Eishou led them through a meandering route that took them around and back in on itself before stopping at an enormous oak tree and giving two short, sharp whistles. A crude ladder made of a single rope with thick knots tied in it was thrown down. Eishou started to climb it and after a long moment Yuka shrugged and went up first, still trying to keep Taiki safe in case it was an ambush.
Their little tree-fort camp wasn't much to write home about, a flat base of wood with thin hide-covered walls on three sides and a rain-shed was it, plus some small paraphernalia.
"My comrades and I are being hunted in every province throughout the kingdom. I've lost contact with most of them, but me and a very few others have built up a small resistance in between the time we've spent as refugees and ducking the guards," Eishou said.
Despite recent experience obviously having aged him, Eishou gave off the impression of youth. Yuka felt he wouldn't have been out of place in the halls of her own high school, well, minus the rakish mane and the movements that looked like he'd seen his share of battles.
"We just recently came back," Kaname said.
He looked like he would have gone on to tell the tale of their journey but Yuka nudged him hard. Rven if they were willing to trust this man, there was no need to mention names or places just in case they were wrong about him.
"Do you know where kana- er, um, Taiki's king is?" Yuka asked bluntly, not wanting to waste time on trivialities.
"I can tell you where he is not," Eishou replied. "We've looked in all of the better known prisons and found no trace of him. Last year a contingent of some of our best managed to sneak into the imperial palace to check the dungeons there, but unfortunately they were caught and publicly executed. Before they got the axe one of them managed to communicate to one of ours that there was no sign of him there. That just leaves the palace of Shin."
Yuka nodded, but felt compelled to ask
"Why wasn't that the first or second place you looked?"
"Because it was too obvious," Eishou replied a little defensively. "Ansen never does the obvious thing, he's subtle and clever. We figured that the last place he'd hide someone would be the first place that anyone else would go looking."
"Let's hope you're wrong about that," Yuka said. "Because Kaname and I are heading there to find him."
"Then I'm coming with you,' Eishou said quickly.
Yuka and Kaname exchanged a long speaking look, during which Kaname said that he'd be happy to have the company of a man he had trusted as Taiki and Yuka argued that she didn't know for certain if the man could be trusted and she didn't want to risk Taiki's safety in trusting wrongly.
"C'mon Yuka," Kaname pressed after a moment when it looked she was going to be stubborn as usual. "We're going to have to trust someone sometime. Neither of us know the local customs very well, everyone's on edge and we would probably end up tipping off one of those Black Guards about our strangeness sooner or later without someone to let us know what questions it was safe to ask. Besides, he's a soldier, chances are he's going to be good in a fight, we're probably going to need that before too long. He has every right and more than us to look for Gyousou-sama too."
Yuka considered it for a long moment then nodded, albeit reluctantly.
"I guess I can't deny that, and I hope it's not a mistake. Just so we're clear," Yuka said looking across the fire pit to meet the young former general's eyes squarely. "I am here to protect Taiki. I'm helping him find his king because that's what he needs to do, but if there's a choice to be made, I'll make the one that's best for Kaname and no other."
Eishou nodded shortly, accepting it.
"I'll send out a few of my spies to gather information tonight. They should be able to report something useful by morning," Eishou replied. "We'll make our plans after that point."
Though it was a small tree-top affair hidden deeply in the woods, the "bandit" camp was run as efficiently as any military camp. There were not row upon row of tents, but there was also not an army of soldiers either. Mostly the camp was filled with half-wild young boys, the sort who would never be content with a life of farming in their villages and bowing their heads to tax officials.
"This Eishou sure can pick 'em," Yuka muttered to herself after surveying the rag-tag group of somewhat scraggly youths, most of which were her own age and acted just like the ruffians and "high-school gang-leaders" from her old school back home. They strutted and boasted and tried to out-do one another in contests of skill and stupidity.
"I like to think of it as a preventative measure," a voice said from just off to her left.
Yuka tried not to jump out of her skin. She hadn't heard a rustle to announce any movement nearby nor had she seen him approach, he was just suddenly there without warning! Eishou appeared from between two low, scrubby bushes.
"These boys would have caused their mothers to cry three years worth of tears when they were eventually hauled away by the Black Guard for terrorist activity. Most of them spent their time sneaking around government offices and setting fire to government grain silos. It can be tough to be a young man faced with so much injustice and be powerless to do anything about it, with me they get a positive outlet for their energy."
"And you get a spy network," Yuka said shrewdly.
Eishou shrugged a bit, not denying it.
"It's better than letting themselves get killed stupidly," he replied. "I like to think of it as assembling the kings rag-tag army."
Yuka glanced around her at the small raiding-bands of young men and some fewer young women... they reminded her more of a college frat-party with weapons.
"If I didn't feel sorry for your country before, I do now," was Yuka's dry response.
Eishou laughed and said
"I'm glad Taiki has someone like you looking out for him, you're nothing if not feisty it seems. We should have a spar, if I win you'll accept me fully."
His tone seemed to imply that there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to win. Yuka was always willing to take advantage of an enemy's overconfidence.
"And if I win, you'll teach me how to sneak around the way you do," she replied, accepting it.
Eishou called for a circle on the ground to be cleared of debris, the first one to knock their opponent out of the circle would win. The young-looking former general pulled out two battered practice swords and offered the one painted black for her to use, offering her the advantage (it was harder to see the black-painted blade in the dark, even lit by the light of three campfires) Yuka inclined her head gracefully in acknowledgement of his manners but silently and politely refused the offering, instead, she went over to her own pack and pulled out the escrima sticks she had made in the fishing village. Two of the finest bamboo reeds had been wrapped in wet leather thongs and left to dry (the leather tightening and stiffening until it was as hard as wood) the sticks were light and supple but less likely to split, shear and shatter than bamboo and less likely to break or splinter than oak... and when they hit, they hurt! She took a firm grip leaving herself an inch on the butt for pommeling and disarming manuevers and gave two quick twists of the wrists as she tested her stance before stepping inside of the circle.
Eishou took a normal kendo stance, she could tell simply by looking at him that he was the equivalent of a Master, possibly even a Grandmaster, at the Art of the Sword. Yuka might have to rely on her speed, and the element of surprise that came with an unfamiliar weapon and fighting style, but she could tell already that defeating a man like this wouldn't be easy, if he had made it this far, he was adaptable as well as good.
"An unfamiliar weapon," Eishou said.
Yuka said nothing and waited for the fight to begin, one of the camp youths called the start of the match and Yuka narrowed her concentration to the man standing before her.
Neither of them moved. Each was trying to assess the possible fighting skill of the other and neither of them wanted to give away their own level of skill. Yuka in particular did not wish to give anything away, she had fought in only a few competitions where the rules were very strict. Unless one counted the second-hand experience that the Hinma had given her, her only other experience with something like combat were spars-by-number in the classroom or one on one with her teacher or sempai. This man had fought in actual wars and battles, even if one counted her second-hand/first-hand experience being pitted against youma and later Nakajima by King Kou, her level of experience compared to his was still vastly uneven. However she had the element of surprise and she wished to keep him off guard, most green fighters would have tried to rush him rather than waiting, but Yuka's instincts told her he was waiting for that. All of these children surrounding him would have rushed him. Her strength in fighting relied mainly on counter-strikes anyway, he smaller size and the type of experience she had made using her enemies own size and strength against him advisable. Yuka forced her body to quiet and remain entirely under her control and watched him, waiting for his body to telegraph his moves.
His body did not telegraph his moves, so when the first strike came, it came almost from out of no-where. Yuka's training took over, she blocked with one stick, hook-stepped to the side, advanced, and her arm led a roudunda strike to his temples. Eishou blocked the fist strike and her wrist twisted automatically to go for a double-strike to his other temple which he ducked, but she was in too close! Eishou jabbed like a spear with the tip of his practice blade going for a strike to her ribs. Her muscle memory saved her again, another hook-step twisting her to the side and away the momentum of the movement leading fluidly into another strike, this time from the side. She missed as he dodged back, but her training followed up automatically with a cloud-hands double attack from her other stick. Eishou blocked and tried to counter, but her alternate weapon in turn blocked his counter. The strike's counter-blow jarred the stick in her hands but Yuka paid little heed to the numbing sting in her palms, waiting only for his next move.
By now adrenaline was pumping into her blood stream making her body hum and narrowing her focus, she could perceive his least little movement and her body reacted automatically by making minute changes, her mind and muscles reading and discounting strategies ten to a second. She saw his foot twist in the dirt and hook-stepped around again, blocking with her left and finally landing a solid hit on his arm with her right. Eishou let out a curse as the impact momentarily loosened his grip. Unthinking, Yuka spun in, her right-hand stick weaving in like a needle in the precise movements the hinma had trained into her body to give her a lock-hand disarm. She got the weapon out of his hand, but her maneuver back-fired on her, Yuka missed the lock and instead found her back pinned to his chest and the crook of his elbow locked around her throat to drag her off balance.
The moments trained into her body by her instructor took over and she thrust against the ground with her legs, knocking them both backwards. They both rolled, her momentary captor releasing her before she could go for a finishing strike with one of her weapons while he was off-guard and falling. His own weapon was on the ground between them to her right, her stance changed a little bit, waiting for him to go for the weapon. He didn't, instead he charged at her. Yuka was caught off guard and automatically moved her left hand stick to strike before he could tackle her to the ground. He dodged the strike and that gave her enough space to dodge his own momentum, Eishou's body ducked and rolled, picking the fallen sword up as he went and then straightening into a low, crouched stance. Still an impasse.
This time Yuka decided that she would go on the offensive, and she did, using her footwork to take her on a more indirect path instead of charging at him and allowing him to use her own momentum against her, her sticks wove in and out around each other, in constant whirling strikes first the right attacking and the left blocking, then the left attacking and the right blocking, going for temple-strikes, collarbone-strikes, rib-strikes even a crouching low and going fro a knee strike followed by a foot-sweep (which he easily leapt over). The pattern was one of the more complex, and Yuka did not allow herself to let up nor second guess herself as Eishou managed to block all of her strikes. He was steadily retreating but he managed to do it in a way that kept him within the bounds of the circle, fortunately Yuka's own style was based more on melee-fighting than linear duels so twisting and turning this way an that was taught to her as a matter of course.
Eishou returned favor once with a foot sweeping attack, trying to take her off balance but Escrima relied upon light footwork, the higher forms incorporated leaps and twirls as well, she came down attacking with an overhead strike that was blocked by his sword but the side-strike with the alternate hand that followed it managed to score a hit. He grunted even through his armor (bamboo was not meant to tickle after all) and parried again, this strike fell heavily on her shoulder and she felt the impact jar against the armor she'd borrowed for the match but sunk her weight so that it would not throw her off-balance. He followed it up with an overhead strike designed to hit the top of her helm which she all but scrambled to meet with both of her sticks crossed before her to fend off the weight of his power attack. They traded blows for a minute, his powerful strikes being deflected by her lighter quicker movements, while she relied on her footwork and maneuverability to keep her out of the way of his powerful, heavy strikes. She was barely managing to keep a half-step out of his way, for Eishou was an incredibly skilled and experienced fighter, and she was aware that unless she managed a lucky strike or a careful tactic, it was only a matter of time before he beat her.
Yuka was sweating heavily and Eishou barely seemed winded as he'd herded her this way and that around the ring, Yuka just barely managing to stay within its circle... but Yuka had him where she wanted him. As he had herded her to one particular edge, Yuka executed a double hook and cross-step combo that brought her swiftly around to his other side and in a position to attack his flank. She darted in close, wove her right-hand stick across his arm and parralel to his shoulder twisted in so that she was at his side and with a lock of her hip and a twist of her torso, she threw him bodily over the line.
"Win!" She shouted triumphantly, pumping both sticks in the air to signal her victory.
It had been a lucky victory, relying almost entirely upon surprise and his overconfidence but sometimes that world handed out such victories and Yuka wasn't above taking pleasure in good fortune. Eishou smiled up at her from where he rolled to a comfortable cross legged sit in the leaves outside the circle where he fell.
"Nice match, kaikyaku-woman," he replied. If he was upset about having lost to someone who was clearly a beginner, he didn't show it. "Is that a style they teach in your world? I've never come across it before."
"It is meant for skirmishing and melee fighting," Yuka replied with a nod.
"You've never fought in a real battle before, am I right?" he asked next.
Yuka hesitated and then decided to grant him that one and shook her head.
"Not exactly," she replied, deciding to leave her duels with Nakajima and the youma-extermination fights out of consideration for the moment.
"Let me give you a few tips," he said, clearly intent on starting her education, as per the agreement, on thier way back to the camp proper and ignoring the heckles of the boys around him who were intent on teasing htier leader. "You've probably already guessed that in a real fight, your enemy will not stoop to follow the rules."
Yuka nodded him to continue.
"What that really means is that in a real fight, an enemy will try to incapacitate you before he engages. Always protect your eyes, Miss Yuka. If your enemy blinds you by throwing sand or dirt at you so you can't see, he can pick you off at leisure. Also, your style is flexible, but don't forget to use terrain to advantage as well. Throw things at him, trap him against a tree, make him fight with his back to a river."
Eishou spent the rest of the evening until "lights-out" teaching Yuka to move quietly through rough terrain, different techniques she could use to blend in with her surroundings, how to go unnoticed in a room and how to listening in on a conversation without appearing to listen in. Yuka applied herself to absorbing what her new teacher had to say to her because it would probably be neccessary to use in the near future. When she finally tucked herself in next to the already sleeping Kaname later that night, Yuka looked up at the stars wheeling over her head through the leaves of the tree-house they'd been assigned to sleep in and tried not to feel afraid.
:Who would ahve ever thoguht I'd be doing something like this?: Yuka wondered at herself.
Deep in her bones though, the answer came to her... She had. There had been a promise made between herself and Youko Nakajima that she would live a quiet and peaceful life in her own world, but Yuka had felt deep in her restless bones that this world wasn't done with her yet. She wasn't entirely certain that it was a coincidence that she had heard the rumors of another who had been spirited away. She sometimes wondered if it was mere curiosity that had called her to investigate those rumors or some larger force at work.
:If it is some larger force at work, I hope it's a good one,: Yuka thought somewhat cynically to herself.
She'd had her fill of being manipulated and tricked the last time she'd been here. Granted, she had been complicit in her own manipulation, she had seen and wanted something that was not hers to take, but for a time she had danced to the tune that another had called. Yuka had no intention of doing so again. She would follow the path that she felt was the right one to take regardless of kings, queens or even Tentei themselves.
