Sam wandered through the shine, praying that he wouldn't run into anymore guards. He crept down the hallway trying to be as quiet as possible. He willed his heart to slow down, paranoid that the guards might hear it and find him. Surprisingly he was able to remain undetected and crept his way to the lower floors. He glanced down at the map again and saw that there was supposed to be door somewhere on his left, but when he looked around he didn't see it. He also noticed that the hallway was empty except for a small altar.
"That's weird," he mumbled, peaking around the corner cautiously. "Where are all the guards?"
His first thought was that somehow San-Li had gotten ahead of him, but that was unlikely. His eyes drifted to the small altar and noticed that it sat slightly askew. He looked around one last time before walking over for a closer look. The altar wasn't pushed completely against the wall and behind it he could see a door.
"Yep," Sam mumbled, double checking the map. "This should be it."
Taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, he opened the door and went inside. A dark wooden stair case barely lit by candles led down into the darkness. Sam swallowed nervously and started heading down.
He reached the bottom and entered a large storage room filled with maps, charts, military uniforms, and other stuff. There were also several bunkers where a few soldiers were laying down asleep. Near the center of the room was a large table loaded with maps and charts. He looked around again and that's when he saw it. Sitting on a shelf between two Kōtoku-in statues was an intricately designed fan under a glass case.
"That has to be it." Sam whispered in excitement. "I can't believe I found the Akiraka Ni Suru Fan! Now I can find San-Li and finally get out of here."
He started to move towards it when a door opened and soldiers filed in, waking up the guards that were asleep in the bunks. Suddenly a hand wrapped around Sam's mouth and roughly pulled him behind one of the crates. Sam stifled a scream and tried to fight the arms that held him.
"Silence boy!" A hoarse voice hissed. "Or do you want us to be discovered and killed?"
Sam broke away from the grip and turned around. His jaw dropped when he saw who it was. Fukuhara.
San-Li pressed herself behind a pillar and waited for the guards to pass. As they ran past her she closed her eyes and recalled the map again. There were actually two separate ways to get to the secret rooms, she wondered which one Sam would head to. After the guards finally moved away she headed into a room on her left and went inside.
The room itself was pretty plain except for a Kōtoku-in statue sitting on a pedestal in the corner. When San-Li tugged on it, it rotated away from the wall revealing a secret passage way and a dark stair case leading downward. The door slid shut behind her, encasing her in near darkness. The only light was the occasional torch on the wall.
She reached the bottom and encountered a wooden door. She opened it and found herself in a warehouse like room with boxes and crates of ammunition and guns. Dingy ceiling lights made the whole place look eerie and her grip tightened on her sword. San-Li listened for any noises, wondering if Sam had maybe found his way down here.
"Boy, for a country who just lost a war they sure have a lot of guns." She mumbled to herself.
She peered into one of the boxes and saw a 1905 Type 38 Arisaka rifle which most likely used 6.5x50mm rounds. Her arms and face still stung from them grazing her skin. Even though she was more of a knife and dagger collector she still had a great appreciation for historical firearms.
"Focus San-Li, focus." She said shaking her head. "Sam is out here alone and the fan could be somewhere close by."
She peered into each of the crates but all she saw were guns and bullets. She knew she should probably be concerned about all these weapons, but the only thing that she could think about was finding Sam and the fan. She reached the other side of the room without finding anything and huffed in frustration, making her side ache. One room down, two more to go. She opened the door and the guards who was standing there whirled around with surprise written all over their faces.
"Oh, crap." San-Li mumbled.
"Fukuhara?" Sam whispered in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"
"Where is Setsuko-san?" Fukuhara asked instead. "Why is she not with you?"
"We got separated." Sam sighed, looking down. "We got discovered by guards and she stayed behind to fight them off."
Fukuhara turned red and snarled at Sam. "I knew you were no good for her."
Sam bit back an angry retort and they both went silent as the newly awakened guards ran by them to join the soldiers at the table. Suddenly, all the guards and soldiers snapped to attention. The door at the far end of the room slammed open and a man in a dark military uniform stormed in. The man stopped under the ceiling light and Sam could see that the man was Bando. Instead of the kind, pleasant smile he usually wore, Bando was scowling and his eyes were filled with cold rage.
A soldier unfurled a large map on the table and scurried back to his place. Bando looked over the men and then began barking at them in Japanese, gesturing to the fan and to the map angrily. Sam couldn't understand a single word he said but it didn't sound good.
"What is it?" Sam whispered to Funkhara. "What's he talking about?"
"He plans on using the Akiraka Ni Suru to locate and bomb United States military bases." Fukuhara whispered. "Just what I was afraid of."
Fukuhara roughly nudged Sam and pulled up his sleeve. There, on the underside of his forearm was a strange marking; a green hour glass inside of a red triangle surrounded by three black crescents. The marking was familiar but Sam couldn't quite remember why until he realized that it was one of the strange markings on The Book.
"When I was Setsuko's age I was sent here to make sure Japan's history flowed as it should." Fukuhara explained. "Japan would lose the war, but we will rise again and become a technological super power."
"So you're a time keeper." Sam nodded. "So's Setsuko."
"Yes and now Bando plans on restarting the war." Fukuhara snarled and reached for the sword strapped to his side. "I will not let that happen! Japan has lost too much to be dragged into another war!"
Sam shushed him urgently and glanced around to make sure no one detected them.
"Setsuko and I are planning on stealing the fan," He explained quickly. "We'll just wait for him to leave, take it, use it to find her, and then-"
Angry yelling cut him off and a guard came rushing in looking disheveled with various cuts and tears on his uniform. He said something to Bando that made him smile maliciously but Fukuhara took a sharp breath.
"They have her." Fukuhara whispered pulling out his sword. "They're captured Setsuko. And if Bando gets his hands on her, it'll be a fate worse than death."
They had caught her by surprise, or rather she had caught them by surprise, but they were too quick with their guns for her to get away. The next thing she knew they had grabbed her and dragged her into a large do-jo like training room. They threw her sword to the side and forced her into a kneeling position with her hands tied behind her. A third guard went into another room while the other two waited silently.
San-Li was rapidly going through and rejecting escape plans when the door opened and a man in a dark military uniform strode in. San-Li took a second look at him and kept her face carefully blank. Bando stopped in front of her and smiled at her in a way that made her blood run cold though she tried to make sure not to show it.
Still smiling Bando unsheathed the sword at his side and gently ran the tip across her shoulders, cutting both the fabric and her skin. He then placed the tip under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. He smiled pleasantly and chuckled.
"Ah, Setsuko-san," He said. "What a pleasant surprise. Funny meeting you down here."
"Yeah, imagine that." San-Li mumbled.
Bando raised an eyebrow and pressed the sword a little firmer into her neck. "Are you not happy to see me?"
"What do you want with me Bando?" San-Li said impatiently. "Kill me now or let me go. Or better yet, give me the fan and let me go."
"I'm sorry I cannot be helpful to you in that matter." Bando sighed. "You see, I planned on using that the Akiraka Ni Suru in order to find American military bases and destroying them and then sending my own personal army to finish them off. I refused to let Japan lose to barbarians."
"I know, I saw the plans." San-Li's mumbled. "I just didn't know you were the ring leader. Not that I cared. I'm just here for the fan."
Bando's eyes narrowed. "Ah, so that was you who was snooping that night. I told Fukuhara that I didn't want to vacation on this island, but I was unable to explain why without revealing my true intentions. The good news is that I was able to get some work done while I was here."
"Fascinating." San-Li rolled her eyes. "Though I still don't know why you're taking your time telling me this."
"I suppose you're right, the time for talking is over." He nodded to the guards who quickly left the room.
Bando smiled coldly and slowly moved the tip of the sword down her neck towards the opening of her rope, pushing the material aside ever so slightly. San-Li's heart beat tripled in fear and disgust, but she hid her feelings behind her signature smirk and sardonic laughter.
"Really?" She sneered at him. "I thought you were supposed to be a sophisticated villain, not a stupid, horny one."
Bando's smile dropped completely and he snarled at her angrily. With a yell of outrage he raised his sword to bring it down on her neck.
Sam carefully climbed up the boxes he pushed against the wall and reached for the glass case holding the fan. Fukuhara was busy fighting off the guards who for some reason didn't have their guns with them, just swords. For a man who had to be well over forty, Fukuhara was a well-trained swordsman and was able to dispatch of them relatively easily. Relatively. Even though he was good, Fukuhara easily became winded and the guards were able to get in a few good slashes with their swords. By the time Sam smashed the glass case open and got the fan out, Fukuhara had knocked out the last of them. Without another word to Sam he burst through the door Bando left through. Sam tucked the fan into his back pocket and followed Fukuhara.
Bando had his back to them and was about to cut down a kneeling San-Li with his sword. Before Sam could call out Fukuhara threw his sword which flew through the air and knocked Bando's sword out of his hand. Bando whirled around in shock and the two glared at each other while Sam ran to San-Li.
"Thank goodness you're okay!" Sam cried out happily untying her hands.
San-Li didn't say anything but just wrapped her arms tightly around his neck once her hands were free. Sam pulled away slightly to kiss her on the mouth and tasted blood. Shocked, he took another look at her and saw that her lip was busted and she was covered with cuts, burns, and bruises.
"You're hurt." Sam whispered laying a hand on her cheek.
"Don't worry about me. Are you okay?" She said eyeing him in concern.
"I'm fine." Sam pulled out the fan and handed her the pocket watch. "I found what we need so we can get out of here."
"YOU WILL NOT TAKE THAT FAN!" Bando screamed at Sam.
"No!" Fukuhara yelled at him. "I will not let you destroy our country with more war!"
San-Li ran over, picked up both her sword and Fukuhara sword, and kicked Bando's sword to the side. She tossed Fukuhara his sword and stood ready to fight next to him.
"Sam, go over to the corner and stay out of the way." She said quietly and he obeyed.
Bando looked back and forth between Fukuhara and San-Li and laughed. "Surely you don't think me stupid enough to fight both of you, do you?"
He then pulled out a whistle and blew two short blasts. Within seconds there was the sound of echoing footsteps and about twenty guards armed with swords entered the room. With another nasty smile, Bando snapped his fingers and the guards charged at them.
Fukuhara and San-Li stood back to back and held their swords at the ready. Both were bloody and bruised but they were able to hold their own against them. Fukuhara fought with heavy blows to the shoulders and chest while San-Li used her speed and small stature to evade them and aimed for their legs. But as the guards began to dwindle, so did their strength as their movements became slower and their breathing more labored.
Sam was so busy watching them that he didn't notice Bando moving slowly towards him until it was too late.
Fukuhara fell down to one knee panting heavily. San-Li bit back a cry of pain from her wounds and delivered a roundhouse kick to the guard who was about to stab him in the back, knocking him away from Fukuhara. Even now she was careful not to kill any of them even though she was sorely tempted to. They had dispatched of most of the guards, but four more were still slowly moving towards them.
"Are you alright?" She asked kneeling down next to him.
"I- ugh, I am not as young as I used to be." Fukuhara struggled to stand but collapsed unconscious.
San-Li hissed in pain and held her side, looking at the four remaining guards coming towards them. That was when she heard Sam scream.
Sam ducked as fast as he could but the tip of Bando's sword still cut into Sam's arm, extracting a scream from his lips. He fell and scrambled away from Bando as he moved closer and closer with a snarl on his face.
"Give me the Akiraka Ni Suru or your death will be slow." Bando said menacingly.
"N-n-no way!" Sam yelled angrily even as his heart quaked in fear. "Y-you're insane!"
Bando's eyes narrow and he lifted his sword. "Then you will perish."
Sam closed his eyes and waited for the final blow to come down, but instead felt a wash of cold air and heard a strangled grunt of pain. He opened his eyes and gasped in horror. San-Li kneeling between him and Bando, her sword thrust deep into Bando's stomach. Bando stared down at them, his eyes and mouth wide in terror and pain. San-Li gave another thrust of her sword, propelling him away from them, blood gushed out of the wound in his stomach and out of his mouth. Warm droplets of blood splattered across Sam's face and hands and across San-Li's face as well. The remaining guards gave a cry of fear and fled the room.
Holding his bleeding wound, Bando staggered backwards away from them and fell to his knees. San-Li stood up and slowly walked towards him. Her expression was cold, dark, and empty as she stared down at Bando, lifted her sword, and plunged it down to the hilt between his neck and shoulder. She yanked the sword back out and a torrent of blood came spraying out of his neck and mouth, drenching San-Li completely. Even then her expression remained cold and her eyes dark.
Sam was unable to breath and his heart seemed to stop as San-Li turned towards him. He stared at her in sheer terror and she came close and kneelt down in front of him. She smiled softly at him and some fondness came into her on exposed eye.
"Are you okay?" She asked reaching a hand out towards him.
The gesture was kind but he flinched back regardless. San-Li had just saved his life but all he could see was the blood she was covered in, and that cold, blank expression she had only moments earlier.
"What are you?" He whispered in terror.
San-Li's eyes widened in shock and hurt, but right now the only thing Sam could feel was fear. Tears welled up in San-Li's eyes and without a word she opened the pocket watch and warped them home.
A/N- I haven't written anything like this before so please review and tell me what you think about pacing, the action and the conent please