Treasure

Chapter 9: Left Behind

Takara groggily awoke the next morning. She felt her joints pop and crack as she stretched, slowly sitting up. Looking out the window she noticed the members of the Band of Seven leaving the castle. Confused, she hurried out the door to catch up with them. She was relieved when she saw Renkotsu in the hall waiting for her. "For a minute, I thought you all left me." She said laughing nervously.

Renkotsu smirked at her comment and had her collect her belongings. He motioned for her to follow him. He led her through the village just outside the castle walls, into small hut. "What's this?" She asked confused as she walked in and looked around the barren space.

"It's your new home." Renkotsu said deviously, as if he'd been waiting for this moment.

He leaned against the door frame, and watched Takara in amusement as she paced around panicking. "Where's Bankotsu? I want to talk to him!" She demanded.

"Well, I hate to break it to you; but he doesn't want to see you." He sneered at her.

Angrily, she pushed past him and stormed out. Renkotsu went to stop her, but he dared not touch her in the event Bankotsu were to ever find out. Takara found the others on the path way leading into the forest. "What's this about Bankotsu?" She shouted, as she approached him.

Bankotsu fought to maintain his composure. He sat cross-legged on the ground, refusing to make any eye contact with her. "Your services are no longer needed as a slave. You are free to go. Your rent is paid up for three months, and I also got you a job at the local Inn. You should go talk to owner." He said nonchalantly.

Takara was taken back by his response. His attitude change came out of nowhere, and she had no idea what to say. "Don't stand there like that!" He startled her with his sudden shouting.

"What did you think was going to happen? We'd run off get married, have a couple of kids, while burning down villages and levelling castles? I'm a mercenary; through and through. There's no room in my life for fairy tales." His harsh words made her feel two feet tall.

Takara tried to hold back her tears in front of them all. Spitefully, she ripped off the necklace that he had previously given her and threw it at him, before running back off toward the village. Bankotsu looked down solemnly at the necklace laying in dirt. He tried to ignore the regret he felt in the pit of his stomach, as he stashed the necklace back in his pocket. "Big Brother, you made the right choice." Renkotsu tried to reassure him as he walked up.

"Shut up, and let's get out of here." He snapped at him.

The rest of his men were all just as surprised as Takara. No one was expecting on him leaving her behind so suddenly. Judging by Bankotsu's foul mood he wasn't too happy about it either. His demeanor detoured them from asking him any questions about it. They were all afraid of what his actions might be if they tried to find out what happened.

Over the next couple of days, Takara had to battle with herself to get up and keep going every morning. She hated Bankotsu for what he did, but her heart still longed to be with him. She wished they would have just left her chained in that dungeon. Starving to death chained to a wall, seemed like heaven compared to this. "Takara!" The owner of the inn bellowed out.

He was an awful man; a drunk and a pervert. She wondered how he could ever run a successful business being intoxicated all the time. "Those soldiers over there have been waiting five minutes!" He shouted.

She was a waitress at the bar inside the inn. She rushed to their table to serve them. As the table drank and drank, they became increasingly unbearable to deal with. They would make perverse remarks to her, and try to convince her to come with them after she got off work. Takara ignored their advances. Pigs, is all that they were. They thought the fact that they were soldiers gave them rights to any woman they laid eyes on. "Come here baby, we want to get to know you better." One of them forcefully pulled her down on his lap.

Disgusted, she tried to push herself off of him. "Come on sweetie, don't act like that. Hey, I know something that'll impress ya." He purred in her ear.

"I think your breath is impressive enough." She retorted, nearly gagging at the over-powering smell of alcohol on his breath.

'And here I thought the Band of Seven drank too much.' She thought to herself.

She shuttered as she felt him brush her hair behind her ear. "You know the Shichinintai?" He asked.

She nodded, trying not to lose the contents of her stomach. "Well, we're going to have the job of executing them." He boasted.

He had her full attention at this point. "Oh, really?" She asked slyly.

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" She asked trying to get as much information as she could.

"Lord Hotaka just sent them off to destroy an independent village in the east as a decoy. In four days, right after they take out those pathetic mountain dwellers, we're going to ambush them."

"'Mountain dwellers?'" She asked not sure what that meant.

"Yes, it's a group of people that live in the East, just at that bottom of a big mountain range. Those fools really believe they can just go on living without being under the power of anyone." He explained.

"Just your army is going to ambush them?" She asked curiously.

"Well, us and three others. Not that we need it or anything." He said pridefully.

Takara thought for a second, trying to think of what she could do. She noticed their glasses almost empty for the seventh time. "Let me go get you some more to drink." She said, knowing that that was the only way they'd let her up from the table.

In the back of the kitchen her boss was leant over at a small table. He had already passed out. 'Well, I guess having a drunkard as a boss pays off once in a while.' She thought as she snuck out back to the stables.

She untied the owner of the Inn's horse, and carefully mounted herself on top of it. She unsteadily took off on the horse, trying to teach herself how to ride as she went. It was night time, she hoped the fact that the Band of Seven usually set up camp about this time, meant it would help her get caught up to them. Takara had no idea what she was doing, in all honesty. She figured in her head that if she just headed East and looked for the mountain range she would find Bankotsu in time.

Bankotsu laid underneath a tree apart from his men as they all slept. All of his men were exhausted, for the past two days Bankotsu didn't allow anytime for rest or breaks. He had been extremely irritable the past two days. Either he didn't speak at all, or he was yelling. In some way, he thought that maybe if he put as much distance between himself and Takara as possible it would make it easier. It was to no avail. She was now on his mind every second of every day. He tried to convince himself that it was for the best. Takara could now meet a normal man and live the normal life she deserved. He tried to convince himself that at least this way he knows she'll be safe, instead of with him and in danger. He clenched the amethyst necklace in his fist. This man who had been in countless battles and wars, too many to count at this point; had never felt a pain such as this. The look on Takara's face as he yelled at her haunted him in his sleep. That look of sorrow in her eyes, as he told her to go back to the village, burned through his soul. Takara was his only weakness. 'Only you could make me feel this way.' He scoffed to himself.

For the first time since he could remember, he felt like something very important was missing from his life. So important that he questioned how long he could go without it.

Bankotsu's men stood around debating on what to do. It was late in the morning and Bankotsu was still asleep. They all argued back in forth on who should go over to wake him up. "Oh, no. I'm not getting my head chopped off. Nuh-uh not today." Jakotsu said defensively.

Bankotsu's moody attitude had all of his men fearful of him. "Why don't you go wake him Renkotsu? You're the reason he's in such a foul mood anyway." Mukotsu said snidely.

"And how is this my fault?" He asked.

"I heard you that night, when you were trying to convince Bankotsu to leave Takara behind." Mukotsu said plainly.

All the other members gave Renkotsu a dirty look, now that they knew who to blame for all of this. Bankotsu had been riding all of them ever since they left the castle. They all turned when they heard the sound of a horse galloping behind them. They were shocked to see Takara, as she unmounted the horse. "Where's Bankotsu?" She asked urgently.

"He's not available right now, but you can talk to me." Renkotsu stated firmly.

"I don't have time for this, this is important." She stated annoyed.

"Awe, what's wrong? Can you not live without him?" He teased.

They all scowled at Renkotsu's behavior, but (due to his ranking) did not say anything. "Takara?" Bankotsu said confused as he rubbed his head just waking up.

"How did you get here?" He asked dumbfounded.

"Bankotsu, this job is a trap. They plan on ambushing you all once you take out that village with three other armies!" She exclaimed.

"How did you find that out, Takara?" Jakotsu asked.

"These soldiers at the inn were bragging about it." She explained.

"Big Brother, what are we going to do?" Renkotsu asked.

Bankotsu thought for a moment trying to think of something. "Did they say when the attack was going to be?" He asked.

"Three days now." She replied.

If Bankotsu and his men were going to make it through this, it was going to take some serious strategy. First thing was that Bankotsu instructed his men to get off the main trail. They would then cut off each army as it headed toward the village and take them out one by one. If these lords wanted a war with the Shichinintai that's what they were going to get.