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No Roads Where We're Going
Chapter 4: Augury
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Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Samurai Champloo!
Part 1: Imagery Rehearsal
Definition: (Psychology) A sleep disorder therapy technique which involves the dreamer coming up with an alternate, mastery outcome to the nightmare, mentally rehearsing that outcome awake, and then reminding themselves at bedtime that they wish this alternate outcome to prevail, should the nightmare recur.
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The three companions sat in the dense green forest above the rocky beach where they'd landed after a successful journey from Ikitsuki Island to the mainland. Safely concealed by compact underbrush and a thin layer of damp fog, their first order of business was to plan their journey out of Kyushu.
Jin unfolded the map. "Having already eliminated most of our options," he shot a condescending glare at Mugen, "I believe our only remaining choice is to travel north to Honshu."
Fuu questioned, "Where will we stop? We'll find a safe place, right?"
"Might never stop, Girlie. Could be runnin' forever."
"Mugen is right. We are being hunted. That means we could be traveling indefinitely."
The woman in the plum kimono sighed with a pout.
The ronin pointed at the map. "This is our current location. From here we will travel northeast to reach Kyushu's northern coast. Then we will make our way to the Choshu region of western Honshu. There is only one problem. If the shogunate has anticipated our plans to travel north, they will expect us to pass from Kokura to Shimonoseki. We should avoid that route if at all possible."
"Isn't that the only way to cross?" Fuu asked.
"As far as I know, yes. We need to find an alternate means of reaching Choshu."
The ex-pirate studied the map. "Looks like we need another boat. A better one than that crappy dinghy we just took to get here."
"Yes. We will have to search for one when we arrive in northern Kyushu."
"How long will it take to get there?" asked Fuu.
"Two weeks, give or take, depending on what we encounter along the way."
"Better get goin' then," said the rogue.
Jin agreed, "Let's be on our way."
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The trio traveled for four days at a brisk pace without incident. They were making good time.
Fuu couldn't remember the group ever being this quiet. Conversations were kept to a minimum to avoid attracting attention. Even the vagrant was trying to maintain a low profile. His geta were noticeably less clunky, and he refrained from hacking away at the foliage to avoid leaving an obvious trail behind.
Though no one spoke of it, the three travelers were visibly apprehensive, each of them hoping for the best, but anticipating the worst. The tension seemed to grow each day.
In the evening as dusk approached, they set up camp in a small clearing obscured by broad tree trunks and thick greenery.
The meager amount food that Mugen took from the village on Ikitsuki Island had already been consumed two days before, and their stomachs were growling.
They hadn't built a campfire since they set out, much to Fuu's discontentment. Mugen and Jin agreed that it could lead enemies straight to them.
"I'm so cold and hungry," Fuu whined.
"Suck it up, Girlie," Mugen retorted.
Fuu let out a cranky grumble as she dropped her chin onto her knees.
When darkness settled in, the samurai declared that he would take the first watch. He sat some distance from the camp beneath a tall cedar tree, legs crossed and arms folded in the sleeves of his gray kimono.
The rogue lay on one the side of the clearing, with his blanket askew and gangly tanned limbs sprawled out in every direction. He passed out the minute his head was on the ground, and he was already snoring loudly.
Fuu found a sleeping place atop a thin layer of dried leaves. Despite being curled tightly under her blanket, she was still shivering. She pulled the blanket over her head and drew her limbs in closer. Eventually she fell into a fitful sleep.
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The back of Mugen's red haori was shrinking into the distance as she was carried away into the dark forest. There was a deep aching in her gut. She couldn't breathe.
An iron grip surrounded her body. She kicked and squirmed, but there was no escape. The restraint that held her only tightened.
She tried desperately to yell for help, but nothing came out. She screamed in terror without making a sound.
He didn't turn around. He couldn't hear her. He didn't see. She desperately needed him, but he didn't turn around. Why wasn't he turning around? Mugen, please...
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Fuu thrashed under her blanket. "Mugen. Mugen, please..."
The vagabond awoke and lazily rolled over to face Fuu. He was irritated that his sleep had been interrupted.
"What the hell do you want?"
She was still slumbering, tossing and kicking her legs. She looked like she might kick her blanket right off.
Fuu cried out softly, "Mugen... Help..."
She began thrashing even more violently, as if trying to fight against an immovable force.
"HELP!—" Fuu was abruptly jolted awake in a panic, body shaking and eyes wide with horror. She wasn't sure if she had screamed aloud, or if it was all part of her dream.
The young woman sat up, brought her knees to her chest, and dropped her head down while she cried quietly to herself. She was frightened, and her heart was pounding with adrenaline. The dream felt so real.
She couldn't possibly go back to sleep now. Her body was shaking, and her mind was overcome with flashes of imagery. Even if she could go back to sleep, the nightmare might return. She didn't know what to do.
Then she became aware that the Ryukyuan was watching her. He was propped up on his elbow, observing her with an expression of mixed concern and curiosity. Fuu was embarrassed that she had woken him with her crying.
She glanced up at the vagrant, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Her face revealed her agony, and he hated to see it.
There was a long silence before Fuu asked the question that Mugen knew was coming.
"Mugen...? can I...?"
"C'mon, Girlie."
"Okay," she said softly.
She picked up her blanket and moved to rest by Mugen's side. She lay down a foot away from him, too timid to make physical contact. Being held in his embrace was one thing. Lying next to him in bed was maybe a little too intimate, and for now, too overwhelming. The comfort of being near him was enough.
He lowered himself to lay on his side facing her, watching her intently while she bundled herself in her blanket. Her bright red cheeks were still glistening with salty moisture.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The man's dark eyes were serious yet reassuring. No words were needed to encourage her to look at him, to keep holding his steady gaze, just as she had done when they sat together on the cliff on Ikitsuki Island.
Seeing the worry in Mugen's face, there was no doubt in Fuu's mind now that he really did care, at least in this moment. He was protecting her from the terror that caused her to wake screaming.
She concentrated all of her attention on the mantra in her thoughts. He's here now... Mugen is here with me... just keep looking into his eyes...
The fears embedded in her mind slowly faded, and her body relaxed as the adrenaline washed away. He's right here... I'm safe... Her focus remained fixed on Mugen until her eyelids flickered shut and she began to drift off.
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Mugen continued to watch the woman with uncertainty. What had she been dreaming about? Why did she shout his name?
To the rogue's surprise, Fuu, already half asleep, reached out with delicate fingers and found his hand. The man froze, not expecting this, but after a few seconds he relaxed into her featherweight grasp and gently wrapped his large calloused hand around her smaller one. His heart raced at her touch and the strange fluttering in his stomach returned.
He couldn't look away from her. He was again captivated by the effect that her presence had on him. He felt solace.
At the same time, he still hadn't resolved his internal conflict over how he really felt, and what the hell this all meant. He was questioning this entire situation, yet on some level, he was beginning to accept it, and even enjoy it.
What am I doin'?
She asked me. What was I s'ppose to do? Turn her down?
I wanna help her, but I don't wanna give her the wrong idea. She can't start expectin' this.
He watched the soft rhythm of her breathing as she slowly inhaled and exhaled.
...Maybe I wanted her to ask me...
Shit, what am I—?
Aw, fuck it. I like watchin' her sleep. I feel warm when she's here. She calms me down. He smirked to himself. Never thought I'd say that about the broad. Usually she's too busy tryin' to piss me off.
She looks so small and fragile right now, like I could break her if I wasn't careful. The brat's pretty tough though.
One side of his mouth curved into a lopsided grin as he reminisced about all the times she argued with him and ordered him around. Mugen, the rude and intimidating felon who thrived on violence and didn't take shit from anyone, getting bullied by this innocent little girl.
Except she ain't a little girl anymore. And somethin' ain't right with her. She's a wreck. She ain't arguin' or talkin' a mile a minute, she doesn't laugh, and she hardly smiles. She's cryin' all the damn time, and she's always afraid. And now she's yellin' for help in her sleep?
The man's brow tensed in frustration at his inability to help her. But when he observed the softness of the young woman's features as she slept, he thought maybe he had already helped her in a small way, even if just for this one night.
At least she ain't afraid right now.
The vagrant briefly caught sight of Jin, still on watch, sitting away from the camp in silence. He could swear he saw the ronin glimpse in his direction for just a split second.
Damn Four-eyes'll never let me live this down, the bastard.
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An hour later, when it was Mugen's turn to keep watch, he quietly raised himself up, careful not to disturb the resting girl. He lightly placed his blanket over her. She stirred gently and a small smile graced her lips.
There it is again... Even in her sleep she does it to me.
Jin approached the campsite but said nothing. He had witnessed the whole interaction from his post. He was certainly curious, but decided to leave it alone. It was none of his business.
Mugen seemed just as annoyed with Jin's silence as he would have been if the stoic man had actually said something. The ex-pirate shot a menacing glare in his direction. Not a fuckin' word, asshole.
After Mugen walked away, Jin glanced down at Fuu. Just over an hour ago she was kicking and screaming in her sleep. Now she appeared comfortable and peaceful with a contented expression on her face. Mugen had somehow chased away her nightmares.
Perhaps he could be trusted with her after all. Now, if he would just acknowledge that he cares for her...
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Part 2: Syncopation
Definition: (Music) Syncopation involves a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected, which make part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is a general term for "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur."
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Fuu woke in the gray morning wrapped up in two cozy, warm blankets. When she rolled over, she discovered that Mugen was missing. She looked toward Jin's sleeping place, and he was absent too.
She had a brief moment of panic.
They're gone! Where are they?!
She quickly sat up and scanned the area to find both men standing away from camp, discussing the plans for the day. She let out a sigh of relief.
Why did I think they left me? They would never do that. I'm being too paranoid.
With a big yawn, Fuu stretched her arms and legs. The vagrant and the ronin turned to see her rising and folding the blankets.
Without any hesitation, the man in red spoke, "Ya ready, Girlie? No time to waste."
She nodded, still feeling a little hazy from sleep. Mugen slung the supply bag over his shoulder and they began their hike through the sloping hills of the forest.
The morning air was crisp and calm, and the foliage was dampened by light fog. Fuu inhaled deeply. The air was scented with cedar and earth and fresh morning dew. It was so clean compared to the stale odors of the city. There was no wind, and it was peacefully quiet.
About an hour after midday, Mugen heard a faint noise in the distance. Barely audible was the sound of brushing leaves. The air was still—there was no wind to account for the disturbance.
The rogue glanced back at Jin, who was trailing behind. The ronin nodded once in acknowledgement. He heard it too.
They were being followed.
Jin increased his speed to reach Fuu. He silently took her by the elbow, and in seconds, they were right on Mugen's heels.
Fuu tried not to be alarmed, but the dream that startled her awake in the night was still fresh in her mind and fueling her anxiety. She tried to calm herself with a reminder that Mugen and Jin were here to protect her.
I know they won't let anything happen to me.
The young woman could now hear the rustling leaves around them. It sounded like animals—or men?—leaping through the trees above.
The two men stopped abruptly and the bag of provisions was dropped. They positioned themselves back to back with Fuu between them, eyes focused on the tree branches above, weapons drawn and ready.
Three masked assassins dressed in black dropped out of the trees carrying swords on their backs. Seconds later, three more aggressors dropped to the ground. The trio were surrounded by six men. Four more enemies dropped nearby and crouched to the forest floor.
The ex-pirate grinned with amusement. "Ten guys, huh? Is that all?"
Despite Mugen's confidence, Fuu felt helpless. All she could do was try to stay close to her companions and not get in their way.
Mugen and Jin began to engage the assailants, being careful to keep Fuu between them.
Two men lunged to attack Jin. He easily cut them down with a single stroke of his katana. Two of the crouched men rushed in right behind their fallen comrades to swipe at the ronin.
The three black-clad fighters who advanced on Mugen were soon joined by a fourth man, who had been hunched to the ground. They were now attacking him from all sides. He flipped out of the way to avoid several swings, then spun around to kick two of the men in the head with the solid steel of his geta. They were stunned momentarily, but they kept coming.
These men were far more skilled than the three samurai who attacked on Ikitsuki Island, and they were proving to be much more difficult to defeat.
The masked foes began to back away, moving outside the range of the two men's swords. As they moved back, they revealed that they were carrying throwing knives. They used ranged attacks to distance themselves from the two swordsmen, who were now forced to swing furiously to deflect the flying daggers.
Fuu huddled low and ducked her head to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
The combatants were attempting to separate the samurai and the rogue by pulling them in different directions. The two men needed to continue advancing toward the assassins if they wanted any chance of landing a hit. The black-masked attackers continued to stay just out of range.
Mugen was getting irritated. These bastards were making it difficult to get in close enough to strike. He began to flip off the trees to dodge their knives, kicking and slashing wildly. With the force of his full weight, he knocked one enemy to the ground before slashing him through the abdomen. One assailant down, three more to go. The vagrant was finally making progress.
As Mugen and Jin continued to pursue their attackers in opposite directions, an opening soon formed between them, with a very scared Fuu now sitting alone, afraid to move for fear of being hit by one of the aerial projectiles flying overhead.
One remaining masked foe, the only one who hadn't engaged in the battle, was still crouched just outside the radius of the attack zone. With Fuu now exposed, he had the opportunity he'd apparently been waiting for.
Without warning, he silently sprung forward to grab the young woman. He punched her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. He tossed her over his shoulder and quickly dashed away unnoticed.
Fuu watched the back of Mugen's red haori shrinking into the distance as she was being carried away from him, unable to scream for help.
My dream... this is just like my dream... I can't breathe...
She was instantly terrified, remembering that in her dream, Mugen didn't come for her.
But this wasn't a dream, and she knew that he would save her if she could just yell out to him. Still unable to breathe freely after getting the air knocked out of her lungs, she struggled with much difficulty to take in one deep breath.
"Mugen! Help!"
Mugen turned around just in time to see Fuu being hauled away. His heart dropped and he felt physical pain in the pit of his stomach as he watched her disappear into the dense green forest. He was intensely enraged, and deeply afraid.
"Fuck!" In an incensed frenzy, he lunged toward the three attackers to get within striking range, advancing too rapidly for them to defend. He sliced clean through the first man's right arm and stabbed him through the stomach. He slashed at the second man, cutting him deeply across the chest, and the third man received a long diagonal gash from shoulder to hip.
Immediately after the assailants were dispatched, he yelled to the ronin, "Jin! She's gone!"
Mugen needed the samurai to finish the fight so he could run to retrieve Fuu. The kidnapper already had a good lead and he would have to work hard to catch up.
Jin was surrounded by three masked enemies in black who were adept at evading his attacks by staying just beyond his reach. But they underestimated his speed, and with their numbers now reduced, they were no match for him.
He moved so swiftly that he was a blur, almost too quick to be seen as he swerved to avoid the knives being hurled at him. In one fluid motion, like a graceful dance, he slashed twice at the first assailant, carving intersecting incisions into the man's upper body, he whirled around to sever an artery in the second attacker's neck, causing a geyser of blood to spray out as the man fell to the ground, and he thrust his katana behind him to impale the last fighter through the gut.
Jin turned to follow Mugen, but in the heat of the fight, he hadn't seen which direction the ex-pirate had gone. He stopped and listened carefully.
Mugen ran like a howling wind through the underbrush, ducking beneath branches and hurdling over shrubbery. That slippery bastard in the black mask wasn't getting away.
Fuu kicked and squirmed against her abductor's firm grip. Still wheezing with deflated lungs, she managed to take in one more gulp of air and shout, "MUGEN! JIN!" Then she was completely out of breath.
Mugen increased his pace, pushing himself beyond his limit to reach her.
Jin heard Fuu's yell, and took off to chase after her.
Fuu's persistent wrestling against her kidnapper was slowing him down. He hastily dropped her to the ground and punched her with full force in the temple, knocking her unconscious. He picked her up again and continued his sprint.
Mugen could now see the man in black ahead of him, with Fuu's motionless body draped over his shoulder.
Shit. She ain't movin'.
He was rapidly closing in, sword in hand, ready to kill. He could already taste the man's imminent death.
"Get your ass back here, you son of a bitch!"
He gained on Fuu's captor and was almost right on his tail, but still just outside striking distance. He might be able to knock the masked man down if he jumped.
With all of his might, Mugen lept into the air, planted one foot on a tree trunk, and launched himself in a flip at the attacker, landing both geta squarely on the man's back and forcing him to fall forward onto his face. Fuu was dropped and tumbled to the ground.
The ex-convict was seething with wrath. With a feral roar, he kicked the man repeatedly in an uncontrollable rage of retribution. The man's ribs could be heard cracking and splintering under the brute force of Mugen's assault. Then he rolled the assailant over and put one foot on his chest while he reached down to rip the mask away.
He growled viciously, "I wanna see your face when you choke on your own blood."
His teeth were bared like a wild animal and his eyes were blazing with vengeance and bloodlust. The attacker's face blanched and his eyes grew wide with fear at the sight of the fiercely rabid man who was about to deliver his execution.
Mugen pulled his tanto out of his haori, and with his foot still pressed firmly on the man's chest, he leaned in close and slowly dragged his blade across the man's throat. He watched with cruel satisfaction while the would-be kidnapper bled out all over the ground, gurgling and spewing blood from his mouth and throat, until he coughed out his final sputtering breath. The vagrant relished every second of the man's blood-soaked suffocation.
When Mugen turned his attention to Fuu, his burning rage immediately transformed into dire panic. No, no, no...
The woman lay crumpled on her side, unmoving, with her cheek in the dirt. Her breathing was labored, and her pallid skin was clammy with cold sweat. Mugen gently turned her onto her back and began to check her over. On her face was a bloody laceration surrounded by a swollen, blue-purple contusion where the attacker had punched her. The rogue carefully felt the back of her head and discovered a large, solid welt where she was struck when she hit the ground. When he pulled his hand away, her blood was on his fingertips.
Mugen was flooded with more adrenaline in that one moment than during the entire fight beforehand. His heart was a pounding hammer threatening to shatter his sternum.
He raised Fuu's upper body into his arms and began to shake her lightly.
"Wake up, girl. Ya gotta wake up."
She didn't respond. He shook her again with more force and tapped the side of her face.
"C'mon Girlie, wake up, dammit!"
Jin arrived and slowed his pace as he approached Mugen, who was shaking Fuu more violently now. He slapped her hard across the cheek.
"Fuu, goddammit, wake up!"
Finally Fuu stirred, with her face scrunched into an expression of pain. Her body convulsed as she coughed and gasped for air.
A wave of relief washed over the vagrant. "You're okay, I gotchya." He held her steady with one arm under her neck and shoulders while he rested a hand on her upper chest. "Just breathe. Nice and slow."
In a few minutes, she caught her breath and tentatively opened her eyes. Her head was in a thick fog and her vision was clouded.
"M-Mugen? Is that you?"
For a brief moment she was gazing upon the man as he lay in her father's cabin.
Mugen looked down at her, attempting to smile through worry and fear.
She smiled back at him weakly. "You came."
"Ya knew I would, Girlie."
"I heard your voi—" She lost consciousness.
Jin moved to Mugen's side. "If she has a head injury, we must keep her awake. Rouse her again. I'll get our supplies."
The samurai disappeared to retrieve the sack of provisions that had been dropped during the fight.
"Dammit, Fuu. Wake up!"
Mugen gave her a gentle shake and tapped her face. Her eyelids drifted open again.
"Listen, ya gotta try to stay awake. Can ya do that?"
"Everything's so blurry... I'm really... sleepy. Ouch!" Her face contorted in pain and she raised a shaky hand to the wound on her face. "Can I just... close my eyes for a little while?"
"Sorry girl, but ya can't. Just keep talkin' to me. You'll be fine, but ya gotta stay awake."
When Jin returned with the sack, Mugen was holding Fuu in his arms and trying to get her to talk.
"Tell me about Kyoto. What did you do there?"
"I worked for this really nice old man at a tea shop." She was in and out, but he managed to keep her going.
Jin laid out a blanket, and Mugen carefully laid her down on it. Jin folded another blanket and placed it under her head to keep it elevated. Then he handed the vagabond a wet cloth to dab the blood away from her face and the back of her head.
"Ya took a pretty good crack on the head there," Mugen said as he patted her wounds clean. "Gonna need bandages. Might need stitches on that cut."
"Oh, I'll be fine," she said in a daze. Then she registered the pain in back of her head. "Oww..." She closed her eyes tightly. "It hurts so much..."
"Just relax. Keep talkin'. What else happened in Kyoto? Ya went to a big lake, right?"
Jin, seeing that Mugen was already doing everything that could be done, went to dispose of the corpses. He hauled away the kidnapper and dumped him over a steep embankment with the rest of the bodies, into a river below where they wouldn't be seen by anyone who could potentially be following the trio.
By the time he returned, Fuu was lucid and in good spirits. With one hand wrapped around Mugen's palm and a jovial smile on her face, she was chatting all about her travels.
"I tripped and spilled tea all over a customer! He was so mad! I thought I would get fired for sure!"
Mugen laughed. "Ha! I've seen that before!"
The ronin sat down next to Fuu.
"Jin!" She took his hand and gripped it tightly. She was now holding one of each men's hands in her own. "I've gotta tell you about my trip to Kyoto!"
Mugen smirked playfully, "Aw shit, Four-eyes, you're in for it now!"
Both of the swordsmen were laughing as she recounted her misadventures in the Old Capital region. Even the ever-stoic Jin couldn't help but chuckle at her silly stories.
They were relieved not only to see that Fuu was okay, but that she was smiling and laughing with the bright eyes and cheerful voice that they'd both missed.
To be continued…
続く
A/N: Coming up next - Mugen and Fuu separately seek counsel from Jin. Jin reflects on a past romance. Fuu makes an awkward request that leads to a humorous argument. Humor, drama, little bit of angst.
Please review! :)
Thank you so much for reading!
Additional Author's Notes
Okay, seriously. "What in the heck was this author thinking?"
Japanese words used in this chapter
Geta, haori, katana, kimono, ronin, samurai, tanto
You can find definitions of these words on my Tumblr (username Drealyn22) in a post called "No Roads Where We're Going Glossary."
Augury
I should probably define this word because I bet most people don't know what it means. I didn't know it until I looked it up.
~~ Definition: a sign of what will happen in the future; an omen.
~~ Example: "They heard the sound as an augury of death"
~~ Synonyms: omen, portent, sign, danger sign, foretoken
This is a reference to Fuu's dream, which I'll explain a bit more in her character analysis below.
Mugen
Yeah, he gets soft. He's somewhat out of character, but by this point in my story, I like to think (I hope) there's been enough character development to make it clear that he's not the same guy he was three years ago. He's also become ultra protective of Fuu, and this is just an extension of that. He knows that something is wrong with Fuu and he's mostly helpless to stop it, but he can do this one thing for her - he can be there when she needs him. Everything else is out of his hands.
When Fuu gets kidnapped, he won't stop until the asshole is dead. He's cruel about it, too. I wanted a little bit of his evil side come out. (He can't be fluffy all the time, right?) After that, he goes to Fuu and he panics. Mugen doesn't panic, so you know this is a big deal for him. He gets a taste of what it would feel like if he lost Fuu, and he realizes that he wouldn't be able to deal with it. This might have some implications for the future.
Jin
Always observing, always wanting the best for Fuu.
He's just as much of a bad-ass in battle as Mugen. We already know that he can dodge bullets (remember that awesome scene when he kills Mukuro?), so I figure he can dodge a few knives once they get the situation under control.
Fuu
To an extent, she's back into the PTSD mentality where this situation is causing old fears to resurface and she's feeling traumatized again. That's not uncommon with PTSD. You'll get it under control, and then something will spark it again. I mentioned in my notes in chapter 1 that it can take months, years, decades to learn to overcome this. It's not easy.
Mugen becomes Fuu's security blanket (almost literally).
Her dream is somewhat prophetic (augury). Her fear is that she's going to be taken, and nobody will help her. She'll be alone. But because she had that dream, when the kidnapping actually happens, she knows that she needs to get Mugen's attention if she wants to be saved.
Head injuries suck. If you've ever had one, then you know how disorienting it can be. I slipped on a sheet of ice while skiing once, my helmet came off, and I got a concussion when my head hit the frozen ground. I was dizzy for weeks, even though my injury was pretty mild compared to most.
I have a friend who knows boxing and some MMA. He taught low level combatives in the army. I asked him where you would have to hit someone to knock them out. There's a spot right above and just to the front of the ear. It's close to the temple, and you can feel if you press on it (don't press too hard, it hurts and the pain lingers). I didn't want to describe all that because it's a mouthful, and the details would be too distracting. The temple is close enough. My friend gave his approval.
Those Masked Attackers in Black
Ninjas? Maybe. I didn't want to put a label on them.
I had real difficulty figuring out how they were going to attack. What would their strategy be? Then I thought about playing in the battleground in World of Warcraft. (Yeah, I'm a nerd.) If you've ever played as or against a hunter, you know what I mean. It's called kiting. If you're a WoW PvP player, you might as well skip this whole note about WSG. It's nothing you don't already know.
Lesson: How to kite your enemy
If you're a hunter or other ranged DPS class with a decent reach, you will use a ranged attack that lets you strike from a distance, while staying out of range of the enemy's return fire. This works great against melee classes who fight best up close, or squishy DPS casters who can't cast and run at the same time.
As the hunter's enemy approaches him, the hunter continually backs away, effectively pulling the enemy toward him in whatever direction he feels like. In addition to backing away, he might drop a trap or use some other method to slow the enemy down and prevent him from getting close enough to do any damage to the hunter.
This is very effective in a battleground called Warsong Gulch (WSG). It's a "capture the flag" style game with two 10-player teams. The goal is to take the enemy's flag from their base and return it to your own base to score. Three flag captures wins the game.
You can't score if the other team has your flag. If both teams are carrying each other's flags, it's a standoff until one of the flag carriers is killed or drops the flag. That means each team must defend their flag carrier to prevent them from getting killed, while also attacking the enemy flag carrier.
Protecting the flag carrier is especially important while they're running down the field trying to make it safely to your base. Oftentimes, the other team's flag carrier will be camped out at their base, sitting right on top of the spot where they need to score, so when you drop their flag, they'll score instantly without any further effort. It all happens very fast. One second of hesitation or immobilization can literally cost you the game, especially if your team is not well coordinated. (The Horde is never coordinated on my server.)
I don't play a hunter, so I'm usually the one getting kited. Hunters will kite you to pull you away from protecting your flag carrier. You get focused on killing this annoying hunter, so you try to chase him down, but he just keeps pulling you farther and farther out, and you're getting damaged without being able to strike back. Somewhere along the way, you'll probably get silenced, slowed, or incapacitated for a few seconds. Meanwhile, your flag carrier just got ganked by a rogue, and the other team has scored. Next thing you know, you're a ghost in the graveyard, waiting for 30 seconds to be resurrected so you can rejoin the game. Epic fail.
The correct response to this trick is not to fall for it. There are lots of ways around it, but the most obvious one is to simply not follow that annoying hunter. You should stay with your flag carrier and use whatever means necessary to get them to safety, even if you have to cut and run, or die fighting. Better to die near your flag carrier while launching every spell you've got instead of dying alone, far away, in a futile attempt to kill one player. If you're going to die on the battlefield, you have to make it count.
Moving on from my long WoW explanation and back to the story - Mugen and Jin got kited, and Fuu got swiped up by a rogue. In this particular scenario, I would liken Fuu to the flag carrier (or maybe the flag itself?), Mugen to the teammate defending the flag carrier, and Jin to the teammate attacking the opposing team to keep them at bay while the flag carrier is being rescued.
Now, I know what you're thinking - the ronin and the pirate are bad-asses (I mentioned that Jin can dodge bullets, right?), so how did they get surprised by this? Well... they fight to kill. Always. (Unless the enemy runs away scared.) Mugen in particular. Defense isn't really his style, and retreating is for pansies. Jin knows when to retreat, but he can't very well do that when Mugen refuses to disengage. Mugen is always on the offensive, and he won't stop spilling blood until every last attacker is dead, whether he really needs to kill them or not.
So while he's busy trying to kill everything in sight, thereby walking right into the enemy's trap, there's this stealthy dude hanging out in the shadows waiting for the right moment. Mugen only needs to turn his back for a few seconds to open up an opportunity for Fuu to get taken. This was a flaw in their strategy, and they'll have to figure out how not to let this happen again. If we know anything about Jin, it's that he won't be fooled twice by the same trick, and he'll find a logical way to overcome this weakness. This will lead to some fun things in future chapters.
I was really worried that this whole fight scene would feel ridiculous. I hope it was okay, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. My friend thought it was good. When I told him that I used the battleground for inspiration, he said, yeah, hunters suck. Lol. At any rate, I hope it felt real and exciting to you readers. That was the goal.
Whew... longest A/N ever.
Thanks for reading!