Ren waited as his opponent advanced. For a big man, Atsushi moved smoothly, a beast stalking prey, his sword high and its tip menacing. From that opening stance, he could thrust or chop down at Ren with equal ease. It was an excellent way to counter josenjutsu: create multiple possibilities of attack to make defense more difficult. Had he recognized Ren's style already? If so, Atsushi was certainly an experienced duelist back home.
Ren heard his sister's voice bubble up from his memory: the attack of the two-headed dragon is best countered by taking initiative.
Ren lunged forward and attempted a short slash at the tip of Atsushi's sword, forcing the big man to either; move his blade to avoid the contact, or accept Ren's attack with a parry. Atsushi chose to parry, slashing his own blade against Ren's before contact. It was a heavy parry attempt, the force of which was designed to send Ren's sword flying from the hand.
But Ren accepted the kinetic force provided by Atsushi's strike by briefly releasing his grip on his sword. The blades rang against each other, Ren's sword tip streaking away from the point of impact, but Ren's hand was still surrounded by the sword's hand-guard. It rolled over the back of his palm as the blade whipped around like a windmill blade. Ren regained his grip as the sword spun back up toward his opponent, and now, inside Atsushi's guard, he could thrust upward into the big man's throat and-
"Guh!" gasped Ren as something plowed into his gut and flung him backwards into the air.
In the instant that he'd been waiting for his sword to complete its rotation, Atsushi had not been idle. Instead of trying to reverse the momentum of his own attack to counter Ren's riposte, Atsushi had simply continued forward momentum and brought his back leg into the fray- or rather: his big knee into Ren's stomach.
Driven airborn by the blow, breathless, gasping, Ren would land in only a moment. But noble vampires could take advantage of moments. Atsushi lunged forward, arm raised for a savage chop at Ren. In midair, Ren recognized he had no leverage. Blocking the attacking blade would send him flying across the room to further disadvantage- perhaps fatal disadvantage. He had only one option: Ren aimed his pistol. Atsushi halted his attack and raised his left arm to protect his face.
POP! POP!
Two bloody holes burst from Atsushi's forearm, but that was insignificant damage to the big man. Meanwhile, Ren's feet returned to the stone floor with a backwards skid. Ren kept his pistol leveled, gasping, trying to suck breath back into himself. Atsushi scowled at him from behind his protective arm.
Ren realized he could use the gun as a constant threat to limit Atsushi's options in the next exchange. He could force the man to fight with his arm up and near his face. But- damn! Now Atsushi knew to protect his face. If Ren had realized the tactical advantage earlier, he might have headshot Atsushi before getting kneed in the gut. But Ren was so trained in sword fighting, he'd moved instinctively; forgetting the pistol in his left hand entirely, focusing on the killing thrust. It was a missed opportunity. But maybe not the last opportunity. If Ren could remember to weave the gun into the next exchange of blows, he might get another opening- a headshot wouldn't kill a noble vampire, but it would give Ren plenty of time to strike a fatal blow with his sword.
Though, Atsushi was now doubly wary of the weapon in Ren's left hand.
Makoto's gun bucked in her grip, the muzzle flashing like lightning against the stone walls. Then her back hit the stone floor, whipping her head back, skull hitting rock, jarring her universe with the impact, her teeth clacking together, her wrist going momentarily limp, the sound of metal tumbling across stone.
The nearly headless corpse of the first attacker settled upon her body, his half-ruined head dripping black ichor, a slick oily warmth upon Makoto's neck. Her mind blanked for half a second, staring up at the dark ceiling. Then, she was back, instinctively clutching her right fist.
Empty! The gun! She'd dropped it!
Makoto tried to pull herself up to her elbows, the back of her head throbbing with pain, and pull herself out from under the corpse. But she made only a half-inch of progress, the weight of the dead man held her somehow, around the ankles. Beyond the limp body, Makoto's second attacker was stumbling on his knees, a gaping black hole in his chest. But he was not collapsing, and his sword was still in hand, though its tip was against the ground like a supportive cane. His murderous red eyes were still intent on Makoto.
Shit!
A new surge of adrenaline shot through Makoto, her body suddenly sizzling with urgency. She tugged with her legs to no avail. Her sword on her right hip was trapped, too, not that she could do much with it while flat on her back. Shit! Why was this corpse so damn heavy?!
Ann shouted from somewhere outside Makoto's vision: "Ryuji!"
POP! POP!
"I know! I know!" shouted Ryuji, followed by the unmistakable sound of metal striking flesh.
The Sakamotos were still fighting their own battle. They were either too busy to help her, or maybe even to notice Makoto's imminent peril. She needed to get herself back up!
Makoto abandoned the leverage of her elbows, (the sudden drop of her head back towards the floor causing another throb of pain), and she tried again to push at the dead man's shoulders, to get him off, or get her from out underneath. But as hard as she pushed, she couldn't seem to make any progress. Makoto realized suddenly that the corpse's remaining eye was locked upon her own. The corpse was not a corpse at all. It was resisting her slightly, apparently capable of stiffening limbs and adjusting its weight to foil Makoto's efforts to scoot out from under it.
Ren's voice came back to Makoto suddenly: They don't like to be dead.
Shit!
Makoto's eyes went back to the second attacker. He was regaining his feet, still unsteady, but the sword wasn't supporting his weight anymore. It was raised and pointed at Makoto.
Shit! Shit!
Makoto broke her gaze from the rising man and she searched frantically for her gun. The corpse covered her own waist lantern, but there was residual light from the Sakamoto's lanterns, flickering and intermittent from whatever chaos they were involved with. But it was enough. Makoto spotted the dark outline of her gun on the floor. She reached. It was too far. She looked back anxiously at her attacker. He'd stepped forward, looming over her, his sword was withdrawn in preparation of a killing thrust. Makoto's questing fingers reached, but found only empty air.
Lantern light suddenly intensified on the looming swordsman. His red eyes left Makoto's gaze and looked at the source of the sudden light.
"Kidd!" shouted Ryuji.
KERRACK!
Makoto winced away from a sudden white blaze. Hot liquid splattered against the side of her face. Metal clanged upon stone. Something thumped wetly to the ground.
"Makoto!?" said Ann, her voice sounding muffled against the ringing in Makoto's ears. "Makoto! Are you okay?"
Makoto blinked rapidly, a grey blindness of her vision receding slowly. She turned her head back to find Ann kneeling over her, also blinking a bit more than normal. Ann's red leather armor was splattered with black, but she seemed unhurt.
"I'm fine," said Makoto, "Just stuck."
"Ryuji!" said Ann.
"Yeah!" said Ryuji, stepping into Makoto's field of vision. Makoto couldn't tell if his black leathers were stained like Ann's, but when he knelt to push the corpse off Makoto, she noticed a glistening redness on his left hand.
"Ryuji," said Makoto, "You're bleeding."
"I know," said Ryuji, flashing her a grin, "but it's nothing. Okay, so- hhhrrrph!"
The Sakamotos rolled the body off Makoto. She scrambled to her feet, snatching up her gun in the process. Its familiar weight was a comfort, a center, allowing Makoto to steady her breathing and take stock of their situation:
The man- the revenant, who had been about to kill her- was half gone; what remained was a pair of legs and smoking hips. The revenant that had just rolled off of her was face down and still. Half-face down, anyway. Makoto looked to where the Sakamotos had been and saw five bodies sprawled on the stone floor. Bestial bodies, taloned hands, fanged mouths now open and still. Black ichor ran thick around them.
"Those are-?" said Ann, worry evident in her voice. "Ghouls?"
"Yes," said Makoto, realizing Ann had not yet seen one of the creatures which invested the wilds. "The reason we live behind walls."
"Never saw one up close before," said Ryuji, "Sometimes, up on the wall, they'd prowl around the bottom some nights. Scratchin' and diggin'. But they're hard to see in the dark."
"Who were they?" said Ann.
That was a chilling question. Ghouls did not beget themselves. They were people, once. So here were five transformed humans- seven, if Makoto counted the two revenants. Who were they indeed? How long ago were they transformed? Who could possibly know?
"Street folk, maybe?" said Makoto, her words sounding pretentious to her own ears. "Travelers? Certainly people no one must have missed."
"I bet someone missed 'em," said Ryuji, "But they couldn't find anyone who cared."
"That's… horrible," said Ann. "Why? Why do this to people?"
Why do spiders eat flies? That was the answer Makoto's mind provided, but she kept it to herself. Ren would probably know the reasons of ghouls better than her, and on the trail of that thought, Makoto heard Ren's voice in her head again: Keep the heads away from the bodies.
She returned her attention to the two slain revenants. They had retained their human shapes, even in death. The one Ren had stabbed at the gala had transformed into a sort of man-beast, as had the revenants in the street, that night outside Shujin Girls Academy. Perhaps these two had died too fast to transform? Maybe they had not wanted to transform? Had not the ability? Ren would probably know. That's right! Ren! They definitely needed to find Ren. Reunite their strength. And find Madarame.
"We need to get moving," said Makoto, drawing her sword. "Madarame may have more creatures like these."
She placed an armored boot on the back of the half-faced corpse. She chopped down with her sword, cutting deeply into the creature's neck. Black liquid squirted in the dim light. Damn! Ren made this look so easy! Makoto chopped at the neck again.
"What are you doing?!" said Ann.
"We need to separate the heads," said Makoto, chopping a third time, her blade snapping through bone and sticking again in the meat of the creature's neck. She chopped a final time, slicing the last bits of sinew, then kicked the head across the room to roll into a dark corner. "They don't like to stay dead."
Ann looked pale and sickly. Ryuji kicked at the smoking ruin of the other revenant.
"What about this guy?" said Ryuji. "His head is already gone."
Makoto wiped her sword clean on the corpse's clothing. She wasn't sure of the answer. Was the absence of a head enough, or was the act of severing the important part? Ren had seemed to imply that vampires could resurrect themselves if their heads remained attached to their corpses, so on that assumption, the absence of a head seemed the critical point, not necessarily the method of severing. Makoto wasn't completely sure, but it was enough for a confident answer.
"He's not a worry," said Makoto.
"And… them?" said Ann, looking at the five dead ghouls.
Makoto did know this answer. "Leave them," she said, as she sheathed her clean sword and then flicked open the cylinder of her gun. She began pulling out the spent rounds. "Ghouls stay dead, whether they like it or not. Are you two reloaded?"
"Oh!" said Ann, and she turned her attention to her pistol, hands shaking slightly.
Ryuji walked across the room and picked up his blunderbuss from a pool of black blood. "Gross!"
Makoto reached to her shoulder pads and plucked off replacement rounds from one of the bullet clusters. The room of dead was filled with soft clicking and clacking as they all reloaded their firearms.
"Be nice if this thing could hold more than one shot," said Ryuji. "Hey, by the way, what's the difference between these things?"
"What?" said Makoto.
"Why are these ghouls and those still people-ish?"
That was indeed a question. "I don't know," said Makoto, "We can ask Ren when we find him."
And where would Ren be? There was no way to know. More importantly, there was no way to know where they were. But they had two choices in terms of direction: they could go the way the ghouls came from, or the way the two revenants had ambushed them from. If Makoto were a vampire, she wouldn't want ghouls anywhere nearby. They were slavering animals. They stank. But revenants could pass as humans. They had the intellect to be servants and agents, so they would be the ones Makoto would keep close to her.
"This way," said Makoto, indicating the dark passage the two revenants had emerged from. If they were still in Madarame's house, the master would surely be in that direction.