Episode 1: The Drifter's Secret Technique!
High noon, Southern Beach of Izlude
The blinding rays of the sun reflected along the tempestous waves of the coast, producing an almost heavenly image of liquid crystals dancing in a toccata orchestrated by the Gods. A young swordswoman stared with her golden eyes as far as she could from the edge of a lowly bluff that spearheaded the beachline of south Izlude.
"A windy day equally graced by the sun is a blessing of nature for everyone," recalled the girl. It was an old, popular saying of Izludeans. The lady, however, looked far from being a native of the port town. Her skin was almost like porcelain under the light of the sun, white and unblemished. Her eyes, a bit squinted but far from the near-linear contour of the eyes of the Payonese women. You wouldn't be blamed if you thought that she's Payonese because in truth, she really is (at least that's what she told me) ;D
A strong gust coming from the bay blew her long, straight, emerald hair away from her. With one gentle stroke she slipped it down the front of the right shoulder of her thick, padded wooden armor. She veered away from the waters and looked behind her, where she saw a female acolyte waving her hand and shouting the green-haired girl's name.
"Sisteerr Umi~!" shouted the Acolyte as she speedily ran up the bluff.
The beautiful swordsman smiled back. "What's up, Arisa?"
The young cleric-lady who sported short, golden hair that glistened like the ocean waves under the sun stopped a few steps away from Rana. She panted a bit and went on to deliver her piece. "The men are already eating their lunch. You might want to get something to eat too. Teheehee, you're gonna need twice what of what they ate if you want to maintain both beauty and brawn at the same time."
Rana patted her belly and cheerfully replied, "I'll pass. I've eaten a heavy breakfast."
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn ya. Those swordies can become quite the savages when eating." The acolyted turned away and put both her hands on her nape.
Umi looked at the beach. The training grounds were indeed empty. Everyone was probably eating. Just as they always do every noon. She looked at the katana lazily hostered around her right hip and tried to recollect past memories.
Her real name is Megumi of the Sakano clan, a family with a five-generation tradition in swordsmanship. Her parents' inability to bear a male heir after her birth made her the first swordswoman of the Sakanos. She was forced to learn the way of the sword at the age of three so that she may inherit the clan's succession techniques one day.
Swordfighting, she did. And she did it very well. She was one of the few Payonese sword artists who wielded the traditional katana far better than those from Izlude. Her talents in the arts won her countless tournaments in her home town.
But swordfighting alone wasn't enough to make her quite the famous swordswoman of the woods. Her unusually elegant beauty stood out against the rugged looks of most people engaged in the way of the sword. She has had her fair of courters. Unfortunately for them, they couldnt even get past her ma'ai. (Translation: Fighting distance)
Three years ago, as she turned sixteen, she was finally sent to Izlude to train even more. Three years hence, and she was still practicing to become the new master of the Sakano Dojo.
The swordswoman took in a large serving of sea air with one deep breath. She looked up and noticed that clouds had moved in to obfuscate the sun.
Umi clenched her katana as she started going back to the fighting grounds near the beach front. To no surprise, the whole set-up was boring her. For even in Izlude, she did not find enough challenge worth of training. At least until that afternoon.
As she started walked towards her acolyte friend, her eyes caught the image of a robed traveler who wore a sakkat. She stared at the matted straw headgear of the man which filled her eyes with enthusiasm.
Umi's acolyte friend saw the same person and immediately ran towards the swords woman. "Umi, it's him."
The tell-tale red stripe on his sakkat advertised to everyone that he was the man that people were calling "drifter". Rumors about him were far and wide. Some stories about him boasted that he was once of the Moroccan high guard but was fired after refusing to kill an innocent lady. Others insist that he is a crazed, amnesiac wanderer forever searching for a long-lost loved one. Still others are so sure in saying that he once fought against the wraith of King Osiris himself. Whichever was the truth or whatnot, all stories included that he was a good fighter. At par with the legends.
And he was what Umi had been waiting for. Defeating him in battle would not only make her famous. She would also gain enough merit to finally return to Payon as successor to the hidden Sakano arts. She simply giggled at the thought that she could finally short-circuit her training and get out of all of her labors in an instant.
The drifter easily noticed the eagerness in the air and stopped on his tracks. He turned towards the swordswoman as another gust of wind blew his long robes sideward, exposing an long dagger tied to his leg.
The robed man raised his sakkat, exposing eyes of a cold-blooded killing machine. His eyes met with those of Umi. A tacit agreement was made. The wanderer drew out his dagger while the young lady unsheathed her two-handed sword. The winds died down.
The man started to ran towards Umi. The green-hair put on a defensive position and prepared for the frontal charge. The attack never came.
Against all of Umi's logic, the sakkated man jumped off instead into a nearby bush and headed towards the eastern woods. Utterly insulted by the move, Umi haphazardly followed till the sight of the training grounds disappeared around a sea of trees. "Get back here, you moron! Nobody will see us fight in there!"
She stopped running when she heard ominous laughing coming out of nowhere. She then realized that she was in an opening surrounded nothing but tall trees. "Mwahahaha! You've fallen for my trap! I shall now defeat you with my ultimate technique: Cutting-the-golem-where-it-would-hurt-it-the-most secret dagger technique!"
Eh? Odd name.
Sweat drops formed around Umi's forehead. Her battle instincts told her to be twice as on guard as the attack could come from any direction. Even from above.
Indeed the man came from a high place and poised to pounce on her. His robes however, did not cooperate. A protruding branch caught a section of his clothes and spun him around at the opposite direction.
"Not again!" said the thief as Umi watched him awkwardly catapult back to the ground. He landed on his back, twisted in pain for a few moments and finally stopped moving.
The swordswoman jaw simply fell to the floor. It wasn't what she really had been expecting. How could somebody who had such a high profile from the rumors be so... so... clumsy!
She then heard rustling leaves from behind her as she waited for the man to get up. Umi pointed her katana at the source of the noise and assumed the worst.
It was Arisa, the acolyte.
Arisa was dumbfounded at the result of the 'quick' battle. She ran towards the robed man (against all logic of safety, but that's just what acolytes are trained to do) and put her ear against his chest.
"Wow, Umi. I think you killed him."
"I did what?" Umi could almost cry. But not of pity, nor guilt, nor sorrow. Nobody saw her 'win' (if one would call that a win) and that means it would be back to the boring training for her again. Screw the dead dude.
The acolyte started administering her fledgling healing skills on the man. She turned to the still unmoving swordswoman and said, "Hmm. so he isn't so dead after all. But I can tell that he is really injured. You know, this is partly your fault, starting out a fight like that."
The still-kneeling Arisa took out a cute pair of glasses and started reading out form her mini-notebook. "By the Izludean Laws on Informal Dueling, he should be under your care until he recovers."
"EH??" Umi's eyes to near explosion, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN TAKE CARE OF HIM? LOOK AT HIM! HE'S... HE'S... HE'S DEAD!!"
Arisa put her hands once again in her neck as she lied on the grass.
"No he's not. Rules are rules. Well, look at the brighter side, at least he looks cute."
A loud shout echoed out of the woods, causing a few passers-by to give out slight glances.
"NO, HE DOESN'T!!"
And that was how the two swords first met. Their next match would make them inseparable from each other. Literally.
~To be tutubi. XD Hasta La Juego.