Shadows
Part 3
"Attack,"
'I watch as the sun sets,
the sky turns crimson,
before it turns to nothingness,
the blood of the fallen I could have helped,
Instead I watch...
unable to help...
unable to do nothing...
why I stood there,
I don't know...
all I know is...
I see only darkness...'
Saya snapped awake to the sound of the scream she looked over to Mallory who was already up she crouched down beside her
"You heard it too didn't you?" she whispered to Mallory, Mallory just nodded in reply "We've got to warn the others...!"
"Yeah... but..." Mallory cut off by the crash the door exploded into flames the two of them had just managed to get out as an the place went up in flames screams and cries of pain could be heard from all around them
"We've gotta move fast! Mallory go to the tower and sound the alarm!" ordered Saya she looked over at the younger duck who seem to be in a state of shock "MALLORY!!" the young girl turned to looked up at her "You've gotta sound the alarm!"
"What about Master Tanaka?" questioned Mallory
"I'll go make sure he's fine you just sound that alarm!"
"Right!" Mallory quickly jumped from roof to roof Saya watched as the young girl set off to do what was needed Saya jumped from roof to roof she quickly made her way there she jumped down from the rooftops of the home where Master Tanaka lived that had been engulf in flames
"Master Tanaka?!" she called over the sound of cracking wood she quickly ran into the burning home
Meanwhile Mallory made her way up the ladder she paused when she saw three enemies each of them carried bo's they were firing off several arrows at the villagers below she growled lowly hearing the cries of pain and suffering as the arrows pierced their flesh she closed her eyes trying to block out the screams few images of the past flashed through her mind she shook her head "NO!" she cried as she snapped back into reality she sprang up onto the platform then lashing out at one of them she jumped up into the air and slashed one archer's throats open she then she kicked the archer off the platform to the ground below
"Why you little...!" began the second archer but was cut off his as she slit his throat open blood sprayed from the wound she then spun around pulling the Kodachi from the archer's throat she the quickly lunged forward stabbing the Kodachi sword into the third one's chest she pulled the Kodachi sword from his chest she quickly jumped up into the air the Archer just stood in shock from the loss of blood she quickly decapitated the archer it took a few seconds before his head fell to the ground blood sprayed out of the still standing body before it fell to the ground still spraying out blood she wiped the blood that sprayed over her face with the back of her hand she then quickly turned around to sound the alarm to evacuate the village as well get those who could still fight up
Saya stumbled as she coughed the heat from the fire that was burning away at her skin under feathers was becoming unbearable it didn't help that her vision was swarming around her as she looked around for Master Tanaka
"Master where...are you?" she called she quickly stepped back just as part of the roof collapsed she then heard someone call out to her
"Saya!" called someone but the voice muffled by the sound of the cracking wood
"Master?" she called
"Saya!" cried a child's voice not too far away from where she stood
"Kira!" she made her way over to the where the child's voice called from "Am coming over to help you just hang on!"
"Saya am scared!" cried Kira "Please help me, daddy's hurt!"
"Oh no..." she muttered she jumped over a burning pile of roof debris she gasped lightly seeing when she caught a glimpse of Kira she ran over to the young girl "Are you okay?"
"Yeah..." replied Kira "But daddy's..." she quickly lifted the debris off of Master Tanaka he looked up at her with pleading eyes
"Saya... get Kira out first please..." Saya looked over at the young girl and nodded she quickly picked up the young girl
"Hang on!" she turned quickly to her Master "Hold on I'll be back to help you!" he nodded as he watched Saya get Kira out he began to cough the smoke was getting thicker and the fire was getting worse the roof and walls were falling apart, he put his hands over his beak trying to block out the smoke, Saya had just stumbled out of the burning house coughing and choking as was Kira
"Saya!" called Takeshi "Are you two okay?" he asked "Where's Master Tanaka?!"
"He's still in there I've gotta go help him!" she replied her voice was very dry Takeshi could see she was exhausted from the fire and smoke had gotten to her he looked at the house
"I'll go and get him you stay here Saya if you go in there it won't do you any good," he said "You should stay with Kira she needs you more right know," suddenly Mallory appeared she jumped down from the burning roof she stumbled slightly
"Mallory!" gasped Saya
"Saya are you okay?" asked Mallory seeing Saya's exhausted expression she turned to watch Takeshi run into the burning house "Takeshi!" she was about to run in after him when Saya stopped her from going any further looked over at her
"Mallory come here..." she breathed heavily Mallory quickly walked over to her "Look after Kira okay!"
"But Saya your..." but before Mallory could finish Saya had went into the burning house "SAYA!!" she called
"Mallory please don't leave me!" cried Kira as she pulled Mallory back Mallory turned to look at Kira "Saya will be fine..."
"Well what have we got here?" snarled a Drake, the two young girls turned around, Mallory stood in front of Kira to protect her
"Shinjitsu!" growled Mallory
"It looks like a couple of pint sized kids sir," said one of the bodyguards, Shinjitsu walked over to them he grinned down at them Mallory drew the two Kodachi swords she held them up in a defensive stance she growled lowly
"She's a spirited one ain't she sir?" pointed out the second one
"She sure is," agreed the first bodyguard
"Kira I want you to run as fast as you can and get away from here!" she whispered loud enough for Kira to hear, Kira's eyes widened slightly
"I can't just leave you," replied Kira
"I said get out of here know!" snapped Mallory, Kira ran off as Mallory quickly dealt with the two bodyguards Shinjitsu watched amused by the young duck's killing skills he snorted
"How pathetic to be defeated by a child..." he paused as he grinned evilly at her as he took a step forward towards her "...But I must admit your not bad for a child a great fighter indeed... tell me something... what's your name...?" he questioned as he drew his sword Mallory growled lowly the blade was stain with blood it glimmered in the light of the moon Mallory stood there the two Kodachi Swords at the ready
"My name is Kurenai!" stated Mallory firmly he stepped forward one step toward her
"Ah I see it suites you pretty well the colour of blood tell me something..." he paused for a second "Do you think you can really beat me child I won't be as easy as those pathetic losers you've slain,"
"I don't take pleasure in killing like you do Shinjitsu!" she said in a low cold tone "You cold blooded murder! I'll make you pay for all the lives you've taken!"
"Foolish child," he snorted "Why is it I anger you child? A child as young as you shouldn't be as angry this... its not good for your health," he taunted as he swung the blade at her she quickly blocked the sword, he was a lot stronger than she was and he was gaining the upper hand pretty quickly she fell to one of her knees as she tried to push the blade away "That's right bow before me child its were you belong..." he kicked her in the stomach she cried out as the wind was knocked out of her she groaned lightly she slowly sat up her vision was a bit unfocused her eyes widened as the blade was inches away from her throat
"Go ahead kill me just like you did my family you sick bastard!" she growled lowly as she felt the tip of the sword's blade touch her throat he raised an eyebrow
"Such language for a child," he said in a mocking tone
"Please don't patronise me its really demeaning, would you just kill me already and be done with it," she stated he drew the blade away from her throat "What are you doing kill me and be done with it?" she looked up at him confused as she got to her feet
"KURENAI!!" called Takeshi as he ran over to her while Saya stayed with Tanaka, Mallory suddenly was roughly picked up by the throat "Let her go!" growled Takeshi as he threw himself into Shinjitsu, Mallory fell to the ground hard knocking her head hard off of a tree trunk she groaned lightly before she lost consciousness Takeshi quickly got up to his feet he quickly ran over to Mallory's side "Kurenai are you okay?!" he asked as he lifted her up but got no reply he moved a lock of her hair out of her face to see a large cut across her face blood trickled down from the wound he stood up Shinjitsu got to his feet growling at Takeshi "Only a coward would pick on a child Shinjitsu!" stated Takeshi, Saya looked around looking for Kira
"Saya where's Kira?" asked Master Tanaka
"I don't know... she probably ran off..." she replied "Oh no it looks as if Mallory's hurt,"
"You should go help Takeshi I can take care of myself Saya," suggested Tanaka, Mallory groaned lightly as she opened her eyes slightly she tilted her head to the side as she looked up to see Takeshi
"Takeshi..." she began softly he looked down at her
"Are you okay?" he asked
"I'll be fine..." she replied he put her down on the ground she slowly got to her feet "Takeshi if you don't mind I'd like to fight with you I have my own score to settle with this bastard," he looked down at her he saw the determined look in her eyes
"You're a stubborn kid you know that Kurenai," he grinned she lifted up the two Kodachi swords "But you'd do a better job protecting Master Tanaka and Kira than helping me out," Mallory looked over to where Saya and Master Tanaka was she growled lowly knowing he was right
"Fine then," she replied "But you better come back alive Takeshi!" she sheathed the two swords and ran over to Saya and Master Tanaka, Shinjitsu snorted
"I've had enough!" he spat, Takeshi withdrew his sword as he prepared to fight Shinjitsu
"Mallory you should go on ahead and try and find Kira she couldn't of gotten far," ordered Saya
"I know where she went meet me just outside of borders to the north okay?" Saya nodded as she helped Tanaka up to his feet Mallory looked over to Takeshi that's when she noticed
"Where's Shintaro shouldn't he be helping out?" questioned Mallory
"I don't know maybe he's caught up in a fight somewhere or helping out the villagers," replied Saya "You'd better go know,"
"Yeah," she replied before she ran off, she ran as fast as she could through the forest she knew by now that village would have been abandoned from life the only thing that was there was spilled blood and the dead and the fatally wound that they could do nothing for them know she jumped over fallen objects that lay on the ground she quickened her pace, she skidded to a stop when heard a scream
"KIRA!!" she called she ran off in the direction of the scream "HANG ON AM COMING!!" she called as she tripped up falling hard to the ground she tumbled down a hill side she groaned as she quickly got to her feet when she heard of another scream "NO!" she growled "I've gotta go help her!" she quickened her pace she stopped in her tracks when she saw what was going on she growled lowly as she drew one of the swords from the sheaths she sprang up into the air she leaped on the attackers back "Kira close your eyes!" ordered Mallory before stabbing the sword into the back of the attackers neck she clenched her teeth tightly as she roughly pulled the sword's blade from his throat he somehow managed to stumbled to his feet as blood sprayed from the wound covering the two of them but most of the blood had sprayed over Mallory after she had jumped off him she stood protectively over Kira with the blade in front of her face in case of a second attack the drake fell back his blood still sprayed from the wound she walked over to the fallen body to see if she could find anything worth while stealing the blood splattered over her she tilted her head as she grabbed the pouch from his belt she looked inside it to find various things inside it she found a note she narrowed her eyes as she looked around the area she looked over to Kira "We gotta move Kira!" she grabbed the young girl's arm they began run off towards north of the village to where she said they would meet up with Saya and the others
"Mallory what's going on where are we going?" questioned Kira
"We're going to that place I told you about," replied Mallory as she let go of Kira's arm "Am going on ahead to scout around you just stay here I'll be back in a few," Kira watched as Mallory disappeared into the shadows she looked around her it was nearly pitch dark if it wasn't for the moon there would be no way for her to see where she going, Mallory perched herself on a tree branch as she looked around the clearing making sure it was safe but found nothing she jumped down from the tree branch she was about to run off when she saw something white appear from the darkened shadows she smiled happily "Heriko!" she called as she ran over to the white animal "Come on we've got to go and get Kira!" she ran off back in the direction she had came from Heriko followed on after her, Mallory soon stopped in her tracks "Kira!" called Mallory, Kira appeared from behind a tree Heriko soon came to a stop not too faraway Kira gasped at the sight of him "What's wrong we've gotta move?!" she quickly turned around to look at Heriko "Its okay Kira he won't hurt you!" Mallory exclaimed as she turned back "He's my friend come on," she dragged Kira over to Heriko "Get on...!" suddenly an arrow narrowly missed Mallory's face by mere inches "HERIKO GO AND DON'T LEAVE HER!!" she ordered Kira held onto Heriko tightly as he ran off Mallory looked around trying to find the source of the arrow she narrowed her eyes as she stepped to the side as another arrow passed by her she ran in the direction it came from she was about to attack the archer when she was ambushed she fell hard to the ground stubbing her beak on the ground the Kodachi swords were tossed aside out of her reach she slowly got to her knees she looked up to find a sword's blade at her throat it didn't take her long to see who it was she narrowed her eyes at the one with sword in at her throat four more of them suddenly appeared they all began to beat her up she cried out in agonising pain, after hearing the loud crack that was her ribs she tried to hold back the scream after hearing the loud crack suddenly another blow came the blow was so strong that it turned the cracked ribs into broken ribs she clenched her teeth in pain, she squinted her eyes open, suddenly thunder sounded in the dark night sky before the heavens opened up with a down pour of rain drenching the ground beneath her the ground was turning into wet a mucky marsh she slowly sat up holding her stomach one of them kicked her in the face she fell to the ground she lay on her back breathing heavily as the a second wave of kicks and punches were thrown she was too exhausted to block every blow as she curled up into a small ball she felt a foot being pressed against her stomach as she was forced to lay on her back, she could feel a lot of pressure on her broken ribs as she groaned lightly as she closed her eyes as she lost consciousness
"She's finished..." snorted one of them kicking Mallory into a deep mud puddle he lifted up his sword he was about to run the sword through her chest to finished the job completely when someone stopped him, he turned to look at the new comer he nodded "But if you want to kill her then do it,,,"
"I have score to settle with this bitch..." he growled lowly as he kicked her in the side a few times he drew his sword from its sheath he then rammed the sword threw her chest cutting away down to her stomach blood was staining the mud and grass beneath as she lay there motionless he spat in the young girl's face before he sheathed the sword and walked off the other four soon followed after him rain poured down on her motionless beaten and battered body, the surroundings had went silent so silent you could hear pin drop all that could really be heard was the sound of the rain and the thunder in the sky the sky was lighten up by lighting, with what strength she had left she opened up her eyes...
'I can feel the darkness drawing me closer...
I know my end is near...
My crimson covered hands tainted by the blood I have killed...
Unable to seek atonement...
My sins of the past will never rest...
It is why I don't see the light...
I see only the darkness...'
To Be Continued...
Note: both beginning and end statements are supposed to be suicide notes. When Samurai or Ninja committed suicide it was because they either failed their mission, and that their failure would be a burden on themselves and those they serve and protect so they would kill themselves... or that if they went on a mission and they knew it would be a kamikaze mission that they knew that they wouldn't be coming back from that mission.
