we'll be making our exit. Be quick, I'll be back in a minute."

With that, Mikan dashed back to her room and placed the bag beside her own. Pulling on her riding boots, she looked to her study room as she was called out to.

"Be careful hime. Please be safe." One of the small girls whispered.

An older boy appeared and bowed low, "take me Mikan-hime, you will need my services." Then another smaller boy appeared and bowed similarly, "you will need me as well hime, to find the book."

Smilling warmly, she stood up and instructed the two boys to follow her.

"The rest of you, you know what to do, there will not be time when I get back." Looking at the rest of the people in her room, they nodded and silently prayed for her safety.

Mikan dashed back to Sumire's room and once seeing that she was changed to a dark green muslin dress, she grabbed her step-sister's hands and ran towards her father's study. However instead of going straight at the main staircase, Mikan made a sharp right and the both of them were face to face with the large family painting. Placing her hand behind the painting, Mikan pulled with all her strength and the large portrait moved a little, allowing for both the princesses to slip in.

"I'll take it from here Hime" the younger boy whispered and a soft blue light appeared before Mikan. Sumire who was following behind suddenly saw a light and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Why is there suddenly a light?" Sumire asked while jogging behind Mikan.

Firmly holding on to Sumire's hand, Mikan lied, "it's… just a feature of this passageway."

Somewhat satisfied with the answer, it suddenly hit Sumire, "how does Mikan know these passageways, even I didn't know about them despite living here for the same number of years as her." She voiced out her thought.

"I've explored the palace when my presence isn't needed. With the freedom your mother bestowed on me, I took the liberty of finding out things that were not on the palace's blueprint." Mikan emphasised with a tinge of sarcasm. "We're nearly there and we have to hurry. The perpetrators will reach our room in 5 minutes."

The blue light suddenly stopped in front of the backing of another portrait and with the help of Sumire, both of them were able to push the heavy painting out of the way. Looking around to ensure no one was around, they rushed to their father's study room.

"FIND THEM AT ALL COST! I WANT THEM ALIVE!" A strong baritone voice rang through the halls.

"Crap it's locked!"

The older boy placed his hand on the doorknob and the lock sprang backwards. Looking at the older boy, Mikan nodded her thanks and locked the door behind her once Sumire was pulled inside. Both of them let out a sigh of relief before facing the numerous books before them. Once again, the older boy floated to the bookshelf and pulled out the correct book slightly.

"Hurry Mikan-hime, you have a few minutes left." The older boy urged before disappearing.

Mikan lifted her hand towards the book and pulled down hard. Once the bookshelf moved out of place, she ran down the stairs and finally reached the boulder with Kami's sword.

"… you're… here… release… me…"

The eerie voice echoed in both Sumire's and Mikan's head.

"You heard that right?" Sumire shuddered with fear.

Mikan nodded but pushed the fear out of her head.

"… release me… now…"

Taking her sister's hand within her own, both of them rushed towards the sword.

"… hurry…"

"You should hurry and pull the sword out Mikan." Sumire said while pushing her sister towards the boulder.

Placing both hands on the sword, Mikan summoned all her strength and withdrew the sword. Unlike the last time, the sword was much heavier and Sumire saw her sister struggling to remove it from its seal. She stepped forward to try and help her sister, but the memory of her being unable to draw the sword out the last time stopped her in her tracks.

"… hurry… must be… freed…"

"But I can't. I couldn't the last time."

"… help… her… danger… approaching…"

Mikan felt as though she was pulling the sword through some kind of vacuum. With every two inches the sword was removed, it would be pulled back into the seal by an inch. She knew time was running out, if she did not remove the sword soon, they would reach her father's room and kill him in his own bed.

Urging all the muscles in her arm to work, she heaved as hard as she could and the sword was halfway out of its seal. Beads of sweat trickled down her brow and an explosion went off above their head. The whole cave shook and Mikan almost lost her footing, causing the sword to return to its original position, if not for Sumire.

Using her body, she supported Mikan's slipping foot while both her hands were on the upper half of the hilt.

"No time to be dropping stuff. Let's get this over and done with!" Sumire spoke and together with Mikan, they took a deep breath before pulling the sword out.

Once the sword was free, both girls stumbled backwards due to the unbalance force and the sword clambered on the ground with a loud sound. As they were getting to their feet, the sword started to glow a bright green and both girls closed their eyes due to the brightness. A strong gust of wind entered the cave and encircled the sword.

As soon as the wind died down, they opened their eyes and the sword had transformed into two swords. Unlike its previous appearance of a western sword, there sitting on the floor was a katana and its pair, a wakizashi.

"Mikan-hime, please take me, the katana."

"Sumire-hime, please take me the wakizashi."

Walking towards their instructed swords, they picked up their respective swords.

"I have split myself into two as the two of you pulled me out together, but we will save the introductions for later. Please hurry back to Izumi-san."

Despite being a few feet below the ground, what rang through the cave next made both Mikan's and Sumire's blood ran ice cold.

"THEY HAVE BROKEN INTO THE ROYAL FAMILY'S QUARTERS!"


"THEY HAVE BROKEN INTO THE ROYAL FAMILY'S QUARTERS!"

"Crap crap! Run faster you damn legs!"

Ruka cursed his legs as he avoided the tenth perpetrator which was trying to hack him down. Before all this, he was glad that Mikan's room was placed in such a complicated maze and walking her back to her room each day was a joy for him. However, when time is of the essence, like now, he hated the design of the corridors.

With his sword drawn out, he slashed with a deadly accuracy at the man's jugular artery.

"Eagle-san, I need you to be stationed outside Mikan-sama's window in 2 minutes." Ruka mentally instructed his partner before turning the corner and reaching the king's bedroom door. The door was smashed down and from within he could hear the sounds of swords clashing against each other. Seeing that they were preoccupied with the King and that Mikan's room was of some distance, he rushed into the room and stabbed the man clad in black nearest to him.

Within a few seconds, Ruka had killed 5 men and he saw the Izumi-sama huffing from the strain of the sword in his hand.

"Your highness!" Ruka rushed over to the huffing king. He looked around the room and saw Luna's lifeless body hanging off the bed, her throat slashed and her eyes wide with shock.

The second commander of the King's Guard, Shuichi Sakurano, flicked the blood off his rapier and addressed the younger boy.

"What are you doing here? Protect Mikan-hime at all cost, wasn't that what you swore? Why are you here?" The pair of grey eyes belonging to the commander bore down the soul of Ruka.

"I…" Ruka began his explanation but Izumi stopped him.

"Ruka, promise me that you will keep Mikan and Sumire safe at all times. If one of them falls, everything will be for naught. Promise me Ruka Nogi!" Izumi commanded.

Startled by the fire in the king's eyes, any image of him smiling immediately disappeared. Ruka had never seen the King so furious in his life.

"I swear upon my life." Ruka proudly said while helping Izumi up.

"Good, whatever happens here, you must bring the both of them to see 'The Voice of God'. Now go to her." Izumi shoved the boy out of the room before a man in black swung in from the window and stabbed Izumi in the back.

"NO!" Sakurano shouted.

The masked man merely laughed out loud, "your wish Alice was nothing in the end commander Shuichi. You failed to protect your king."

Ruka turned back to see Izumi drop to the ground lifeless with his eyes glazed with shock.

Sakurano was silently furious and the perpetrator's head rolled on the ground within a few seconds. "Damn you traitor, how's that for a wish. Rot in hell." The furious commander spat at the dead body while the other King's Guard stared in shock either at their dead king or at the head rolling around on the floor.

A shrill scream pierced the tensed silence and Ruka's head whipped to the source of the sound. Standing over the two princesses' were a group of three men outside Izumi's bedroom. Two of them had grabbed the princesses' hair while the third stood brandishing his sword in the air.

Anger rippled through Ruka's body and with the speed of light, he slashed down the three men.

"Hime-sama, are you two all right?" He asked before helping both to their feet.

A little shaken, Mikan stood on her wobbly legs but Sumire was paralysed with fear, tears streaming out of her eyes. Both had never seen a life taken before them and it would amount to nightmares. Looking into the room, Mikan saw her father on the ground with his eyes wide open.

"Otou-san… OTOU-SAN!" She ran towards her father's corpse but was stopped by Sakurano.

"Let me go…" Mikan sobbed, unable to control her tears, "I COMMAND YOU TO LET ME GO!" She struggled to break free of the commander's strong hold.

Ruka picked up Sumire in a bridal style, but she too caught a glimpse at her father's and mother's corpses despite Ruka's efforts to shield her from it.

"LET ME GO!" Mikan screamed.

"Otou-san… Okaa-san…" Sumire mumbled to herself.

Grabbing Mikan by the shoulders, Sakurano forced Mikan to look at his grey eyes. "You can't go to him."

"I don't care! Let me go!" Mikan struggled with a greater force.

"NO!" His loud voiced silenced Mikan. Calming down, he levelled himself to her eye level, "you have to get out of here, both you and your sister. Staying here is suicide. You were entrusted with something to do weren't you?"

Mikan struggled to breathe and nodded. The young commander stroked Mikan's chestnut locks.

"You have to finish your mission. I have to finish mine. Go now, hurry before more of them arrive." Sakurano pushed Mikan towards Ruka.

The sound of clashing armour and swords grew nearer and the entire ground looked at the only staircase leading to the Royal Quarters.

"I'll hold them off. Get them to safely to him, Ruka. We're counting on you. He's the only one whom we can trust now and he'll know what to do." Sakurano patted Ruka on the back before instructing the remaining men to follow him.

"Good luck Ruka. Good luck hime-sama." The other men wished the trio and proudly walked with their commanding officer.

Seeing the backs of his comrades walk away, Ruka spoke up, "Let's go Mikan-sama. We have to escape."

Walking briskly, they soon reached Mikan's bedroom and there perched on the balcony was the great eagle.

"Ruka-sama, we should hurry, I saw some men on the roof but I've already taken care of them."

Ruka placed Sumire on the eagle's back, "please hold on tight to his neck Sumire-hime." Grabbing the knapsacks by the window, he tore the curtain and strung it through the bags, then tied it to the eagle's neck.

Sumire felt the warmth of the animal and checked that the wakizashi was securely fastened within her boot. Placing her arms around the great beast, she hugged him and cried out.

"Hurry Mikan-hime!" Ruka urged his mistress.

Light reflected off the smooth surface of the katana's blade in Mikan's hand. Failing to notice before, he saw Mikan grab a piece of cloth and wrapped the sword within it. Winding the curtain cord around the cloth, Mikan swung the sword behind her back.

"Wait Ruka!" Mikan whispered with urgency as Ruka was literally pulling her towards the eagle.

"We are ready Mikan-hime."

Mikan dashed from the balcony towards her study and grabbed the velvet pouch which was sitting on the bookshelf. Fastening the belt round her waist, she checked that the pouch was securely shut before running out to the balcony. Ruka hoisted her up on the eagle before an arrow whizzed past his ear.

The eagle screeched in shock.

"Hurry Ruka-sama! If arrows start raining down on us, it'll be difficult to fly."

Ruka quickly mounted the eagle and urged it to fly. He grabbed hold to the feathers in front of him and they soared into the sky. Another arrow whizzed past his face and grazed it slightly.

"Hold on!"

The eagle gracefully swopped past each arrow being shot and if it could, he would grab a man with its talons and swing him to another target.

"Fly into the clouds!" Ruka instructed and the eagle soared even higher, taking refuge within the clouds. Below them, a sea of red was seen and both princesses wept their hearts out at the lost of their loved ones.


One week later

Natsume eyed the pair of rabbits on the ground a few metres away from him.

"Am I going to be lucky like the last time?"

He crouched and balanced on the balls of his feet. Drawing the string of the bow backwards, he felt the tension of the entire bow. One of the rabbits stood on its hind legs and its ears twitched nervously, picking up sounds of its hunter.

Natsume held his breathe, his arm straining with the tension. However as he was just about to release the arrow, the rabbits ran away and he grumbled frustratedly.

"This is getting annoying; it's the third time this has happened. If this continues on, we'll be eating greens for a LONG while."

Relaxing, he replaced the arrow in its quiver and swung the bow around his back.

"It's been just too damn noisy lately. What's been going around in the capital?"

Suddenly his ears picked up the sound of someone stepping on a nice crunch dried leaf.

"Ruffians again. You're hella noisy if you want to take someone by surprise."

He pretended to be oblivious of the person's presence but as soon as they were within arm's length, Natsume immediately withdrew his dagger and pressed the perpetrator against the tree behind him, knife at his throat.

"Wait correct that, her throat."

Before him, stood a girl around his age, her hazelnut brown eyes widen with fear. He quickly gave her a quick scan and noted that she was wearing a shirt that was twice her size and her shoes were muddied to an unrecognisable state. However, with all that tardiness, her hair was braided loosely and held together with an orange satin ribbon.

"Hmph, someone of status."

"Please don't hurt me, I mean no harm!" The girl whimpered at the pressure of the dagger against her throat.

Pressing a little harder against her throat, Natsume growled, "give me a reason not to."


Sorry for the long awaited update! As compensation, here's another chapter! Replies will be done in the following chapter as well! :)

For those who are unsure, both the katana and the wakizashi are a pair. In feudal Japan, the wearing of both swords indicated that one was a samurai. The katana is the long sword while the wakizashi is the companion sword, together they're known as the daisho, or literally big-little. If you want to know more, just wiki wakizashi.