The crescent moon was in full glow, casting an ethereal blanket of effulgence over empty fields and unlit homes. The lazy chirpings of crickets and occasional hoots from owls resonated through tranquil silence, joined in by the soft scrunching of grass when two figures jogged up to meet a third under a willow tree.
Secret rendesvous really are held best at night.
"Only the three of us, huh?" Suseri sighed, disappointment heavy in her voice despite having already expected it as she eyed the duo.
"The other youths are still very much afraid of the bandits," Ryuki replied, his brown hair falling when he dipped his head down. "The elders are out of the question."
"But you did not reveal anything about what we're planning to do, right?" The girl asked urgently. "We cannot implicate the others with knowledge about this. If something happens, then at least only we will be held responsible."
"Why don't we try to rope in more people?" Nayu pursed her full lips, a little unsettled at the thought of taking full blame. "How about Earthling-ssi? I heard that he's very good with the sword! He will definitely be of great help!"
A firm shake of head. "No. We cannot trouble him with our village affairs. And besides, he cannot get hurt again."
"But-"
"She's right. This is our own business." Ryuki agreed, and the startlingly beautiful maiden kept quiet immediately, pouting out her displeasure instead. "Anyway, Suseri, what is the plan? I trust that you've already come up with one?"
"I...have. But," the medic crossed her arms and took a seat on the large stone boulder behind, all the while looking pointedly at the raven-haired beauty opposite her. "You may not like it."
Nayu frowned and cocked her head, while the brunette male beside her blinked cautiously. "What is it?"
The blonde closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, prepping herself for the load of whining and protesting that will be sure to come.
Chapter Five:
The Human Heart Anticipates
"T-They're here..."
A scrawny man perched atop the gate lookout slowly widened his squinted eyes. Panic striking his mind and heart, he frantically descended the wooden tower, jumping off the last few steps to save time but ended up falling on his face instead. Not bothering to even dust himself, he scrambled to his feet, cupping hands to his mouth and hollering, "they're here! The bandits are here!"
Nearby villagers ceased their activites and froze, hearing the screaming man's words but not his warning. The gravity of their situation sunk in only after a middle-aged housewife lost hold of her basket of fruits, and in an instant, the once bustling plaza turned into a hysterical snake pit as everybody made haste to prepare for the bandits' arrival.
"They're not supposed to be here till late afternoon!"
"Eomma! Where are you?"
"Pick up those fruits, Yuna-ssi! We cannot afford to waste anymore food!"
"Oh no! I haven't sun the animal pelts yet!"
"Eomma!"
As the men were busy piling on crates and the women sorting out foodstuff, a deafening thud sounded from the village's main gate and startled eyes shot towards it. Petrified in their various stances, the villagers watched as the two wooden barricades were flung wide open, allowing a gang of heavily muscled men to strut into the square.
Their leader, -as distinguished by the thick fur cape draped over his wide shoulders-, stepped forward imposingly, glancing around his surroundings with a highly unsatisfied expression on his scarred face. All of a sudden, he banged his oversized woldo on the ground, forcing every single villager in sight to drop down to the dirt and grovel.
"Why is everything not ready yet!" He bellowed out, inducing terrified flinches from the lesser people. A soft, thunking sound incited him to direct his glare to a hunched elderly man hobbling up, and he smirked when the geriatric also fell to his knees.
"Please forgive my people! We were not aware of your premature arrival, and thus were very unprepared," the tribe head beseeched in his most submissive voice. "If you would be so kind as to give us another hour, we will definitely arrange the grandest of feasts for you and your men!"
"Another hour? That would already be lunch-time," the thug sneered, then thrust a thumb backwards to his posse. "Me and my men have not eaten since yesterday. You think we can wait for another," another forceful bang, "HOUR?"
The tribe head pressed his face deeper into the dirty ground, soil muffling his lips. "Please, sir!"
"Hmm..."
"I beg of you! Please!"
"Alright, because yours truly is a benevolent man, and we did come early." The oppressor turned around to stride back to his gang of twenty odd crooks, but not before spitting on the old man's balding head. "We'll be waiting at our stage as always, and we expect the usual gifts- No, this time, I want thrice of it. And it's about time you throw in a horse or two. We killed our old one because it wasn't listening to us." He shot a warning stare over his shoulder. "Do you understand?"
The village head kept silent and still, even though a whirlwind of troubled fear was stirring up within him; it would be impossible to satisfy the hoodlum's request. There wasn't even a single horse in their possession, let alone half of what they're asking! But he'll have to worry about that later; right now, he has to see that those bandits leave as peacefully as possible.
But they were still dawdling around, itching to at least cause some mayhem before they exit the village gates. Then, a sudden cry came from the far left, drawing everybody's attention towards it. Including the bandits'.
A catalyst for disaster.
"Eomma!"
It came from a little girl no older than the age of three. Not knowing that it was still unsafe to move, she had tottered up the moment the gang of outlaws turned to leave, wanting to resume her search for her mother as soon as possible. She continued screaming despite the many daunting looks aimed at her way, and promptly fell backwards when she collided into a wall of muscle.
"Did somebody lose her mommy?"
The child brushed away blinding tears, then looked up to see a yellowed grin right in her face. An evil, yellowed grin. Her miscoloured eyes held in them the reflection of a raised blade, and then-
A faint cloud of dust and a heart-wrenching scream from somewhere behind the plaza.
The head bandit narrowed his eyes in outrage, arm still poised for striking while the kneeling female in front of him lowered her pale-blonde head.
"Please sir, forgive her impertinence, she is but a child. If you wish to punish somebody, do so on me. This little one cannot be harmed for she is being raised to be a King's concubine."
The same thoughts crossed through the fear-strickened minds of every villager as they witnessed the scene before them, increasingly horrified and completely flabbergasted. What in the world is Suseri doing? What is she saying? Since when was that little girl a-
"King's concubine...?" Finally, the weapon was drawn back. "You have one here?"
"...Yes, sir. Every village has to send one."
Why is she telling him that? He and his men must not know about Nayu!
"I know that! What I meant is..." The salacious leer on the thug's face finished his sentence for him, and the terrified girl flung herself at his feet.
"Sir! Please, you know that you cannot! N-Nayu will be ruined, then our village will be ruined!" She made a desperate grab for his robes. "T-Take me, take me instead!"
With a ruthless sneer, the villain bent down to roughly hold the young woman's face with one hand. "But the King doesn't know who's the prettiest in this village, does he? You don't look that bad yourself; you can substitute for her."
She was thrown backwards with more force than needed and he straightened his back, turning heel and making a beckoning gesture with his arm. "Bring me this Nayu girl. Men, we're going to have fun tonight!"
Very much aware of the questioning, horrified expressions shot her way, Suseri steeled herself to ignore them and rubbed her sore cheeks as she thought about a meeting she had two days ago.
"You want me to what?"
"Exactly as I said."
Nayu gawked increduously at the village medic, her gobsmacked expression clashing with her pretty features. In a swish of red robes, she swivelled to the brunette sitting on her left and pointed a manicured finger to the other female. "Oppa, did you hear what she just told me to do?"
"Yes, I did." Ryuki nodded gravely, then turned to the pacing girl. "Suseri, are you really sure about this? We will be taking a very high risk here. The number one criteria for a King's concubine is for her to be completely pure. If those bastards-"
"I know, I know." Sighing, the pale-blonde Asato slowly faced her two companions. "But there isn't anything else we can do to distract them. And don't forget, there're only the three of us in this. We have to exploit every single opportunity and resource we have."
"But, but, but!" The Asato beauty pouted, her large mismatched eyes watering. "What if those scumbags take advantage of me before oppa comes?" She squeezed her eyes shut in disgust at the thought and balled her fists. "Noooo! I don't want it to end like that!"
"It won't." Determined red and blue orbs met her fearful brown and green. "I'll run through the plan again. Nayu, I'll find a way for them to know about you when they come. With the thought of being able to have the King's concubine, they won't settle for less, and thus in effect, will leave all the other girls alone. Also, knowing their hateful characters, lust will override all their other evil tendencies-"
"So they'll be too occupied to think about harming anything or anyone else." Ryuki finished, getting up to his two feet. "But how sure about that are you?"
The medic nailed a hard look into his eyes.
"Very sure."
True enough, Suseri saw with extreme relief that the bandits had taken her bait and indeed left in high spirits without so much as kicking a stone out of their path. Only when they were completely out of sight did the villagers dare to move; and many rushed to the three people on the ground up in front.
"Mina! Why did you leave my side just now!"
"Are you alright, Hamada-nari? That scumbag...how dare he spit on you!"
"Suseri, you stupid girl!" A grizzled woman fell to her knees next to her granddaughter, checking the girl's lithe form for any sign of injuries. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No, halmeoni, I'm fine." With a pang of guilt in her heart, Suseri looked up at the worried eyes of the old woman, suddenly occuring to her that she was the one who delivered the scream from before. Getting up and dusting herself, the young woman scanned her surroundings, taking in the distressed atmosphere and crying faces of her clansmen, the sights fuelling her resolve to protect them.
With his cheek on his knuckles and a half-lidded eye, Takasugi looked a picture of complete boredom. The nefarious gang of bandits he had heard so much about from everyone turned out to be just a gang of baboons. Okay, he'll give them credit: baboons who knew how to swing a blade, but that is all. He watched from the window of his hut as they trotted up a highland trail, and noted with deep condescension that they emitted not even an ounce of killing intent, only idiotic guffawing. Suseri was right after all; their huge muscles and weapons are just for show. A chuckle escaped his lips as he realized that the girl had a knack for reading people, and he wondered to what extent she was able to.
A soft creak incited the samurai to direct his attention to the door on his far right, and he lazily eyed the boy who had crept through it without moving out of his posture. Scurrying over to the purple-haired man, Seoki carefully laid a wooden tray on the floor as though it was made out of glass, wanting to make as little noise as possible. Then, he cupped a hand on the side of his mouth and whispered, "that's your dinner, Earthling-ssi. We can't serve it to you later because we all have to attend to the bandits. Sorry that it will get cold!"
Takasugi's eyebrow twitched down slightly as he regarded the chipped plate and bowl, lifting a hand to pick up the lids. Only a bowl of plain rice and a measly piece of fish? There wasn't even soup, and the portions were smaller! What, so are those mindless baffoons more important than him now? He released the ceramic cover from his fingers, letting it fall back on the bowl with a discontented, noisy chink.
The Asato jumped up as though Takasugi had smashed the dishware, then hastedly pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh! Earthling-ssi, don't make any sound! The bandits cannot find out that you're in the village!"
"I," the human gritted out, his glare darkening, "know that."
Suseri had made it very clear that Takasugi's presence was to under no circumstances, be revealed to the bandits. Apparently, not all Asato were as accepting to other races as her village, and there were stories of unfortunate foreigners being put through all sorts of cruel ordeals by xenophobic Asato, especially by the government-hating outlaws. Of course, the Kiheitai leader scoffed to that, and challengingly wondered out loud if they could even lay a finger on him, but the blonde girl was having none of it and had once again somehow coerced him into agreeing to his short confinement.
The Joi had found it hard to quietly detain himself within the four walls, since he was hoping, -practically itching-, to lay his blade on raw flesh. But now that he has seen how much of a competition the bandits were, he thought that he would get more of a kick from counting the number of empty cobwebs hanging off the hut's ceiling than clashing swords with them.
After hushing and almost pleading with the human to keep aboslutely silent, Seoki left the hut the same way he came in, but not before shooting an assertive look over his small shoulder. Olive returned to green, and Takasugi exhaled nonchantly as he watched another two burly figures trudge up the hill while the door creaked shut.
No...wait.
The Kiheitai leader sat up straighter, his curiosity starting to heighten. One of them...
It was faint, almost unnoticeable, but the samurai made no mistake about that malicious aura; killing intent.
The lankier one with greasy hair next to the fur-caped neanderthal. Probably not as pale as the others he had seen and interacted with, and he didn't seem to feel the need to hide from the sun, but...
Takasugi's eye widened slowly, whether in mild shock or excitement, he didn't care to know. Because right in front of him now, in this dingy place...
...Yato blood...?
"Twenty men with the strength of elephants. Obviously, we'll have to take out their numbers first," Suseri tapped a finger to her chin, eyes staring up to the bright orb in the sky. "Without them finding out."
Nayu let out an unladylike snort. "And how are we going to do that? It's not like they're blind enough not to notice their buddies go missing one by one!"
"Then let them notice. As long as they don't suspect anything."
"Yeah, how?"
The medic stilled her finger and rested it on her jaw. "What do the lackey bandits always do first when they come, next to plundering our village?"
"Check our offerings." Ryuki answered, spite blatant in his words.
She turned around. "There's our chance."
Suseri bit her lip and suppressed the urge to scream out as she navigated her way through the rocky trail. From the corner of her eye, she could see those pig-headed brutes hacking away unnecessarily at stray bushes, and it ached her heart somewhat as the fallen leaves and stems littered the path. Plants have lives too, after all.
Her tolerance however, reached its low when one of them picked up a stone to fling it at a bird's nest, knocking it off the tree where it fell into a heap of scattered twigs and broken eggs onto the ground below. The silently fuming girl then stopped in her tracks, ready to fix a glare onto the offender, when a hand placed itself onto her shoulder. She turned to see a brunette giving her a warning look.
Ryuki leant in to whisper. "Just bear with it. Your plan is going well so far."
After the villagers had presented the food to the bandits, their leader sent five of them to go down to the village to check on their 'gifts', but three more wanted to tag along, so all was in Suseri's favour as it would mean getting rid of nearly half of them. Following the plan, she and Ryuki volunteered to lead them to the place where the goods are kept; the bait for the trap.
"Is some'in da matter?" One of the crooks stepped out, swinging his mace threateningly.
"...Nothing." Suseri forced out a smile, and the group resumed their journey through the forest.
They reached a clearing before a river, where three large, caged carts stood, each containing crates of packed goods. Ryuki padded over to rest his hand on one of them, facing the gang of hoodlums. "We've added wooden beams to the usual carts, so that none of the crates will fall out when you all continue on your way to the next village on the other side. We've heard that the road is quite rough."
"Heh. Not bad service." A bandit circled the carts, then snapped his fingers to his companions. "Eh, you four go check the other two. Me and Goto will do this one." He then hoisted himself up and walked between the crates while the others did the same.
None of them noticed the thin, nylon cord connecting all the doors of the carts nor the girl who was locating its end among the grasses.
"Oi! The boxes are empt-"
With a hard yank of the string, Suseri shut the bandits in the cages while Ryuki rushed to lock them. The other two crooks who were keeping watch at the mouth of the clearing thundered over, but it was too late; their companions were banging helplessly against the bars, yelling all sorts of obsceneties to be let out.
"You tricked us!" The burlier of the two bellowed furiously, and they charged towards the two villagers with raised sabres. Ryuki tackled one of them, bringing him and himself down to the ground, the impact causing the bandit to lose hold of his weapon. Meanwhile, Suseri dealt with her own opponent by leading him into a game of cat-and-mouse, sprinting all over the place to evade him. Knowing that she could not possibly keep this up, the cogs in her mind worked when she spotted the discarded sabre lying a few feet away from the two grappling males.
Oppa, wait for awhile, the girl thought, picking up the heavy blade with both hands, I'll help you soon!
"Hah! You honestly think that you'll be able to take me down?" Her bandit sauntered up, tapping his own sabre on his shoulder. "Girly, you're so cute."
Suseri willed her arms to stop trembling, but they would not listen. She took a few steps back cautiously, then made for a dash once again.
She ran for a good few minutes again before falling onto the gravelly riverbank, and she whipped her head to see the hoodlum advancing on her, the dirtiest of smirks on his ruggedly ugly face.
"Once I'm done with you..."
The Asato girl pushed herself backwards to put more distance between them, but his strides were huge. Then, finally finding the right angle, she twisted the sabre in her hands, reflecting the afternoon sun's glaring rays into the bandit's eyes with its flat side, blinding him. The sharp pain caused his hand to shoot to his face instinctively, and Suseri used that opportunity to push the unguarded hoodlum into the coursing river, where the sudden impact wore his defence down against its strong current.
Wasting no time, she clambered to where the other two were, stopping to see them wrestle on the dusty ground. The blonde girl flung herself onto the back of the bigger man, giving Ryuki the chance to escape from under him and gain the upperhand. Suseri struggled to restrict the bandit's movements while the brunette rained blows onto his face. After five long minutes, the hoodlum was finally knocked unconscious and his bruised body fell down with a loud thud.
The remaining duo keeled over with heavy panting, minds too numb and blank by what had transpired. Screamings from the carts brought them back to earth, where they looked over their shoulders just in time to see a crate fall on one of the bandits due to their thrashing about.
Suseri broke into a smile, her speech broken by her huffing. "T-They really are.. as stupid as...animals. Entering the cage even after...seeing it."
"They really lowered their guard by believing we aren't capable of resistance, as you said." Having already caught his breath, Ryuki stood up and offered a hand to the girl. "Come, we must hurry back to the stage! They may ask for Nayu anytime now!"
Despite the situation, Suseri couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when she heard the urgency and concern in his voice, but she quickly brushed it away and was pulled to her feet. The pair then made haste to return to where they came from.
Still twelve more to go... The blonde medic thought as she flitted through the trees. However, she did not feel as much worry as she did before, perhaps due to the success of her plan so far.
And after all, they're all just a bunch of mindless baffoons, right?
Author's Notes: Oh My God... I'm so sorry for the long update. I've just started at a new school, so settling to the new school culture and system got me pretty much worn out everyday, but yeah I know, it's no excuse. Sorry again!
And I hope that this chapter wasn't too much of a letdown! Like the previous chapter, I'll need all the feedback you all can give for this one. Cos tbh, I thought that Suseri's plan was a little... lame. Do you all get this chapter so far, though? I have to admit that this arc is really tough to come up with, but trust me, I swear to put in all my effort write it as well as I can. Because as I said before, I have pretty big ideas for this in the future, so this is kind of a 'warm-up' for what will happen next time. Okay, I don't know if I'm making any sense here...
And a woldo is a Korean spear thingy. Idk how to describe it OTL. And just to mention, when the Asato are speaking amongst themselves, they use korean. Only in the presence of Takasugi will they use japanese.
AND OMG THE REVIEWS! I check my email regularly, and was pleasantly surprised to see all the notifications popping up, and they really pumped me up to finish this chapter. :') I'm sorry though, I don't have the time (or energy) to reply to the reviews now (and as you all can read from this author's note, I'm not really thinking coherently... I just woke up to review this chapter which I've finished the night before to make sure that it is fit to be published... 3.3) But you all must know that I appreciate every single one of them :) and don't worry, DatAznKid, I will never give up on this fic. I apologise in advance that you all may have to bear with long updates, but rest assured that I will not leave this hanging halfway.
Okay that's all! I have to go drink some coffee right now. The pile of homework that I have to complete by today... Gawd. SEE YOU LOVELIES NEXT TIME!