Chapter 5:

Complications

         

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~As the night wears on into the early hours of morning, Ren can't help but feel a bit worried about Naoko. An hour or so earlier, he'd climbed up on top of one of the village's higest towers, to see if he could spot Naoko coming from a distance. With nothing to accompany him except for the near-constant chirping of crickets and other assorted nighttime sounds, Ren took a break from his watch, lying down, looking up at the stars that filled the night sky. As he looked at the crescent moon, he sighed.~

"...Naoko....Where are you....?"

~Ren got up, and hopped down from the tower, landing silently on the ground far below. Heading for the Village Gates, he went through them, toward the dense forest nearby.~

"Maybe if I head into the forest, I can meet her halfway."

~As Ren made his way through the forest, he noticed that it was unusally quiet......WAY too quiet. At first, he simply shrugged this off, but he could sense someone's presence, within his immediate area.~

"....Naoko...?"

~In an instant, Ren saw a silver flash off to his side out the corner of his eye. It was a dagger. Ren's reaction time, however, was not quick enough to avoid it entirely. As it whistled past, it scratched his arm, causing a small amount of pain before it went on along its path, thunking into a tree. A bit of blood was drawn as Ren put his free hand over the wound. A couple tense seconds went by as Ren looked at the lodged dagger, noticing that it was certainly not one of Naoko's. As his instincts told him to reach for his sword, he heard the sound of a twig breaking behind him. By the time he turned his head, the side of his jaw was met with a forceful kick, launched from a tree branch. The kick knocked Ren off his feet, rolling a short distance, near the edge of the forest. Gaining his balance, Ren stayed in a crounched position, unsheathing Lighthawk. Ren looked up, trying to see who his opponent was. However, it was too dark, most of the light from the moon and stars was blocked by the trees of the forest. Ren did notice however, that the figure was male, and had drawn a katana, and was approaching him. Ren smirked as he slowly rose into fighting position.~

"Heh, I'll get him back for that dagger..."

~Ren brandished Lighthawk as the figure dashed forward, in a blur, raising his katana. Ren brought Lighthawk to his chest to block, though his guard was temporarily broken by the figure's powerful strike. With Ren's sword arm safely away and to the side, the figure connected with a quick elbow to Ren's chest. This attack contained more force than was apparant, as Ren was knocked into a tree. Composing himself, Ren was able to regain his footing, and use the momentum from the previous attack to launch himself forward, taking the figure by suprise by quickly swinging Lighthawk upward in a slashing motion. The figure moved his head just barely in time though still suffered a deep scratch near his right eye. Ren smirked.~

"Heh...."

~Ren rolled upon landing, pivoting and jumping back at the man. The figure swung his katana forward as the two locked blades. The figure used Ren's momentum, swinging his blade around in order to toss Ren away. Ren flipped in mid-air, though he was thrown out of the forest, landing in the tall grasses outside. As Ren focused his attention on the forest to try and find his opponent, it had started to rain. The rain had started off slowly, but built up quickly and before long, had formed a sort of mist surrounding the area. Ren tensed as he saw the figure emerge from the trees, landing a medium-sized distance away from him. Neither one moved a muscle, trying to see what the other was doing. This lasted for a full minute,  the only motion being the falling rain, swaying grass and trees. Lightning flashes and thunder booms several times. Finally, the two step toward each other simultaneously, growing in speed with each step. As they near each other, both leap high into the air, thier blades colliding in a bright flash. Both leap away at the same instant, landing away from each other, though not as far away as they had been before.~

"Who in blazes are you!?"

"Hmph....I am Shadow, of the Dark Blade.

"Shadow!?"

 "There are more of us, Ren."

"How do you know my name?"

~At that moment, both Ren and Shadow hear the sound of someone approaching through the trees. Shadow shakes his head.~

"It's that girl.....perhaps another time, Ren. Until then."

"No way! Wait a sec—"

~Ren runs forward, trying to grab at Shadow's arm, but Shadow moves his arms through some ninjutsu positions, vanishing completely with a flash of lightning aiding his escape.~

".....Shimatta  *Damn it......he got away...."

~Ren shakes his head slowly as Naoko notices him, jumping from a tree to land in front of him.~

"Hey Ren, you won't BELIEVE what happened on my mission........hey, what's wrong?"

"There was a......ninja.....he ambushed me....moved in a blur...."

"Could you see his face?"

"No....it was too dark......but he had a katana....gave me a heck of a fight....."

~Naoko goes wide-eyed, putting hands on hips.~

"Hey....there was a guy I ran into, he killed all the guards that were keeping the hostages....but didn't lay a finger on me...He used a katana.....said his name was...."

"Shadow."

"YEAH! That's it! Shadow! You fought him? How did he get here so quick? Where did he go?

"I don't know....he just vanished. Not with smoke bombs or anything like that. Just did some kind of movement, and was gone. He knew my name, said he was with the Dark Blade, that there were others."

"Never heard of them."

"Me neither......But you said he killed some guys from the Jade Moon. Then why did he attack me?"

"No clue....."

"Maybe Ghoda has some info....let's go find out."

"Alright."

~Ren and Naoko then head back to the village, seeking Lord Ghoda's chamber.~