((I have, at long last, succumbed and taken a line from a nursery rhyme as a chapter heading. To be precise, it's from Seven Blackbirds in a Tree.))

10. One For Sorrow

He watched an explosion in the forest from his home. A thought, like a tale told by a stranger long ago, flitted through his mind. Of another burst of fire, rending the night; of a man he told to live. He pushed the thought away. They were gone. His patient, the monk, and the stupid doctor who'd spewed trite words. Swept away by wind and drowned in blood.

It wasn't long before he saw a group approaching from the forest. The anger that had abated when he was surrounded by nothing but corpses came back with a vengeance. More blood to spill for him, more throats to cut. He adjusted the blades he was wearing on his hands, picked up in one of the abandoned huts. But they were six men and they looked able enough. Mesmerised, he watched one of the group lift the smallest one with a metal arm. Another doubled over with laughter, but a bald man put a hand on the shoulder of the metal one and talked to him. The small guy was placed gently on the ground, but he, too grinned. They would fight together. That much was clear. Maybe he should …

His eyes met those of the bald man and recognition flashed through him. The monk. He was the monk who had visited the village just before the attack and vanished during it. He saw him falter briefly before a quick exchange with the leader. Then the monk and the metal fellow passed the rest and went ahead at a faster pace. They waved. If they trusted him, he could kill them all before they had a chance to regroup.

'Hey, Junpei, do you remember us?' the bald man called. 'Junpei?'

He stood with his arms slightly to the side, letting them see the vicious tiger claws. 'Junpei is dead.'

The monk's eyes flickered to his hands and back to his face. 'Fair enough. So are Kenji and Daichi. Who are you, then?'

He faltered. 'I have no name. I don't need one.' By now the rest of the group had caught up and waited, watching their conversation warily and ready to intervene. He had intended to kill them all, but something made him hesitate. He wasn't sure what it was, but since he'd lost all else, instinct was the only thing he could go by.

'Do you want a new name?' the metal man asked – and it struck him that this had been the doctor's patient. Of course. There had been diagrams and secrecy and muffled groans of pain. But this hadn't been the plan he remembered. 'My new name is Ginkotsu.'

'Mine is Renkotsu. We could use a field medic.'

He spat on the ground. 'Keep looking, then. I can't stand doctors. And monks.'

'Good thing we all are neither, then.' Renkotsu shrugged. 'Do you remember what Junpei knew? Can you fight? Either will be good.'

'Yes.' Something stirred in him, something he thought had bled out on a dirty floor. He wanted to stifle it, but the slight smile on Renkotsu's face wouldn't let it. The leader came to the pair's side.

'How do we know you won't try and kill us in our sleep?'

'Where would be the fun in that?'

Ginkotsu gave a laugh that would have scared the doctor out of his mind. 'I like you.'

'Him liking you is why we're talking, mind you,' Renkotsu said. 'Whether you remember it or not, you saved his life and Ginkotsu feels we shouldn't kill you in return. So you have three options.' He started ticking them off on his fingers. 'One, you let us grab what we want from the village. We leave and you do … whatever it is you do. Two, you try and stop us and we kill you anyway. But you'd really disappoint Ginkotsu and I'd make you pay extra for that. Also Kyoukotsu back there will probably eat you. If that is something you find distasteful, you might consider staying out of our way. Ah, and there's option three, of course: You join us. You found my tiger claws, I see. I can make you a set that'll fit your hands better if you're with us. You'll be less likely to injure yourself and wickedly dangerous if you use them right.'

The tiger claws were clearly made for larger hands than his – and they were slightly different in length and both originally meant for a right hand. 'Join you in what?'

'Mercenary work. I was kind of hoping you could be a medic, but if you're just in for the carnage, that's good enough.'

'Do you have a code?'

The leader snorted. 'Yeah, one. Give us something to call you by and don't kill any of us. I'm Bankotsu, by the way.'

'That's two rules,' Renkotsu said automatically and dodged an aimless whack from the laughing leader in his general direction.

An unfamiliar feeling stirred in him and led to something that he also thought had died with the doctor: laughter. 'I can agree to that one. Or two. Call me Suikotsu. Where are you headed? Because someone is sure to want revenge for an attack on a village under their sovereignty. There's always money in bloodshed, even after it's done.'

'Good thinking. Anything of value still in this ditch?'

'Not a lot, but let's take a look. Make sure no-one's left to blab about us, either. I think there's a few rats still crawling about.'

'Ugh, I hate rats,' Bankotsu said. 'Especially the chatty type. C'mon everyone, let's flush them out and then we'll hopefully find a fight that's a challenge.' He grinned at one of the other guys and threw an arm around his shoulder. 'Think we're enough now, Jakotsu?'

'Uh? Yes! Very much.' He let his eyes travel over Suikotsu in a rather critical fashion. 'And he passes. Just.' His eyes narrowed. 'As long as you make sure that doctor stays dead, you're golden, Suikotsu. If he does come back, I'll put him back down myself.'

Suikotsu laughed. 'He's a fool and a coward and should stay dead. Give me your word you won't let him claim me, and I'll hold you to it.'

Jakotsu bared his teeth. 'Cross my heart.'

((I know that this diverges from a flashback from Suikotsu – but I figure that this scene where he tries to flee from them happens later, if at all. Suikotsu is not a very reliable narrator, after all. If that even is a real memory he's having, it's the doctor emerging after he joined.

If I ever opt to take them all further than this – which is very possible – I know already that I'll give in to the one glaringly obvious temptation I face as an avid slash-lover. I have one line, one single line of dialogue for Jakotsu already. I've been carrying it with me much longer than I'd even intended to write this one. It lives in my journal and if I ever succumb it will be there. Don't hold your breaths – it's likely to happen, but not in the immediate future; partly because I love them to bits (totally not obvious, that) and writing how they were betrayed and killed will be depressing.))