The next few weeks that followed were fairly normal with the exception of Mugen. The man seemed to be 'passing through' at a snails pace. He didn't stay at the big house after that first night, but he didn't seem to have left town. In fact every time I came into town for groceries he made a point of meeting me at the first houses of the village. It wasn't as if we had a lot of conversation, we mostly walked in silence. When I had the coins to spare I'd buy him a few dumplings, I was up to thirty out of a hundred. Him and Taro remained fast friends to because I would sometimes bring the boy to town with me. Sometimes the vagrant would allow the boy to ride on his shoulders with the kid giggling the whole way. So, besides Mugen life pretty much followed routine. But then the only thing predictable about life, is it's unpredictability.
So you can imagine how shocked I was to walk into to town one morning to see officials pinning a wanted poster and the magistrates building. It wasn't the poster it's self, it was the likenesses of myself and my two old friends that had been etched onto the paper. The notice stated that we were to be captured for a hefty reward for crimes against the government. Mugen went up to the notice and tore it down the moment the official left, while I was still standing in shock.
Not a moment later Cook came taring down the street and grabbing my hand dragged me into an ally way. Mugen with eyebrows raised followed a few steps behind.
"Fuu, there are soldiers at the house, looking for you!" Still in shock I didn't really respond but Cook snapped her fingers in my face.
"Listen girl! Boss is feeding them some story that you left town months ago, but you need to leave town now." Without a pause she shoved a small sack into my hands that jingled with coin.
"That should last you awhile." Then she turned to Mugen and handed him an identical pouch and said.
"Mr. Saitou is hiring you to get Fuu away from this place safely." Taking the pouch Mugen smirked down at the older woman.
"What makes him think I won't take the cash and split?" Finding my voice I looked pointedly at Cook.
"He'd do it to." Cooks grin got wider looking between the two of us.
"Call it a leap of faith. Now go before the soldiers talk to someone with loose lips." With that I grabbed Mugen's wrist and pulled him down an alley way that I knew emptied out near the river bank; with the road a few miles beyond. When Mugen saw the direction I was taking him in he suddenly dug in his heels.
"Hold it girly we ain't goin that way." I looked back at his stubborn face and scowled.
"What are you talking about? It's the fastest way out of town and to the road." Mugen crossed his arms with a loud feh sound.
"Exactly, those busters have probably set up checkpoints on the roads by now. We cut through the woods today, and most of the night. Then we'll back track to the road later."
3rd POV
"Oh." Said Fuu a bit embarrassed. 'No wonder I always got kidnapped'. Without another word the two made for the forest and began their trek into the wilderness. Every now and again Mugen would hold up a hand to quite her and would freeze listening intently. Fuu could never tell what it was he thought he was hearing, but she did not question. They kept on in this manner for the next several hours, until the moon had risen high in the sky. Coming to a clearing Mugen asked Fuu to set up a campsite as best she could while he scouted around.
Tying the long sleeves of her kimono back Fuu set about her task. The menial labor helped to clear her mind, as she finally got a chance to process everything that had happened. Steeling herself Fuu forced herself not to shed any tears. It seemed that in a single day her happy and relatively stable situation had come crashing down around her ears. Her eyes stung as she coaxed the small camp fire to life in the little dirt patch she'd dug up, but she told herself that it was just the smoke in her eyes. After all the one thing that bounty hunter had spoken true about was that she was the daughter of a samurai, no matter how different or unconventional a samurai he might have been. As the daughter of a samurai she resolved to handle this change in her life with dignity and grace.
Snap! As dry wood broke behind her like a shot Fuu whipped around with her tanto held out threatening. Coming face to face with Mugen, who blinked at her fierce expression for a moment before smirking.
"And just what do you think you'd do with that little pin sticker, huh?" Fuu smirked right back at the rougish vagabond.
"Hopefully give you a few scars to remember me by." Mugen made a fehh sound as he moved to the other side of the fire.
"I already got plenty of scars, none of them worth remembering yet." Fuu could see that there were two rabbits hanging off his sword by there necks and thought, hey at least we won't starve tonight. Carefully Mugen sat himself down on the other side of the fire setting to work cleaning the rabbits so they could roast over their small fire. As the silence dragged on for a while finally Fuu broke it, her voice sounding unnaturally loud.
"So where are we going to go?" Mugen paused for a moment before he resumed the skinning of his kill.
"Not entirely sure. We should probably avoid the main highways, if the officials are hunting us they'll set up checkpoints to flush us out." Fuu nodded and fell silent again. After a while they ate a like dinner and banked the fire low before trying to get some sleep. Fuu was out within a few short minutes, the days events taking there toll.
Mugen however was wide awake, lying on his side and looking across the make shift camp at the girl he never planned to meet again. Their journey three years ago had been long, weird, and exhausting. After they parted ways he'd gone back to what he knew best, wandering, and fighting with no real destination in mind. That whole time he never really pined over his old companions, in fact he didn't think of them much at all. Still every now and again he would find his thoughts drifting back toward the only people that he could come close to calling friends. When he made a lewd comment to a woman, he could image the smart remark that Fuu would yell at him. When he got into a fight with a man twice his weight he pictured Jin shaking his head in irritation. And on an even rarer occasion he would find himself wondering what ever became of the two he'd once traveled with.
Looking at Fuu was still strange to him, she'd grown. It wasn't just her height or her body that had caught his attention. Her eyes were older, more sure then they were before when he'd known her. Of course before he'd only looked at her as a half grown stick of a kid. Now looking at her was like studying a stranger, a woman full grown. And not bad to look at either, he admitted to himself grudgingly. That was part of the reason for his misunderstanding back in the town. It would have been easy for a young healthy woman like Fuu to land herself a man and have a few brats. Mugen scoffed to himself at the thought of Fuu ever doing anything the 'easy' way. Rolling onto his back to look up toward the sky he wondered where they were going to go. It wasn't the first time that his life was in jeopardy, but it was the first time in a while he felt that there was something more important than his life to lose.
And so the plot thickens. Ha, you probably thought I'd given up on this story; but I'm back and ready for more. Please Review, criticism is always welcome.
