A splash of natural blue water scared some animals away from their food. As Knucks tried to wash away the stench he had to endure for twelve long hours. He silently cursed himself for spilling beer on him in the first place. Then he cursed his own ignorance at rushing out of town without knowing exactly where he was going. He had expected to be there by this very morning. Instead, he had to settle for wandering around the mountain side, ignoring the smell while hearing the world. All he had accomplished was to find a river and finally relieve himself of the now sickening smell.
He finished his bath and started to gather himself for another game of find the needle in the mountain. He gathered his things and climbed a tree to get his bearings. He noticed a small structure to the north so he decided to give it a try. Luckily, the rains that had plagued the area for most of the week had moved out. It was now a bright, comfortable day or, aside from muddy grounds, perfect. An injured deer blocked part of his path. Half of it's body was lying in the brush near the dirt road, probably hiding in fear. He was pressed for time, but found himself unable to leave the animal for dead. He brushed some dirt off the wound to see a bite mark from some wild beast on it's leg. He tried to pet the deer's head while he fixed the leg, only to find everything from the waist up missing all remnants of muscle or flesh. It was now that the familiar scent hit him. The scent from his dreams, and nightmares. The scent of death drove him to his feet and drove him to scramble away from the massacred body. The image of a an eyeless stare that pierced and scared his mind for the rest of the day.
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Knucks finally shook the gruesome image away around dusk. It had reminded him so much of his nightmares that he almost took the deer skull for the head of his dead mother.
He shook that train of thoughts away in a hurry as he heard a branch snap behind him. He spun around to see a bright red sword ready to make him look exactly like that deer had if he made the wrong move. He tried to comprehend how this cute girl had snuck up on him in such deep woods. She was about 5'9 or so, had beautiful cyan hair, and yellow tiger like eyes.\
" Drop the stuff. Now!" It appeared that her looks were just a trap door above a spike pit. He lowered his clothes to the ground and made a grab for his sword. She let him believe that he had a shot to hit her before she sliced his sword in two.
' That piece of crap sword!' He thought silently to himself as she aimed her sword at him again, but this time, she wore a mile wide grin on her face.
" Next time, threaten me with more than just a metal toothpick. Now move forward." That remark was not to far from the truth.
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She lead him to a large, white, two story building with glass paneling on one corner, a balcony and sliding wooden doors which were open to a few onlookers. All this in front of a large beautiful lake with a large tree growing near the middle of the shimmering water. The entire place made him feel at peace, even under the circumstances. She walked over to another girl, 5'8 give or take, long purple hair, a weird looking robe on and a very dignified and royal look on her beautiful face.
While they were talking, or screaming, to each other, yet another girl emerged from the house. This one was still a child, maybe ten or twelve at most. She had green pigtails and the same type of weird robe, but with different colors, as the older one. She also had three very strange marks on her forehead, he guessed them to be birth marks. Behind her was a boy, about Knucks' own age of 17, not as well built as Knucks but still had some muscle. Black hair and a pair of puppy dog eyes, he could tell he was a softie.
After a short conversation with the girls, he walked towards Knucks with a smile on his face.
" Sorry about the wait and all. We wanted to ask you were you came from?" Knucks was positive that he could take this guy and get away. Yet, he felt kind of anxious to talk to someone for the first time in a while. " My name is Tenchi by the way." He extended his hand in friendship.
" Just call me Knucks." he shook Tenchi's hand. " I come from the city to find a sword master that lives up here. Do you happen to know him?" Tenchi just stared at him blankly trying to gather in what the question. The light bulb in his head finally clicked on.
" You must be talking about Grampa. He's the only sword fighter I know of that lives up here." Knucks visibly became happier upon hearing this news. " If you would like to, you could stay here for the night and then talk with him in the morning. What do ya say girls?" Knucks turned towards the girls in anticipation.
" Yeah! Let's keep him!" He chuckled when he heard the little girl talk to him. " My name is Sasami. Pleased to meet ya."
" Now Sasami we know nothing about this stranger . We should at least interrogate him first." This made a large bead of sweat run down his forehead. " I could use persuasive words to make him talk and then violence." This made him laugh. He found the one who had captured him doing the same.
" Ayeka please keep the stupid talk to a minimum. We have company." He found that he hadn't stopped smiling since he first heard little Sasami talk. He was going to like it here
He finished his bath and started to gather himself for another game of find the needle in the mountain. He gathered his things and climbed a tree to get his bearings. He noticed a small structure to the north so he decided to give it a try. Luckily, the rains that had plagued the area for most of the week had moved out. It was now a bright, comfortable day or, aside from muddy grounds, perfect. An injured deer blocked part of his path. Half of it's body was lying in the brush near the dirt road, probably hiding in fear. He was pressed for time, but found himself unable to leave the animal for dead. He brushed some dirt off the wound to see a bite mark from some wild beast on it's leg. He tried to pet the deer's head while he fixed the leg, only to find everything from the waist up missing all remnants of muscle or flesh. It was now that the familiar scent hit him. The scent from his dreams, and nightmares. The scent of death drove him to his feet and drove him to scramble away from the massacred body. The image of a an eyeless stare that pierced and scared his mind for the rest of the day.
-----------------------------------
Knucks finally shook the gruesome image away around dusk. It had reminded him so much of his nightmares that he almost took the deer skull for the head of his dead mother.
He shook that train of thoughts away in a hurry as he heard a branch snap behind him. He spun around to see a bright red sword ready to make him look exactly like that deer had if he made the wrong move. He tried to comprehend how this cute girl had snuck up on him in such deep woods. She was about 5'9 or so, had beautiful cyan hair, and yellow tiger like eyes.\
" Drop the stuff. Now!" It appeared that her looks were just a trap door above a spike pit. He lowered his clothes to the ground and made a grab for his sword. She let him believe that he had a shot to hit her before she sliced his sword in two.
' That piece of crap sword!' He thought silently to himself as she aimed her sword at him again, but this time, she wore a mile wide grin on her face.
" Next time, threaten me with more than just a metal toothpick. Now move forward." That remark was not to far from the truth.
-----------------------------------------------
She lead him to a large, white, two story building with glass paneling on one corner, a balcony and sliding wooden doors which were open to a few onlookers. All this in front of a large beautiful lake with a large tree growing near the middle of the shimmering water. The entire place made him feel at peace, even under the circumstances. She walked over to another girl, 5'8 give or take, long purple hair, a weird looking robe on and a very dignified and royal look on her beautiful face.
While they were talking, or screaming, to each other, yet another girl emerged from the house. This one was still a child, maybe ten or twelve at most. She had green pigtails and the same type of weird robe, but with different colors, as the older one. She also had three very strange marks on her forehead, he guessed them to be birth marks. Behind her was a boy, about Knucks' own age of 17, not as well built as Knucks but still had some muscle. Black hair and a pair of puppy dog eyes, he could tell he was a softie.
After a short conversation with the girls, he walked towards Knucks with a smile on his face.
" Sorry about the wait and all. We wanted to ask you were you came from?" Knucks was positive that he could take this guy and get away. Yet, he felt kind of anxious to talk to someone for the first time in a while. " My name is Tenchi by the way." He extended his hand in friendship.
" Just call me Knucks." he shook Tenchi's hand. " I come from the city to find a sword master that lives up here. Do you happen to know him?" Tenchi just stared at him blankly trying to gather in what the question. The light bulb in his head finally clicked on.
" You must be talking about Grampa. He's the only sword fighter I know of that lives up here." Knucks visibly became happier upon hearing this news. " If you would like to, you could stay here for the night and then talk with him in the morning. What do ya say girls?" Knucks turned towards the girls in anticipation.
" Yeah! Let's keep him!" He chuckled when he heard the little girl talk to him. " My name is Sasami. Pleased to meet ya."
" Now Sasami we know nothing about this stranger . We should at least interrogate him first." This made a large bead of sweat run down his forehead. " I could use persuasive words to make him talk and then violence." This made him laugh. He found the one who had captured him doing the same.
" Ayeka please keep the stupid talk to a minimum. We have company." He found that he hadn't stopped smiling since he first heard little Sasami talk. He was going to like it here