Chapter 60:- Old friends

Disclaimer:- all the characters form the game belong to moonton and this is not a commercial story but just the work of a diehard fan.

Claimer:- the other characters which are not in game of mentioned are mine

Hanabi had no idea why but the last thing she remembers was triggering the explosives on the Siege engine and darkness. Then when she gained back her consciousness, she was in some sort of fountain surrounded by centaurs!

Never would she have imagined that she would see a centaur in her journey and Hanabi was absolutely thrilled upon seeing them. However, the centaurs themselves didn't look so happy on seeing her. They were not hostile but looked rather terrified. Hanabi didn't know why they would be so terrified of her.

She then thinks to herself, where was she?

How did she get here?

What happened to Moniya?

Sadly, the centaurs had no answers to her question, but they did politely request her to leave their mountain as soon as possible and Hanabi was like, "What mountain?"

Later she found out that she had indeed been transported to a far off mountain during she was unconscious and the place looked like it had recently been ravaged by an army. The ninja girl did panicked upon finding Saya knocked cold on the floor and it took a lot of convincing from the centaurs after which she finally believed that they had no part in Saya's current condition.

Hanabi carried Saya out of the stone cathedral that served as a sanctuary for the centaurs. All the way, she saw many downed centaurs warriors, all knocked cold but fortunately not dead. 'Who would do such a thing?', Hanabi wonders as she walks outside. There at the entrance, their horse Nhari awaited, who looked very surprised upon seeing Hanabi.

With the horse's aid, Hanabi's job became much easier because now she would not have to carry Saya anymore. The horse did however look extra grumpy somehow and Hanabi wonders what could have possibly happened to upset the horse so much.

The mountain was very cold and Hanabi lead the horse down the mountain where the climate was much friendlier to her. Thankfully Nhari still had the supplies stashed on her so the kunoichi started to set up a camp for them. Not long after, Saya stirred awake and Hanabi greeted her joyously. What she did not expect was for Saya to scoop her in her arms and hug her.

"You're okay…. You're okay…." Saya says breathlessly, as if she was reassuring herself that Hanabi was okay. The ninja girl even felt tears trickling down the Sai'ore's eyes, thus forcing her to wonder, 'What the hell happened when I was out?'

-X-

Saya was genuinely surprised that Hanabi knew nothing of what happened. 'This is for the best.' Saya decided. The memory of one's own death is a burdening one and she did not wish to scar her innocent human.

That did mean that she would have to answer Hanabi sooner or later, so right now, Saya sated Hanabi's curiosity with half-truths. She told her that Hanabi was ill and she had to bring her to the centaurs to heal her, leaving out the parts where she had to fight off an entire army on her own and cut out her own heart out for her return.

It was quite strange if you think about it, because now, in a way, it was Saya's heart that beats inside Hanabi but Saya didn't mind. It belonged to her human long ago and now, it was a token of the love she felt for her.

Hanabi did ask however what happened to Moniya. Honestly, Saya was still quite cross with the elven people but now that Hanabi was well, she would not hold grudge. Truthfully Saya said that the city had been saved and the people would rebuild their home in time. However, when Hanabi suggested that should they go to lend a hand the Sai'ore made a stoic face and says firmly, "They will manage…" her sudden change in demeanour really surprised Hanabi but that was not the only change she noticed in her teacher.

You would have to be blind to not notice how affectionate Saya was being recently. While it was not that Saya was not affectionate previously, it was just that she had been a tad bit more ever since. Her embraces grew warmer and longer, she would gently smooch her forehead now and then and whenever she looked in Saya's eyes, Hanabi could not really explain it but Saya held a very deep emotion that Hanabi could not recognise but yet it filled her with a deep sense of security and compassion.

Hanabi didn't mind it though. Those sweet caresses that she would give, those touches that lingered a bit longer than usual or those cold nights that were spent within the warm hold of Saya's soft yet strong arms. Hanabi did not mind it at all. In fact, she actually loved all the attention that she was getting and Hanabi absolutely loved how Saya was spoiling her with all the loved.

Days passed by, their relationship just seemed to deepen ever since.

"You're doing great, meha Jai." Saya compliments with a smile while deflecting Hanabi's attack. In turn Hanabi chuckled to herself at the new name Saya had started calling her by. Although the ninja girl had learned some of the Sai'oren language, Saya would still not tell her what it meant. She would simply blush and laugh it off. Right now, they had been training like always but the difference could be felt.

Hanabi was faster and stronger than she ever was. The ninja girl may not have felt the difference but her opponent certainly could. Maybe having Saya's heart beat inside her did more than just bring her back to life. Now Saya would have to monitor how much further had her heart affected her human.

They sparred for a long time, both with and without arms. Satisfied by the amount of improvements that she had seen in Hanabi, Saya stopped the training for the day. The girl had come a long way and now, Saya decided that it was time. It was time for Hanabi to become more than just an assassin. It was time that she becomes a true warrior.

So without telling Hanabi the true nature of their visit, Saya led her flock towards the town of Wooden-Cross which according to Saya's map, was the Northern most settlement of the human empire of Moniya, just at the border of Nost Gal the frozen province.

Giving Hanabi a few coins, Saya send the girl to find them a decent place to stay in the town and perhaps even go exploring a bit. Since this was something that they would do whenever they entered a town, Hanabi thought nothing of it and went on to carry out Saya's request while the Sai'ore herself went the other way to carry out her own plan.

Being so close to Nost Gal most blacksmiths here were originally from north who settled down in Moniay to make fortune. With them they brought their legendary craftsmanship native of Nost Gal and ever since, Wooden-Cross was known for its blacksmiths and metal workers.

Saya searched for one such blacksmith that could help her in her predicament. Which was not much of a problem as she now stood before one of the various blacksmith shops in the town.

"Howden Iron shield's metal works…" Saya mutters reading the name board. The shop looked decent, neither too fancy nor too shabby, just the way she liked it. Saya walked inside and was greeted with a sight of a typical blacksmith's shop. The entire room filled with several assortments of weapons, ranging from daggers to spears and even shields and armours of various kinds.

A blast furnace sat at the corner of the shop where a tall old man was beating a red hot piece of metal with his hammer over an anvil.

"You know the secret of steel?" the old man says while beating the metal, "It won't take shape until u beat it while it's hot. So are people, they won't change until they are beaten…" he then puts the red piece of metal into a bucket filled with water and turns back towards the Sai'ore, "Welcome to my shop. How can I help you?"

Saya looks around, examining some of the weapons that the man had made, judging the quality of the weapon with her eyes and hands. "I believe you are a man who understands his metal well?"

The man laughs and answers, "I think know the answer to that, Young Lady, or you would not stay here. From the look of your eyes, you understand your weapons well, and that's why you didn't leave as soon as you examined my weapons."

Impressed, Saya lets out a smile, "I suppose I do." She then walks forward and asks, "Do you take custom weapon orders?"

The man rubbed his chin and replies, "Well, it depends. Do you have written plans for your weapon?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Saya replies and gives the man a scroll from her satchel. Saya had been planning this for a very very long time and thus, she had prepared the plans of the sword for Hanabi long before current time. For a Hrontree'haaree, swords were a very special part of their life. Many of them had weapons handed down from their fathers or mothers upon reaching of age and some would have new ones specifically forged to suit them. Such was the plans Saya had made for Hanabi because it was now time that her human truly became a warrior of her order.

The man inspects the plans and lets out a low whistle, "Damn, Never seen the likes of these before but that's some real masterpiece right here."

"Think you can make it?"

"Hehe, I sure do love challenges. But it's going to cost you, Young lady." Saya rolled her eyes at this and placed a sack of gold on his counter. The black smith laughed, "Listen, I like you, but a man's gotta eat ya'know."

The Sai'ore narrowed her eyes, "Fine…" She then placed two more sacks of gold on the counter, "But I want to done by tomorrow or I get a full refund."

The man laughs, "Deal, missy. I'll send a messenger to you once it's done. You can come to retrieve it."

"Much appreciated." Says Saya and leaves the shop. She sighs because she had just spent all the money that she had collected till now!

But for her human, she was willing to sacrifice anything. Thus with a bright smile, she walks forward, eager to give Hanabi her surprise tomorrow.

-X-

Finding her human was not so hard this time, Saya found Hanabi trying out some local cuisines not far from the blacksmith's shop. Upon seeing Saya the ninja girl quickly ran up to her and gave her a hug. The Sai'ore returned the hug whole heartedly, feeling genuinely happy after such a long time. A sensation that Saya had nearly forgotten.

Night had fallen and the two were making their way towards the inn where Hanabi had booked a room for them.

"I hope you didn't have any trouble with Nhari while finding her a stable. The old horse is still cross with me." asks Saya.

Hanabi chuckles at this and replies, "I have no idea what you possibly did but she was really upset with you. But I did found a stable for her alright. Still I suggest that you make up to whatever you did to her."

The Sai'ore smiles sheepishly, "As you say, Meha Jai."

The girl couldn't help but laugh at this. "You are unbelievable." She exclaims and moved closer to Saya and hugging her, who in turn out her arm over her human. Saya gave a small peck on Hanabi's head, "What would I do without you…"

The human smiles softly and holds the Sai'ore's hand reassuringly. Bliss was the feeling Saya felt right now. Accompanied by the one she loved under the starry night sky. This was all she needed. She could spend an eternity like this.

However, Saya could not help but have this feeling in her gut that something was watching her. An unknown force that was looking over her and it didn't settle well with her.

That was the same feeling that she felt when they were having dinner in the inn. Although Hanabi was oblivious, Saya was able to catch a glimpse of this figure that had been looking at them. His whole figure was obscured by a cloak and his subtle gaze had been so deceptive that no one noticed that he had been stalking them. However, Saya was able to notice him and she wasn't happy about it.

'Assassins sent by the Abyss perhaps?' she thinks. So she slowly turns back towards her food and says lowly to Hanabi, "Someone has been following us."

This caused Hanabi's eyes to widen in surprise, "Where?"

"Calm down or he will know that we have detected him." Saya scolds lowly, making Hanabi bite her tongue. The elder woman sighs and instructed, "Firstly, let's finish the food. The meat is well cooked." Hanabi could not agree more.

Once they finished their dinner, they initiated the second part of their plan, "Now, we go out for a nice 'after dinner stroll.' "

As expected, their stalker moved after them, keeping himself concealed, believing that he had not been detected till now. Hanabi and Saya walked through the alleyway casually while talking merrily about their new training and how well it was going.

The Stalker moved right after them, trying to catch up with them, hoping to take them by surprised. He did catch up with them but to his confusion, there only seemed to be Hanabi in the alley with no sign of the tall woman.

"Where did she…" he got his answer soon enough as a familiar figure of Saya dropped from above and pinned the masqueraded stalker down on the ground. "Got you now!" Saya hissed but to her surprise, her victim squeaked. Frowning, Saya pulled the cloak off the stalker and was flabbergasted to learn that their stalker was actually a girl.

A very short girl, barely reaching Saya's elbows. She had show white hair, wore a blue kimono and seemed to be wielding some kind of umbrella. An Umbrella!

The Petite girl smiles nervously and says, "Um…Hi?"

Saya was really confused what was going on. That was until she heard Hanabi's cry from ahead. After that, all Saya saw was red.

-X-

When Saya uncovered their so called stalker, Hanabi was really really shocked. She really could not believe her eyes as she saw the girl that Saya had just apprehended. "Kagura? What the hell is she doing here?"

Then she realized one small thing, 'If Kagura is here, then he must be….' No sooner had she said this, she was suddenly scooped up by someone who carried her up to a rooftop and Hanabi let out a surprised cry, "Eeeeeph!"

However, she was no longer the old Hanabi, thus as soon as they stepped on hard surface Hanabi whipped around and held her assailant by his hand. He was too surprised by this sudden resistance and Hanabi held the person in a headlock. But in a brilliant display of skill, the man counter grabbed Hanabi.

Fortunately, Hanabi was prepared for this all thanks to her teacher, thus as soon as the man had her in his grip, Hanabi broke free using the technique Saya taught her, much to the man's surprise, she held his arm and hurled him over her shoulder and down he fell on the ground. Wasting no time, Hanabi now held him in a special lock hold and this time, he was not able to break free.

"Arrgh, I see that you've grown stronger." The man finally speaks and Hanabi's eyes widened in surprised. 'Hey, I know that voice!'

The ninja girl let go of the man, letting him stand up properly and turn towards her. Her guess was right. There standing before her, wearing that black shinobi robe was none other than Hayabusa.

"I must say, that was helluva mean trick Hanabi-san. You gotta teach me that!" he compliments, causing Hanabi to blush brightly while her heart skipped a beat.

'Ok, Hanabi, stay focused.' She calms herself and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Hayabusa dusts himself off and answers, "Well you see…" whatever he was going to say died in his throat because a sword got embedded on the wall right next to him, missing his face by a mere inch.

"What the hell?"

After that, all they heard was Saya's furious war cry as she charged towards them, specifically towards Hayabusa. The shinobi didn't get chance to react and so Saya shoved the man away, totally not hearing Hanabi's cry of protest as both Hayabusa and Saya crashed down towards the ground.

Hayabusa was disoriented for a while but Saya had already recovered and was on to him. The shinobi dodged her attacks, "Saya-dono, there has been a terrible misunderstanding!" he tries to reason but it all fell on deaf ears. He had tried to harm her Hanabi, thus he had to suffer. No one was taking her Hanabi away from her. NO ONE!

Understanding that reasoning was out of question, Hayabusa had no choice but to fight back and try to subdue her but easier said than done. No matter how much he tried, he could not land a hit on her simply because Saya vastly out skilled him. It was only his outstanding agility that was making him viable in the battle because it made it harder for Saya to catch him and she was getting more annoyed by passing moment.

'Looks like I have no other choice…' thinks the shadow clan shinobi with gritted teeth. He had to use his ultimate technique.

"Shadow kill!" he yells, transforming into a shadow and bolting towards Saya. Upon seeing this Hanabi screams, "NO!"

But it was too late. Using his Ougi Shadow Kill technique, Hayabusa inflicted massive damage upon Saya. With his blade, he practically shredded her body. Blood oozed outta her body like rivers and Saya finally fell to her knees. Finally deciding that this was enough, Hayabusa materialized before the heavily breathing Saya who had deep cuts all over her body. He had taken care not to hit anything vital but that didn't mean it was a pretty sight. "This could have been avoided, but you wouldn't listen." He says solemnly while sheathing his sword (ninja style).

However, this wasn't over.

Letting out a low grumble, Saya slowly stood up, making Hayabusa shell shocked, "Impossible! I had just cut your tendons!"

As an answer, Saya gave the offending human a solid haymaker sending him tumbling away. A bit dazed he looked back at his opponent and watched in horror as all of Saya's wounds healed before his own eyes. All his fighting till now was for nothing!

Suddenly Saya rushed towards him and Hayabusa had to use his quad shadow to get away, making her even more frustrated than before. He was a slippery one and she couldn't wait to get her hands on her.

Back with Hanabi, Kagura had caught up with her and asked where Hayabusa was. Honestly, Hanabi was not so thrilled to meet her, but she had others concerns right now. "Come on, Kagura-san we must reach them before they get hurt!"

Kagura frowned in worry at this, "You are right Hanabi-san. Let's go before your friend gets hurt!"

Hanabi simply chuckles at the absurdity of Kagura's concern. The ninja girl just hopes that Saya would not kill Hayabusa before they arrive.

Back with Hayabusa and Saya, the Sai'oren had enough of the shinobi's bullshit and thus she now used her ethereal serpents. They were finally able to catch Hayabusa and this was all the chance she needed.

Once getting a hold of the Ninja, Saya gave him a beating like he had never got before. Every type of beating imaginable was what he received, so much that he was actually begging her to stop.

Hanabi actually had to come over and stop Saya before she nearly strangled Hayabusa to death.

"Saya-chan please stop, they are my friends form back home!" Hanabi tells her.

With a shocked face, Saya asks dumbly, "Say what now?"…..