Ayame stared around from the limb of a tree.
Rikimaru had gone in one direction, and she took the other. The only
thing around were fire and ronin. The hair on her spine prickled as she
dropped down to kill. There was an uneasy silence right before she
stuck her blades through his heart. She jumped around the fire, and
landed on a rooftop. Below her were two guards, chatting about treasure
near the ocean, or something unimportant like that. She took one out
with a blow dart, and crouched down as the other panicked. The ronin
started whistling uneasily, keeping his eyes in Ayame's direction.
Ayame waited until he turned his back, and lodged a shuriken in his skull. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop until she spotted a ronin in the distance. She hopped down from the roof, and made her way towards him, taking refuge behind a powder keg. She smiled, as she had an idea. She hopped into a nearby tree. "Say goodnight, boys." She smirked, and then sent a grenade flying into the powder keg, setting off a huge explosion, and killing five nearby ronin. Ayame laughed heartily, and made her way towards an open area.
II.
Rikimaru shook his head at the scene. The place was empty, except for the enemy ronin. He shuddered as he saw headless bodies hung on a wall, with heads put up on stakes; men, women and children alike. He let out a short exclamation, and gripped his sword tighter. Around the corner he felt an enemy ki. As soon as the man turned his back, he had a sword in it. Rikimaru's eyes caught an underground pathway, and he jumped down into it. Below was a series of tunnels. As he rounded the corners, he felt a ronin nearby. Rikimaru peeked around the corner, and spotted the murderer. When the man wasn't paying attention, Rikimaru snapped his neck.
"The bastards will pay." He muttered under his breath. He ran the next few corners without fear. There was a drop off, in which a guard was sleeping underneath. Rikimaru dropped down and stuck his blade into the man's stomach. He glanced up, and saw that there was a ledge he had to grapple up to. He hung from the ledge as a guard came walking down the hallway. As soon as he felt it was safe, Rikimaru jumped up and gutted him. There was a beam above him, which he grappled up to. He saw the open sky in a hole above him. He jumped through it, and ran behind a fence. He felt the presence of two ronin, and peeked through a hole.
One was going around the burning building, and the other was standing and staring off into the distance. When the farthest one turned his back, Rikimaru blew a dart at the nearer one. When the nearer bastard died, Rikimaru waited for his friend to come closer. The ronin ran to his fallen comrade.
"What?" he shouted. "Come and get it!" he yelled to anyone who was listening. After a few seconds, he resumed his usual patrol, and a few seconds after that, he was dead. Rikimaru jumped onto a nearby building, and went on alert as he heard a loud explosion coming from the other end. He strained his eyes as he saw Ayame running towards an open area.
"Damn girl!" he muttered under his breath. "Does she know how to wait?" He secretly smiled to himself, and ran towards the open area.
III
Ayame went on the defensive as she felt an enemy ki coming towards her. She looked in all directions, as she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She violently swung around, and her blades hit a sword. She stared up, and saw a lady wearing a scarf across her lower face. The lady's eyes met hers. Ayame noticed how much like a tiger's eyes they looked. She stiffened, and went into battle ready pose.
"You aren't serious." The lady laughed rowdily. "You think you can take down a whole army? Neither you nor your lover could so much as put a dent into our scheme!"
Ayame's face went bright crimson with anger. "He's not my lover!" she yelled, and the fight was on. Ayame kicked the lady, and went to slash her abdomen. The lady blocked, and sent a blow that would have knocked Ayame down, if Ayame hadn't stepped to the side. Ayame slashed the lady's leather top, and went in for a deadly blow, but was countered. After a minute of throwing blows and blocking them, the lady sent her sword down into Ayame's leg. Ayame let out a wail, and unleashed fury, sending the lady across the field. She stood up, just as Ayame was about to strike, and brought the sword to Ayame's neck.
"I got you." The lady smiled. Ayame stiffened, and then kicked the sword out of her hands.
"Tell me your name!" Ayame shouted. The lady's eyes met hers.
"They call me Tiger Eyes." Then, a smoke bomb was thrown, and Ayame was left coughing. When the smoke cleared, no one was there. Ayame looked around uneasily, and then felt Rikimaru come up from behind. Ayame dropped to her knees, and examined the wound.
"Can you walk?" Rikimaru said in a concerned tone.
"I think so." Ayame got up, and tried walking a few steps, but fell back on her knees. Rikimaru came up beside her.
"It's deep Ayame. It needs to be bandaged." He ripped the arm of his shirt off and tied it tightly around the gash. "This will have to do." He lifted her up, and let her lean on his shoulder. After an hour, he realized that they weren't getting anywhere. They were still miles away from the village. "I'm going to have to carry you."
"No, I'm fine." She protested.
"If we don't get you help soon, you could faint. I have some lightfoot scrolls, we would get back so much faster." Ayame shook her head to protest, but felt herself lifted onto Rikimaru's back. She rested her head on his shoulders, and closed her eyes.
IV.
Ayame took the bandages from Rikimaru and started crudely bandaging her outer thigh. She heard a 'humph.' from the other side of the room and glared over at Rikimaru. "What?" she asked, annoyed.
"You're doing it wrong." He stated matter-of-factly
"What are you, a medic? I know what I'm doing." She went on bandaging it, but let out a small gasp when she found it was pulling at her skin. She refused to admit she was wrong, so she ignored Rikimaru's gaze. Finally, after a few attempts, she gave in. "Here." She threw the bandages down.
Rikimaru kneeled beside her and put her leg on his knee. He took a clean, warm cloth, and cleaned out her wound. She let out a silent exclamation as he used a potion to sterilize it. He took the bandages and wrapped them around her thigh tightly. Ayame stared down at her pants on the floor.
"Damn, they were my favorites. Now they have a big hole." She let out a sigh, as Rikimaru set her leg down and walked toward the window.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. She told me that we couldn't bring down an army. I guess she doesn't know much about the Azuma Ninja." Ayame smiled. "Anyway, I'm guessing that this isn't the last we'll hear of her." She stared into Rikimaru's green eyes, and felt her heart falter. His face remained stoic.
After a moment of silence, he spoke. "She was good."
"She was a coward! She escaped using a smoke bomb!" Ayame exclaimed.
"She also managed to cut you pretty deep. You're lucky she missed the artery, or else you'd be in bad shape." Ayame stared away from him.
"I cut her shirt. I made her bleed too." She said, almost inaudibly. She stared back up at Rikimaru. "I don't know what she's after, but we need to be careful now. Can there be no peace, even for a second?" She searched Rikimaru's eyes for an answer, but found nothing.
"You need rest, Ayame."
"As do you." Rikimaru turned his back.
"I'm going to meditate." She watched as he disappeared from view, and then laid her head down in exasperation. iWhy must he be so selfish? Why must I be so proud? Oh, is it an inbred trait for warriors to be so stubborn when it comes to emotions?/i She pondered this as she drifted off to sleep.
Ayame waited until he turned his back, and lodged a shuriken in his skull. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop until she spotted a ronin in the distance. She hopped down from the roof, and made her way towards him, taking refuge behind a powder keg. She smiled, as she had an idea. She hopped into a nearby tree. "Say goodnight, boys." She smirked, and then sent a grenade flying into the powder keg, setting off a huge explosion, and killing five nearby ronin. Ayame laughed heartily, and made her way towards an open area.
II.
Rikimaru shook his head at the scene. The place was empty, except for the enemy ronin. He shuddered as he saw headless bodies hung on a wall, with heads put up on stakes; men, women and children alike. He let out a short exclamation, and gripped his sword tighter. Around the corner he felt an enemy ki. As soon as the man turned his back, he had a sword in it. Rikimaru's eyes caught an underground pathway, and he jumped down into it. Below was a series of tunnels. As he rounded the corners, he felt a ronin nearby. Rikimaru peeked around the corner, and spotted the murderer. When the man wasn't paying attention, Rikimaru snapped his neck.
"The bastards will pay." He muttered under his breath. He ran the next few corners without fear. There was a drop off, in which a guard was sleeping underneath. Rikimaru dropped down and stuck his blade into the man's stomach. He glanced up, and saw that there was a ledge he had to grapple up to. He hung from the ledge as a guard came walking down the hallway. As soon as he felt it was safe, Rikimaru jumped up and gutted him. There was a beam above him, which he grappled up to. He saw the open sky in a hole above him. He jumped through it, and ran behind a fence. He felt the presence of two ronin, and peeked through a hole.
One was going around the burning building, and the other was standing and staring off into the distance. When the farthest one turned his back, Rikimaru blew a dart at the nearer one. When the nearer bastard died, Rikimaru waited for his friend to come closer. The ronin ran to his fallen comrade.
"What?" he shouted. "Come and get it!" he yelled to anyone who was listening. After a few seconds, he resumed his usual patrol, and a few seconds after that, he was dead. Rikimaru jumped onto a nearby building, and went on alert as he heard a loud explosion coming from the other end. He strained his eyes as he saw Ayame running towards an open area.
"Damn girl!" he muttered under his breath. "Does she know how to wait?" He secretly smiled to himself, and ran towards the open area.
III
Ayame went on the defensive as she felt an enemy ki coming towards her. She looked in all directions, as she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She violently swung around, and her blades hit a sword. She stared up, and saw a lady wearing a scarf across her lower face. The lady's eyes met hers. Ayame noticed how much like a tiger's eyes they looked. She stiffened, and went into battle ready pose.
"You aren't serious." The lady laughed rowdily. "You think you can take down a whole army? Neither you nor your lover could so much as put a dent into our scheme!"
Ayame's face went bright crimson with anger. "He's not my lover!" she yelled, and the fight was on. Ayame kicked the lady, and went to slash her abdomen. The lady blocked, and sent a blow that would have knocked Ayame down, if Ayame hadn't stepped to the side. Ayame slashed the lady's leather top, and went in for a deadly blow, but was countered. After a minute of throwing blows and blocking them, the lady sent her sword down into Ayame's leg. Ayame let out a wail, and unleashed fury, sending the lady across the field. She stood up, just as Ayame was about to strike, and brought the sword to Ayame's neck.
"I got you." The lady smiled. Ayame stiffened, and then kicked the sword out of her hands.
"Tell me your name!" Ayame shouted. The lady's eyes met hers.
"They call me Tiger Eyes." Then, a smoke bomb was thrown, and Ayame was left coughing. When the smoke cleared, no one was there. Ayame looked around uneasily, and then felt Rikimaru come up from behind. Ayame dropped to her knees, and examined the wound.
"Can you walk?" Rikimaru said in a concerned tone.
"I think so." Ayame got up, and tried walking a few steps, but fell back on her knees. Rikimaru came up beside her.
"It's deep Ayame. It needs to be bandaged." He ripped the arm of his shirt off and tied it tightly around the gash. "This will have to do." He lifted her up, and let her lean on his shoulder. After an hour, he realized that they weren't getting anywhere. They were still miles away from the village. "I'm going to have to carry you."
"No, I'm fine." She protested.
"If we don't get you help soon, you could faint. I have some lightfoot scrolls, we would get back so much faster." Ayame shook her head to protest, but felt herself lifted onto Rikimaru's back. She rested her head on his shoulders, and closed her eyes.
IV.
Ayame took the bandages from Rikimaru and started crudely bandaging her outer thigh. She heard a 'humph.' from the other side of the room and glared over at Rikimaru. "What?" she asked, annoyed.
"You're doing it wrong." He stated matter-of-factly
"What are you, a medic? I know what I'm doing." She went on bandaging it, but let out a small gasp when she found it was pulling at her skin. She refused to admit she was wrong, so she ignored Rikimaru's gaze. Finally, after a few attempts, she gave in. "Here." She threw the bandages down.
Rikimaru kneeled beside her and put her leg on his knee. He took a clean, warm cloth, and cleaned out her wound. She let out a silent exclamation as he used a potion to sterilize it. He took the bandages and wrapped them around her thigh tightly. Ayame stared down at her pants on the floor.
"Damn, they were my favorites. Now they have a big hole." She let out a sigh, as Rikimaru set her leg down and walked toward the window.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. She told me that we couldn't bring down an army. I guess she doesn't know much about the Azuma Ninja." Ayame smiled. "Anyway, I'm guessing that this isn't the last we'll hear of her." She stared into Rikimaru's green eyes, and felt her heart falter. His face remained stoic.
After a moment of silence, he spoke. "She was good."
"She was a coward! She escaped using a smoke bomb!" Ayame exclaimed.
"She also managed to cut you pretty deep. You're lucky she missed the artery, or else you'd be in bad shape." Ayame stared away from him.
"I cut her shirt. I made her bleed too." She said, almost inaudibly. She stared back up at Rikimaru. "I don't know what she's after, but we need to be careful now. Can there be no peace, even for a second?" She searched Rikimaru's eyes for an answer, but found nothing.
"You need rest, Ayame."
"As do you." Rikimaru turned his back.
"I'm going to meditate." She watched as he disappeared from view, and then laid her head down in exasperation. iWhy must he be so selfish? Why must I be so proud? Oh, is it an inbred trait for warriors to be so stubborn when it comes to emotions?/i She pondered this as she drifted off to sleep.