I own nothing.

Noriyuki blinked beneath the bodies of the komori ninja who'd fallen atop him. He kept his own form still and listened. He couldn't see it from his position, but he believed he heard a glare in the Komori Kashira's voice. "Kagemaru. How very 'not' nice to see 'you' here."

The panda cub began to run his hands through the clothing of the limp ninja sprawled atop him while his enemies talked. They seemed distracted by each other and might not harm him "too" much if they did notice, at least not right away. Anything might be helpful when facing death. Usagi and Tomoe Ame had always told him this. And Usagi especially had always told him, "If it looks like a ninja has no weapons with them, don't believe it."

The orange necko above Lord Noriyuki widened his smug grin, though his eyes also narrowed. "I suppose our opinions on the matter differ then, Kuruekaze. We will be taking our prize now."

The old Komori spat. "Yours! We carried the prize here. Made half the journey! 'We' will be taking him the rest of the way as well!"

Kagemaru replied without loosing his grin. "Not dead, you won't."

Suddenly, at their feet, one of the limp bodies of the Komori ninja slid off the rest of the pile. When both ninja in conversation looked down at this movement, their eyes were met by the flash of an explosion before being smothered in a cloud of smoke. Finally, their ears were assaulted by a scream that seemed to fall away from them lower and lower followed by a "thunk."

. . .

While this was going on, Usagi, who'd had some odd luck negotiating with ninja lately decided to try it once more. He met the gaze of the Necko ninja leader before him with less smoldering fire in his eyes than was in those of the Necko Samurai at his side. He spoke in a respectful tone. "Chizu, you can take a prize from the Komori and give it to Hekiji without any loss to your ninja, this day as Tomoe Ame and I and the others guarding the Lord Noriyuki would cause you."

Her eyebrows rose slightly as she spoke. "You mean your head?"

"Yes."

The Necko ninja's eyes glinted and she sniffed. "It's a shame to end such skill and take off such a handsome head, but I was planning on doing it anyway. How cowardly would my clan and I be to not try for both prizes, simply because we were afraid of dying?"

Usagi opened his mouth to speak, but a cry from behind Usagi and Tomoe Ame's backs had him freeze and go silent. Tomoe Ame, however, had spun away and started running for the great tree just as the "thunk" sounded. "Lord Noriyuki!"

Even Chizu's eyes had widened between the folds of her mask. Usagi leapt at her determined to give Tomoe Ame cover and take advantage of the ninja's surprise. She fought back with fury. Their swords glinted in the light of the sun at its zenith being reflected off snow.

Chizu had fought Usagi before. She was not as surprised in the face of his teacher's original style as others he'd faced on this journey. Rings and whirrs of razor-thin edged blades sang through the cold air. The clangs of their meeting filled the clearing around the great tree. Chizu's ninja and Tomoe Ame's samurai plus Gennesuke fought each other after the brief lull during Chizu's and his talk. Then a shout caused them all to stop again. "Cease your struggle Necko, Samurai, and bounty hunter, the prize has died!"

:O

What do you think will happen next?

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes