First came the sounds of battle. They were distant, and at first Kyuzo believed herself recalling old memories of the War, simply dreaming. Then as she began to creep closer to consciousness, they grew louder...but still, they were far off.
Slowly opening her eyes, the woman barely felt anything, numb and detatched from her body as she lay face down onto the hard and warm ground. Then, everything came back to her as if she were struck by lightening. In a flash, she pushed herself up on her arm.
First things first. The rush of adrenaline upon waking quickly wore off, replaced by a jolt of intense pain, and she groaned at the ache in her arm. Made sense.
Quickly, she set to inspecting herself. The first thing she realized was that one arm did not respond; it had been badly damaged. She frowned, inspecting the useless limb. If she struggled hard, she could just make her fingers twitch. The damage itself was invisible, hidden by her sleeve, but she could easily guess it was either dislocated or broken. It was painful, but she could bear it.
Next she tested her legs. It took her a few tries, but she urged them to move, and slowly, she rose to her feet.
All of a sudden, she dropped to her knees again as a wave of nausea swept over her. Supporting herself on her good arm, she heaved, and coughed violently. A cold sweat dripped on her forehead, and she waited for the next one. She didn't bother trying to stop it, she vomited the little food she had eaten earlier.
Arm shaking, locking her elbow to keep herself propped up, Kyuzo took desperate gasps of air. She couldn't do anything until her body did what it needed to. She trembled slightly, closed her eyes, and waited for her body to recover from the shock.
Believing herself done, she was overcome with the familiar urge to continue with her mission.
Coughing painfully again, she spat the blood that rose in her throat onto the ground.
Her hand was shaking, but she wiped the sweat off her skin and the blood that dripped from her lips.
Dismayed, she looked up. The Capital was far off already, but she could see it was losing altitude. Smoke had begun spiraling upwards in billowing clouds. As she focused her eyes, Kyuzo thought she could make out several fires spotting the sides of the ship. It seemed Heihachi had been able to complete his mission, though she felt as if she had failed, having not been there for him as planned.
Still, she couldn't catch it easily on foot.
Kyuzo bit her lip in contemplation. As she stood, as tall and dignified as ever, her calculating gaze watched the slowly departing Capital. There were two options; try to run after the ship, or run back and find the aircraft they had used to get here, praying that it would still fly.
Deciding that chasing after the Capital was out of the question, she tested her legs as she quickly searched for her swords. Locating them quickly, her one working arm quickly sheathed them. Assured that she would be alright, she started the run back the other way.
Her body had gotten over the initial shock from when she woke, and although she was in pain, she could withstand it. She had to. Kyuzo needed to reach the Capital, finish her mission, possibly her last as a samurai. There was absolutely no such thing as 'giving in' to her.
And...she could not leave him now.
In facing Tessai, the samurai were sure they were coming closer to Ukyo; they knew him to be one of the higher bodyguards. For him to be dispatched to take care of them, the Emperor must be nearby.
Under a torrent of gunfire, Kikuchiyo collapsed onto the floor.
"Kikuchiyo-dono!" Kambei called before another wave of bullets sent him ducking behind the makeshift barrier Shichiroji made.
They exchanged glances. Their numbers were so few, and they could very easily fail now. The ship was collapsing, and under them the floor trembled threateningly. They had limited time: they needed to keep the Capital from reaching Kanna village, and they needed to escape before the entire thing gave out over them. For all they knew, the roof could break and bury them all.
"You may be the last men with honor in this world." Tessai called to them. "As such, I will allow you one final honor: death by my blade."
A huge crash shook the floor beneath them. Breaking straight through the floor was the recognizable form of their modest ship, worn and damaged. It was amazing it had flown at all anymore, given the way they had left it. Shichiroji and Kambei were as impressed the thing still worked, as much as the pilot was. The glass from the window was gone, only several slivers still clinging to its deteriorating frame.
"Kyuzo...!"
Avoiding the ensuing shots aimed at her, Kyuzo easily slid out of the cockpit and leapt.
Before he was fully aware of what was happening, Tessai felt Kyuzo's blade slide into his torso. With a gasp of pain, the pipe fell from his mouth, and his hand clutched the taller shoulder.
"Only I can have the pleasure of his death." Kyuzo said softly, but sternly.
Shoving Tessai's body off her sword to drop lifeless to the floor, Kyuzo heard the others come behind her.
"Your arm..." Kambei observed.
"I still have use of the left." She assured him, allowing no pain to distort her face.
She noted Katsushiro's presence. But there was no sign of Heihachi.
Kyuzo did not need anyone to tell her what that likely meant.
Before long, they were thrown into another battle. Fighting on and on, countless guards fell to the floor, under the swords of samurai who thought no more of them than the decorations on the wall.
She heard a loud thud behind her and Katsushiro cry out in surprise. Apparently, he had been thrown to the floor. She hadn't expected it to bother her so much, but it did, and Kyuzo was motivated to move and save him.
Quickly, she turned on her heel, sword held ready to strike, and charged. If she didn't reach him, he would probably be either shot where he lay or stabbed through with any enemy who snatched his sword before he did.
She saw only one enemy in her sight. Kambei's back was turned to the soldier. As he turned, the guard took aim with his deadly firearm.
Her objective instantly shifted, Kyuzo ran faster her legs pushed harder than before; she only had another second to cut the man down. Maybe less.
From out of her sight, Katsushiro's desperate scream told her that it was too late for the boy; he was probably being executed behind the soldier in front of her.
She could never have guessed that instead, Katsushiro had grabbed a gun, and without hesitation, fired.
Kyuzo gasped, as the bullet ran through and around the body of the soldier. They pierced her flesh and tore deeply into her body, and they forced waves upon waves of agony to ripple through her. For once, the overwhelming pain was enough to still her.
The guard dropped to the floor, and vaguely, she could see Katsushiro's horrified face as he gripped the machine gun with shaking hands.
"Kyuzo-dono!!" Katsushiro shrieked.
Kambei beheld Kyuzo as the blood ran from the corner of her mouth. She felt the strength drain from her body. Unable to support herself, she began to fall. Before she dropped to the floor, Kambei was there, catching her.
Cradling her in his arms, Kambei held desperately onto her, whispering, "Come on, stay with me."
But he knew as well as she did. As the blood gushed freely from her back, through bullet holes that had torn all the way through, so too did her life drip away.
Barely, she heard the sound of Katsushiro collapse onto the floor, and in the corner of her eye saw Shichiroji's form creep closer. The familiar sounds of working mechanics meant Kikuchiyo was still there as well.
"Go on." Kyuzo struggled to keep her voice even. Part of her wanted to turn towards him, to press her face into his hand, but she did not have the strength. "You still have a mission to finish."
"Kyuzo-dono..."
"Don't forget." Kyuzo ordered weakly. "We still have a promise...a score to settle."
"I will never forget." Kambei swore to her solemnly.
Kyuzo would have never imagined that at her death, she'd feel almost peaceful. Maybe she was afraid...she couldn't tell. She was already getting too feeble to speak. Perhaps she was just too weak to acknowledge the fear anymore.
It was the truth. She was about to die.
"I'll be waiting....in Kanna village." Kyuzo rasped. She wanted to say one last thing. One more thing. But she felt her strength give out, and she slumped in his arms, consciousness gone.
Kambei examined her face for a long moment, her eyes still open. But vacant.
Pulling one glove off between his teeth, Kambei let it fall to the floor, instantly forgetting it as his bare hand reached to close those painfully empty eyes.
"Soon, I will walk the same path." Kambei promised. "Wait for me in the afterlife."
Laying, with some difficulty, the fallen warrior down onto the floor, Kambei stood. Shichiroji's eyes were cautiously on him, and Kikuchiyo for once had the grace to be silent.
"Katsushiro." Kambei's voice held no hint of mourning. "I'm glad you've come."
"Why?!" Katsushiro cried desperately. "I killed her! I killed Kyuzo-dono with my own hands!"
Kambei turned to his distraught pupil. "To save my life."
"How can live with myself knowing I've done this!?" Katsushiro's voice was erratic, shaken and laden with heartbreaking sorrow. He was a rookie in every way, not fit to handle the deaths of comrades during battle, unable to choke down his grief on command.
Falling to his hands and knees, he weakly cried, "I took her life. I should repay with mine and hope for her forgiveness..."
"It is not about who dies." Kambei told him. "It is a matter of who dies first. I need you to live, Katsushiro."
"Where's Hei-san?" Shichiroji asked.
"He...didn't make it." Katsushiro choked again. "He went down with engines."
"What!? He's dead too?" Kikuchiyo fell to his knees, much like Katsushiro. "This can't be happening...."
Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo were the least experienced; their elders were the ones who continued to stand. Both Shichiroji and Kambei looked at the still-novices, then at each other.
Shichiroji could easily detect the agony etched in Kambei's every movement, but he only tensed his mouth and frowned deeper. He knew what his old companion wanted first and foremost. This mission had rapidly turned into one of revenge, and Shichiroji was very certain there would be no rest until it was completed; for both Kyuzo and Heihachi, who they had just lost.
"This is war. None of us should expect to live through this." Kambei finally uttered, in all earnestness. "Now, who is going to take Ukyo's head?"
This is war. Katsushiro swallowed hard as he heard those words. Heihachi had told him the same thing when he witnessed what he thought had been Kyuzo's murder. Gingerly, he ran his fingertips over his cheek where the well-meaning comrade had struck him, and had succeeded it with a smile.
He rose to his feet, hand still to his cheek, marveling at how the person whose hand had hit him less than an hour ago....was gone. But he was, and so was Kyuzo....and Katsushiro bit his lip and swallowed down his grief; if nothing else, he would take the last lesson Heihachi had offered.
Looking expectantly, with fierce and determined eyes, Katsushiro asked Kambei. "How do we proceed?"
I lie not. It was very difficult to write Kyuzo's passing :'( By the way, I watched that episode again after I wrote this chapter, and Kyuzo does charge forward before Katsu snatches the gun. So it's actually plausible that he meant to rush to Katsushiro's rescue first...ahhh I think it's plausible anyhow. But Katsu never needs to know that...
In a weird way, Katsu and Kambei 'made up' during the final battle. I guess that would be the time....LIKE MEN! :D
Katsu got back a bit of inner strength due from Heihachi...and falls back in line behind Kambei? Sort of...