-1Chapter 4

Religious Sunflowers

Mugen grumbled as they were led through the town at gun point. Their swords had been taken by the guards behind them and one of the men had made a crack about "Toothless stray dogs." Mugen had broken his nose which earned him a few sharp kicks.

Jin looked about them as they walked and noticed that it looked like your average town. There were men, women, even children the one thing that made this town different were the huge walls all about it and the blaringly obvious cross in the center. He also noticed that they were being led to what appeared to be a Christian church.

The men behind them talked behind their hands in whispers before opening the doors of the church and walking in pulling the pair in behind them. Jin and Mugen were forced to their knees and their hands tied. One of the men laughed "I suppose even a heathen can kneel in a house of the Lord." Mugen growled and spat on the ground "This is a bunch of bullshit where's Fuu?"

The man kicked Mugen in the back and frowned down at him "We couldn't let the daughter of our savior travel with the likes of you, we'll be taking care of her now." Jin's eyes narrowed as he looked up at the man "Then why are you keeping us? You could have killed us." The man crossed his arms and sat down in a pew "The elders are deciding what to do with you…they may be consulting the girl." Jin's eyes widened in surprise. Was she so important to these people that the elders would ask not only a woman but a GIRL for advice!

Mugen made a grunt of a laugh and rubbed his cheek on his shoulder "I'm afraid you won't get to kill us then." The man growled and was about to kick Mugen again when four old men walked in the door. The man quickly stopped and muttered some apologies as the elders walked forward. They parted as they reached Jin and Mugen and a rather confused and flustered looking Fuu appeared. When she saw them she gasped and ran forward to them "Oh my god what happened to you guys? They didn't beat you up to much did they?"

Mugen yelled "Of course not! You think I'd let myself be beat up by a bunch of pussies like these!" Jin's eyebrow twitched in annoyance "They only touched him and I can't blame them…" Mugen rounded on Jin despite his hands being tied "What did you say four-eyes!" He pounced at Jin and a no-armed wrestle ensued as Fuu laughed nervously and tried to talk to the elders. "They really are good guys they just don't really like each other to much and they don't act this stupid when their hands aren't tied." She laughed nervously and then stomped over to the pair and hit them both on the head "Quit it you two! I just saved your lives again so don't mess it up!"

The elders sighed collectively and ordered Jin and Mugen to be freed. Their bonds were cut and they both immediately rubbed the sore spot on their heads from Fuu. Fuu turned to the elders "Um, so….when exactly can we leave?" The elders' faces hardened as one stepped forward "Never…We cannot allow you to leave our protection Fuu-sama….You see your father was our savior, had it not been for him this village would not exist and all who live here would be dead." Another spoke "To repay this we have sworn to protect all his family…We have watched you and these men cannot possibly take care of you" The third nodded and spoke "We will allow you to keep them here if you like but neither they nor you can leave…You cannot so that we can protect you, they cannot because they may tell where our village is." The last of the elders spoke "Come we will show you where you will stay."

With that they turned and began heading out the door of the church. Fuu followed and the others shortly after. The elders led them to a large house with extravagant carvings and crosses adorning it. Fuu's eyes sparkled as she opened the doors wide and stepped inside. Mugen and Jin were about to follow her when the elders grabbed them and shook their heads "This is for Fuu-sama, we cannot allow you to stay with her…you stay there." All four pointed to a small rather worn down looking two room hut beside Fuu's "Palace" and both of them slumped.

They trudged over to it and found despite it's ramshackle appearance it was clean on the inside and had two clean futons along with a good fire pit. Though the fact it was so close to Fuu's palace gave them the distinct feeling it was a servant's quarters. They were given back their swords but were told should they pull them out on anybody they would be killed on sight by those in the guard towers. With that pleasant thought they were wished goodnight and the door was shut.

Sometime in the middle of the night their door slid open. Both reached for their swords ready for some sneak attack only to see Fuu with two plates. She smiled and set it down in front of them "I figured those jerks wouldn't give you any food and they gave me enough to last me a week." The two who had already began to stuff their faces paused with a scared expression and thought the exact same thing…..how much food did they give her!

"Oh!" Fuu reached into her sleeve and then pulled out a pair of glasses similar to Jin's old ones, they were slightly narrower and the frames were a different color but it didn't matter as she handed them to him and he gratefully took them.

Fuu sat there until they finished and then took their plates and bowls and smiled at them "Night guys, and ya know…this place isn't so bad….just cooperate at least for a little while ok?" Jin sighed and Mugen grunted as he rolled over on his futon. She smiled softly and then the sliding door shut and the two vagrants fell asleep.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: hey appreaciated readers , I've changed a few of the chapters such as this one because I forgot to put in one of my favorite aspects of Jin! So anyway it's there now and I did some work on chp 3 too.