Pt3
The entire castle was in an uproar. The guards had seen Lord Hiei camped in the forest outside the walls. He would be home before dinner!
Tension was high and tempers flared. Everything had to be perfect before Hiei got home or else heads would roll…literally.
Yukina directed the proceedings – the only calm head in the castle. The windows in His room were closed, no speck of dust remained on the furniture and the bright colors were once again returned to their dismal shades. The calm that reigned in the Lord's absence was shattered.
A shout went up from the lookout in the tower and the bridge was lowered. Everyone scurried to their respective places as Hiei rode in pulling another slave behind him.
"Ryoutou!" Hiei yelled as he jumped from the horse. A neko hanyou rushed out to meet him, bowing low before him.
"Yes my lord?"
"That will be your responsibility for the time being." He gestured to the red-head still tied to the horse. "Train it well. You have two weeks, then I will take over." That said, he went directly to his room.
Other slaves came to get the horse after Ryoutou had released Kirai. The neko lead him to a tiny room mostly taken up by a single cot.
"This is your room. Knowing Hiei you're probably exhausted and in a helluva lotta pain. You get some sleep. I'll be back to get you when it's time for dinner." Kirai immediately sank down onto the bed, facing the wall.
"Thank you." Ryoutou nodded then pulled the door shut and sighed.
"It's almost like Hiei can hear everything but I'm pretty sure he's too tired to listen in right now. At least I hope so. Anyway kid what's your name? I mean not the one He gave you, your real name."
Kirai managed a small smile. "What makes you think I had a name before?"
The neko laughed, silver-gray hair shaking violently. "You're smart kid. That's good. You'll need that brain of yours to survive around here." Then he grew serious. "I'm no spring-chicken kid. I've seen fighters come and go. Different names, species, ages, levels, different everything: some survive, others don't. But all of them had one thing in common: not a single one of them were able to walk by themselves once Hiei got done with His little four-day "camping trip" he takes after he buys a fighter."
"Five."
"What?"
Kirai rolled over to look at his new sensei.
"Last night was officially the fifth one."
Damn! Five! Without food or water either! I remember thinking that I should just curl up and die by day three. When I got here I couldn't even stand up. Guys had to carry me. You must really be something."
"I guess. And by the way, it's Miya."
"Your name?" Kirai/Miya nodded. "But ain't that a girl's name?"
"It is. Miya stared him straight in the eye and their gazes held. "I found my body holds up better under the torture that nobles put male slaves through than it does under that of the female slaves, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah I know. A pretty face and perfect body aint the best thing for a slave girl to have. You'd rather be beaten to death than spending the rest of your life in someone's bed. Well I'll be damned. I knew you were too smart to be a guy!"
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Only three practices, they had only had three practices yet already Miya had proven herself to be a sword master. Ryoutou had agreed to keep her secret and to train her as he would any other fighter. By practice two Ryoutou was glad that he had decided not to go easy on her. She was a fast learner: could imitate anything after seeing it once. If you wanted to beat her it had to be with a single blow. She saw through and formulated strategies as if she had been born to fight.
"Ready?" Miya nodded and fell into position, sword grasped tightly in both hands. Ryoutou ran at her, sword also drawn. The clash could be heard through out the courtyard as metal collided with metal. Immediately Miya was one the defensive: Ryoutou had used his powers to throw the arena into total darkness. The neko's eyes allowed him perfect vision despite the lack of light but Miya wasn't so lucky.
Concentrate, she told herself, listen to his breathing. It was easier said than done. As a former gladiator he had been trained for silence. Miya bit back a cry of pain as Ryoutou's sword thinly sliced just above her waist. To hell with waiting for him to give himself away! She was going to force him out.
She bent down and placed both hands on the ground. Suddenly the earth started shaking. The ground beneath them cracked and huge vines shot out of the cracks. She remained still, knowing her plants would target the first thing that moved. Almost instantly she heard the slight intake of breath.
Gotcha!
She swirled and attacked, hitting Ryoutou, now trapped in her plants, squarely in the back.
"Damn!"
Blood rushed down his back and the vines constricted around him. Ryoutou directed his energy at both his body and the plants and smirked as they wilted. Just as quickly his wound healed and he turned to face his opponent. Too late he realized Miya's full plan. The energy he used to free himself from the plant was greater than he expected and his darkness cover was fading.
Miya flew at him again and the fight restarted on equal ground.
She was slowly gaining. Miya did a double slash and as Ryoutou's sword was occupied with the first attack and the old neko was unable to recover fast enough to block the second. Miya was sure she had him until all her kitsune danger senses went on instant alert. She felt it coming long before she saw it. Suddenly she twisted and grabbed the second sword as Ryoutou pulled it from its hiding place. She winced as the blade cut her hand but held on anyway. She slammed her own sword up against Ryoutou's neck.
Surprise registered on his face, then smiled.
"Looks like you win. Not bad." She grinned, knowing that he really meant to say not bad for a girl. They cleaned their swords and then went to see to their wounds.
"Hey Kirai, how did you know about the other sword." She shrugged.
"Isn't it obvious? Lord Hiei gave you the name Ryoutou: Two swords. It wasn't hard to guess that you were ambidextrous. But there was something else too. It was like I felt it, like I knew it was coming." The neko nodded thoughtfully.
"You are probably a trace telepath, subconsciously able to tell what move a person plans to make right as they think of it. That would probably explain why you're so good at memorizing a person's attack patterns. You're receiving conformation from your opponents' minds. That's good, we can work with that."
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Yukina sat on the window seat watching the mock-battle in the training arena that Hiei had set up for the gladiators. An invisible shield surrounded the battlefield, enclosing the darkness that Ryoutou had conjured. She had seen this particular move before. It was Ryoutou's favorite. He would confuse his opponents with a shroud of darkness then attack swiftly, leaving no time for the person to react.
His opponent this time was the youngest she had ever seen and looked a good deal like one of the guys Hiei used to spend time with. Kurama, that's what his name was. Since he and the others died Hiei had regressed, becoming darker, more reclusive and hard hearted. At times she even felt like a prisoner in this place. It broke her heart daily to see how her brother treated the slaves but he always replied that she should not concern herself with the matter, that slaves were only things, put there to do what they were told.
She had asked Hiei about this particular slave but he only told her that this slave would be the greatest the tournament had ever seen.
She watched idly, waiting for the darkness to dissipate. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the young man still standing. Her hand flew to her mouth and stayed there for the entire match. She could hardly believe it when the red-head was victorious.
Beside her Chi, her personal slave-girl, cheered through the window with girlish excitement, then settled back, utterly embarrassed when he turned to the window and bowed from the waist before he disappeared from view.
"Chi, you know him?" The girl shook her head.
"Nope, never met him but he's been here less than a week and has already gotten the better of old Ryoutou."
"What's his name?"
"I don't know but I can find out." Yukina raised one eyebrow. Chi giggled impishly. "Come now Lady Yukina, you should know by now that around here even the walls have ears." She disappeared through the door but returned only moments later.
"His name is Kirai."