Through the open louvers of his window, Sonic could see a small portion of the night sky, its tiny pinpricks of light peeking through the trees. High school education had taught him that stars were superheated gaseous orbs, floating millions of miles away in the void of space, expending an unbelievable amount of energy per second. He turned on his side. A single candle beside the bed created a golden outline of Sally's curves on the sheets, rising and falling with every breath. Yes, high school education had taught him all about that, too. He turned again to the stars. One of them winked at him, and he knew that this particular star had died eons ago.
After Tails's explanation of where to find Robotnik's new base, Sonic wished that Robotnik's evil were dead. He wished that Robotnik had made an empty threat before disappearing forever. Sonic would not be at ease, though, until he investigated and ensured that Robotnik would and could not harm anyone. The self-proclaimed emperor of Mobius would be visited for the last time.
"Tomorrow," he said. He did not look forward to it. He dreaded every second that would pull him closer to another confrontation with Robotnik. He was afraid… to be separated from her.
Sally.
He had led a charmed life, surviving through thick and thin. He worried all his friends, he laughed at danger. Before, he had no reason to be afraid of death, for he would leave no one behind (Tails could survive on his own, he thought). Now there was her. He watched her regal form, peaceful in slumber. She needed him, as he needed her.
"I will return."
Hunkering down into the bed, her face was the last thing he saw before sleep claimed him.
***
Breathing in the dewy morning air, Kazuo awoke. The earth was softer, warmer beneath him. Drops of moisture hung from his fur. It had rained during the night.
The dense oak tree with its leafy branches had shielded him. He was sitting between two of its roots, arms and knees drawn to his chest, back pressed into the unyielding bark. He had spent the night thus, with his sword beside him. Using it for support, Kazuo found his feet. He slipped the sword and scabbard into the sash tied around his waist. Its weight was a comforting companion among the silent trees.
Without thought he headed toward Cridon base. There, a kettle of scalding green tea and a plate of fresh rice cakes waited. The baker was pleasing to him. She had not questioned how he had broken her porcelain tea set, one week ago. She had given him her own iron tea set, and, with a smile, said that her husband would make a new one. Oh, there was another person responsible for the inconvenience. Kazuo had leveled the blade of his sword between the culprit's eyes. In those eyes he had seen no fear, and so he had tested the body. There was no weakness in the paws that had held back his sword.
Kazuo, entering Cridon base, turned away from the bakery and proceeded to the abode of the Coriander family. Rebecca was pleasing to him, more than any other. His student was performing daily exercises even at the first light of dawn.
"Sensei!"
She halted her activities (punishing a wooden mannequin) then bowed low. This time, he did not return the formality between student and master.
"Forgive my forwardness. I must locate Lazer-san."
Ah, so many questions in her eyes, both the colour of warm brown earth. She asked him if he knew the location of the Lake of Rings; he did not. Hesitating for but a second, she divulged the directions to the Lake.
"Thank you."
She resumed her exercises the moment his back was turned. He regretted avoiding the baker and his student this morning, but there was an obligation that overrode his stomach and duties as sensei.
***
Lazer had come to appreciate his sword slightly more since yesterday. Arikam Saotome, long deceased master of the Wanrikken, had never been seen without a katana within five feet of his grasp. Waking, sleeping, and eating: the sword had been his constant companion.
"Never again," Lazer swore. Remembering the blurred moment in which he stopped another sword with his bare paws, he reached for the hilt behind his back. The Lake rippled calmly in the shadows of trees.
"Wanrikken style," he announced to the dark waters.
!!!CRACK!!!
The Lake split down the centre. The shockwave charged onward, slicing into the opposite bank, stopping when it turned three and a half trees into firewood.
"Is that of your natural power, or of the Chaos Emeralds?"
"You have a talent for approaching unnoticed, Kazuo."
As coal met amber, Lazer put back his sword. Kazuo had not drawn his.
"It is the talent of a thief," said Kazuo. Lazer laughed.
"A samurai is not a thief. A thief can never be a samurai. My sensei told me that when I borrowed his sword for practice."
"You were disappointed with the training sword?"
"You understand. It was too easy to wield a piece of bamboo, in comparison…"
He paused to watch Kazuo's blade being drawn.
"…To the real thing."
Lazer did not know what to think. The psychic sight of Chaos Emeralds could not read Kazuo. His face conveyed as much emotion as the sword he held.
"You have a sword. Good."
"Is this a continuation of yesterday?" Lazer heard himself say.
"Live in the present, or you will have no future."
The yards separating them closed in a flash of movement. Lazer rested his paw on the hilt. Kazuo slashed downward: he reacted with a crosswise block, using both paws on the hilt to buffer the blow. Even then, the shock of such a powerful attack shuddered through his arms, as if holding back a hurricane. Mustering his strength Lazer pushed against the sword, forcing Kazuo back.
"Good," said the rabbit, his face impassive. What followed was a flurry of sword strokes: Lazer counted eighteen in four seconds while deflecting them all. When Kazuo hopped backward, Lazer brought his sword down in an arc of blue and white fury, slamming into the ground. Kazuo merely hopped to the right, allowing the forest to absorb the shockwave.
"That ground energy is too narrow for single combat," Kazuo said, expressionless, and leaped forward. His airborne body twisted as he reached for his sword. Lazer leaned backward to avoid the slash, but Kazuo continued to spiral in mid-air after his initial attack. The second slash cut into Lazer, releasing a trail of crimson that spattered Kazuo's face. Lazer thudded on the grass while Kazuo went down lightly on one knee.
For fourteen years, Lazer had never felt the pain of fire. Five Chaos Emeralds would not suffer any flame to harm his body. Now, a rod of white-hot iron lay across his chest, sizzling the flesh and boiling the blood. For a delirious moment, he wondered if the Emeralds had forsaken him. Then he realized he was not breathing; his oxygen-starved brain was irrational. He forced in a lungful of air, which caused the rod of fire to press deeply into his body. The breath became a scream. After one more breath he felt the flame dying, and was able to sit up.
Kazuo was frozen in his landing position, his head bowed with long ears touching the grass. The sword and arm that held it were stiff, held out at a slight angle to his shoulder, a few drops of red glistening on the blade. He was not moving, even to breathe.
"Kazuo?"
No answer. The combined power of Lazer's resident Emeralds was acting upon his wound, sealing the gash with new flesh. He got to his feet, without pain, moments later, and called his opponent's name. The bloodstained sword fell from Kazuo's fingers.
"Lazer-san."
Kazuo threw himself prostrate onto the grass before Lazer's feet. The words of Arikam came back to him: It is a gesture that begs forgiveness for a shameful act.
In that moment, Kazuo opened his mind. The dense mental fog gave way to startling clarity. Before Kazuo could utter an explanation, Lazer felt the reason for Kazuo's actions of late. A simple reason that was complicated beyond measure.
"Kazuo… I forgive you. It is impossible not to love her."
Amazement. Confusion. Sorrow. Shame. All four emotions exploded within Kazuo's mind, as he looked up with distress in his eyes.
"I wounded you, I nearly killed you with hatred. For that I am not her sensei."
Lazer knelt to level his gaze with Kazuo. He saw the congealing stripe of his own blood marking that rueful face.
"Love does not follow any rules. All of your training and principles fell away when faced with love, that's why you attacked me. Even so, you are her sensei, and I can forgive you."
Kazuo's face and ears touched the grass once more. After several moments he sat on his knees, reached for his sword and cleaned it on the grass. The strength returned to his eyes. His mind was again closed behind mental fog.
"I trust this will not be whispered to anyone?"
Lazer smiled.
"Not even Sonic will know," he guaranteed, but said as an afterthought, "You must wash the blood off your face."
Kazuo returned a sad smile that could have been interpreted in a thousand ways.
***
The two samurai walked slowly through the shades of the forest, talking of life, the trees, the earth on which they trod; anything that did not concern their earlier dispute. The walk was meant to mend any misgivings between them, and was a second gesture of goodwill on Kazuo's part.
No one paid attention to them, a purple rabbit and red hedgehog that carried swords, as their walk led them through Knothole. In one of the picnic areas, Sonic looked up from his chilidog and remembered something that made him lose his appetite.
Lazer would have to know.
Dropping the greasy remains onto the plate, the Blue Wonder rose from the table and pursued the samurai.
"Hey."
They turned to him, directing a gaze of black warmth and wary yellow.
Who's the guy with the orangey slits for eyes?
"Lazer, I got this message yesterday. Take three guesses who it was from."
To Sonic's surprise, the red warrior released a groan of anguish: the same warrior who hated Robotnik with a passion that defied any mortal.
"Why, why now?"
"Because he's the bastard that he was, is, and always will be."
Lazer covered his face with a paw, shaking it left and right. Kazuo was a still, silent presence, scrutinizing the dialogue between hedgehogs.
"Where do we meet him?"
"Away from the forest, away from the city, near the coast. Tails will give the specifics."
"And you want me to help."
"Second to me, you are the best. Now, it's not often I do this, but I'm gonna be honest. I want to come back alive. I'm not gonna go solo and maybe get killed because I had no backup."
"I understand. I hope that Tails and Sally are not going?"
"I talked them out of it, period. We'll leave in a few hours, just before sunset."
Lazer's paw dropped, revealing a resolve that struggled against inner regret.
He wants to come back to his girl, too. The only reason he's going is because he promised his country that he would, Sonic thought grimly. Vengeance was an everlasting obsession until carried out.
"Three pairs of eyes are better than two," Kazuo said quietly. It was his turn to be stared at.
"You do not need to do this," Lazer said.
"I must. There will be redemption."
Sonic, misunderstanding and underestimating the gravity of the situation, interrupted.
"Okay, okay, hold up. First off, what's your name?"
Kazuo spoke his name with a slight bow to Sonic.
"What can you do?"
Kazuo glanced at a nearby wine bottle that was atop a picnic table. His sword flashed once, twice, and was replaced in the sheath before one second passed.
"What?" Sonic said, and the bottle fell apart into three pieces. There was not so much as a crack on any piece, so perfect were the cuts.
"That could just as easily be a Swatbot," Kazuo said without a shred of pride. Even so, Sonic found another flaw in the equation.
"Lazer and I can move fast. I'll be runnin' and he'll be flyin' so fast you wouldn't see us. What about you?"
An amused smile appeared upon the neutral face.
"There are many mysteries in this world, Sonic-san."
Sonic laughed at that truth.
"Where'd you find this guy, Lazer?"
***
The sunset came with another surprise, this time from the female Freedom Fighters. Sally, Bunnie and twelve other women were dressed in strange clothing, hats included. No one in the village remarked at this, except, of course, the three warriors.
"Why are you dressed like that? Where're all of you going so late?" Sonic asked his wife. She gave him an impish smile.
"We girls held a meeting yesterday, and talked about having a night to ourselves in the city. We're going Christmas shopping!"
The rest of her gang cheered. Sonic ran a paw through his spiky locks in confusion.
"You didn't tell me."
"Why should we tell everything to y'all men?" Bunnie asked, hands on hips. This prompted a general "Yeah!" from the rebel women.
"I wash my hands of this," Sonic sighed, "Just get there safely."
"Don't worry darling, we girls stick up for each other."
The shoppers were about to move off when Rebecca came running toward them, her white shopping clothes drenched in sweat and her hat crumpled in one paw. Lazer, who was sitting nearby with Kazuo, jumped to his feet.
"You, too?"
She smiled at him, exhausted and panting.
"I ran, from Cridon. My sister didn't want to come, though."
"You ran forty-six miles?" he said incredulously. Forty-six miles, in that clothing!
"Ah do declare, Rebecca, you are a mess!" Bunnie exclaimed, "When we reach to thuh city we'll have to find you a place to freshen up!"
"Sure, yeah," she said, running the sleeve of her jersey across her dripping brow. She saw Kazuo sitting close by, his look neither approving nor disapproving.
"Sensei. I won't be late to open the dojo tomorrow morning."
"Do not concern yourself with the dojo. I will carry out the lessons. You have trained for years without rest. Go, enjoy yourself."
He directed his formidable gaze to Sally.
"You and your friends need not fear danger tonight. I assure you."
Rebecca was doubled over with gratitude.
"Thank you. Thank you, sensei."
Sonic, Lazer and Kazuo remained silent while the ladies left the village chatting and laughing. An escort service awaited them beyond the forest, Sally had mentioned.
"I think we should forget Robotnik and go after them," said Sonic, "They're insane, going shopping at night!"
"Put your mind at ease. My student is with them," Kazuo said gently.
"She doesn't know what I'm going to do," Lazer said, "It's for the best. She wouldn't have had any fun, knowing that I'm risking my life while she's shopping."
"Yeah. Well, come on. Robotnik has company tonight."