Shadows
Part 4
"Failed Attempt,"
Kira climbed off of Heriko's back she looked up at him worriedly when she noticed the concern in his red eyes, she knew he was worried about Mallory because she was worried about her too. She sat on the damp cold floor of the small cave that Heriko had found she lowered her head as she closed her eyes.
"Mallory," she whispered softly Heriko stood at the mouth of the cave to see if he could see Mallory he whimpered lightly as he narrowed his eyes when he saw two people heading their way, Kira stood up to see what he was growling at "It's okay they're friends!" she exclaimed he looked at her then ran off toward them.
"Hey look its Heriko!" exclaimed Saya, Tanaka nodded in reply "Where's Kira and Mallory? I thought they would be here by now…?" Kira ran over to them Saya looked at the young girl she frowned when she didn't see Mallory with her "Where's Mallory?" she asked getting worried that something had happened to her young apprentice, she saw saddened look in Kira's face "No!" she cried softly.
"We were attacked Mallory told me to go without her and told Heriko to stay with me… that was hours ago!" explained Kira
"No she was only a child!" whispered Saya she looked over to where they had just came from "I have to go find her!"
"Saya she maybe already dead its better you stay here for know," said Master Tanaka
"Am sorry," she replied she then ran off back into the forest to go look for Mallory.
"She's alive I just know it," said Kira "Saya won't rest till she finds Mallory even if she is dead or alive," just then Heriko ran off into the forest Tanaka watched him disappear into the forest he sighed as he looked down at Kira.
"Come on," he sighed "They'll come back sooner or later,"
Saya ran as fast as she could through the forest she turned to see Heriko running up beside her she nodded slightly he barked signalling to Saya to follow him she quickly followed him, Heriko stopped as he sniffed around he growled lowly when he couldn't pick up Mallory's scent he knew she had to be around somewhere nearby he remember he left her around about that area Saya watched him to see where he would go next
Shinjitsu sheathed his sword as he looked down at Takeshi he looked around at the burning village seeing nothing but destruction. He walked through the burned down village, bodies littered the ground either burning or bleeding heavily to death.
"I love the smell of death in the morning," he chuckled lightly he turned to one of his officers he "Where's Tanaka?" he questioned
"He got away," replied the officer
"What about the kid?" he questioned
"I saw that kid that you fought earlier help her get away," replied the officer, Shinjitsu growled lowly as he clenched his hands tightly "Don't you remember sir she ran off," he replied as he stepped back noticing Shinjitsu's anger getting the better of him "I think I'll leave know," he muttered
"FIND THAT KID!!" he yelled "AND MOVE OUT KNOW!!" they all went in search around "That kid will pay!"
"Emperor another village has fallen," said a messenger, the Emperor turn to look at the messenger, the messenger kneeled before him
"Which village?" he questioned firmly
"It was Tanaka's village the village has been burnt to the ground as was your orders,"
"Is there any survivors from the village?" he questioned
"None have been found although it would seem Tanaka maybe still alive how I don't know," he replied he lowered his head
"Remind me to talk to Shinjitsu about him letting Tanaka get away?" he growled
"Eh… yeah," he replied, the Emperor growled lowly
"Tell him I would like to see him when he gets back!" he said before headed out of the room and down the hallway the messenger stood up and left after the Emperor.
Back at the village Takeshi growled lowly as he pushed himself to this his feet he held his side in pain he looked around at the village to see nothing but ruins of what once stood there
"GOD DAMN IT!!" he growled he went to look for any survivors his eyes scanned each and every body for any signs of life. He closed his eyes as he walked over to the ruins of the house were all the kids had lived his eyes widened slightly at the blood shed, bloody and burned bodies of the dead children.
"Takeshi?" asked someone from behind him, he turned to see two of the children standing there they looked pretty beat up and exhausted
"Shinta, Toki," he exclaimed surprised that the two had survived the brutal slaughter Toki looked over at the others children she looked up at Takeshi with a lost and confused expression "Hey its okay Toki," he said softly he looked over at the Shinta "Is there anyone else left?" he asked
"I don't know," replied Shinta, "I think a few of the others got away earlier,"
"If they did they would of headed off north, I think that's where Kurenai, Saya, Kira and Master Tanaka went," he sighed as he glanced at Toki he stood up "We should see if anyone else survived," he said looking around what was left of the house that the kids once lived in. He carefully watched his step he knelt down as he lifted back what was left a carpet to pull up a trap door he saw something move "Hey its okay its me Takeshi,"
"Takeshi!" cried a child the child ran up to him wrapping her arms around him "What happened why did they attack us?!" she cried
"Sh… its going to be okay Rin everything's fine," he whispered "Is there anyone else down there?" he asked she shook her head, he lifted her up into his arms as he carried her over the weak floor boards being careful as he walked over to where Shinta and Toki stood, after a few hours of searching they hadn't found anyone else alive, so they began to head north.
"KURENAI!!" called Saya she knew could never forgive herself if anything happened to Mallory after all she was only a child of 7 years of age. She felt her stomach sink suddenly she didn't like the feeling she knew something had happened to Mallory. She looked up at the sky it was beginning to get lighter the sun would rise in a few hours the rain still poured down from the heavens, she saw something laying on the ground she growled seeing it was a Samurai warrior that worked for Shinjitsu "Kurenai where are you?" she whispered she suddenly heard Heriko howl she ran over to where the howl came from she stopped up at the top of a steep hill she gasped lightly seeing the blood trail going down the side of the steep hill, she skidded down to where Heriko was standing looking down worriedly she stumbled slightly, she quickly ran over to him she gasped "Oh god Mallory," she whispered as she carefully picked Mallory out of the mud puddle she lay in, she rested Mallory on the damp ground to see if she could find a pulse she sighed lightly when she found one but it was very weak she lifted Mallory up into her arms she looked at Heriko "Come on Heriko we've gotta go!" she called as she ran off back to where they had came from Heriko looked down at the puddle it was stained with blood he then quickly ran off after Saya.
Kira was sitting by the mouth of the cave waiting for them to return Tanaka sat behind her he put a hand on her shoulder she turned to look at him suddenly they heard barking, Kira quickly turned around to see Heriko run out of the forest soon followed by Saya she gasped lightly seeing Mallory in Saya's arms she quickly ran up to them she knelt damp floor of the cave.
"She's still alive," gasped Saya as she tried to catch her breath
"Here…" Tanaka took off the baggy shirt he wore and laid it down "This should keep her warm… she's in need of help we can't just stay here she'll die if we stay here any longer," he said as he inspected the wounds across Mallory chest and stomach as he drew back the shirt she was wearing "These a pretty deep…"
"She's lost an awful lot of blood," exclaimed Saya as she tore some of the material of the shirt wrapped around the deep wounds she used the rest to wrap Mallory up to keep her warm "The Tohakawi village isn't far from here we could take her there and ask if they would help her," Saya lifted Mallory up into her arms
"You should go on ahead get her there as fast as you can Saya," suggested Tanaka
"But I can't just leave you…"
"She needs help Heriko will accompany us to the village while you go on ahead," she nodded then ran off toward the village "Come on Kira," Heriko looked at Kira he allowed her to climb onto his back.
Later at that night Shinjitsu walked through the doors he knelt down before the Emperor.
"You wished too see my lord?" he questioned as he bowed his head
"Yes I did," replied the Emperor "I called you here to ask you how the attack went…," narrowing his eyes at Shinjitsu "Is Tanaka dead?"
"He and his kid got away along with two Kunoichi's," he replied "Some of the villagers might have gotten away also but the village has been burnt to the ground along with most of the villagers,"
"I want you to find them!" ordered the Emperor
"Yes sire," he replied as he stood up as he bowed before he left, he walked down one of the many hallways of the palace one of his officers walked up beside him "I want you to take some men and find Tanaka, his kid and those two Kunoichi's," he ordered
"Of course sir," he replied he paused for a few seconds before he began again to explain "But the one from village that you were fighting is dead sir some of the men found her ambushed her and killed her,"
"Then find the rest of them then,"
"Yes sir," he went down to the courtyard where everyone was training to pick who would go on the mission
Later that night at the Tohakawi village Saya had been waiting for word on Mallory's condition, suddenly the village doctor walked out of the room.
"How is she?" she asked the doctor
"She's lost a lot of blood but it all comes down to whether or not she lives throughout the night I've done all I could for her," Saya lowered her head. She felt so guilty about what had happened "You should find a place to stay the night, I'll let you know if anything happens," Saya looked up at him.
"Is it alright if I go in and see her?" she asked the doctor
"Sure," replied the doctor he slid open the door to the room to allow Saya to walk into the room she knelt down beside Mallory's still form on the bed on the floor she gently moved Mallory's dirty hair out of her face to see all the bruising and cuts, the doctor closed the door. She took one of Mallory's hands and squeezed it gently
"Am so sorry I should have been there to help you," she whispered "You've just gotta pull through…" she closed her eyes "I know you'll probably hate me for not being there for you but I won't blame you if you do…" Saya looked down to see Mallory squinted open her eyes she tilted her head to the side she smiled slightly
"I don't hate you…" she replied weakly
"Mallory look you can't die not like this…!" stated Saya, Mallory closed her eyes as fell back into unconiousness "Please you've gotta live!" she pulled the covers up to Mallory's neck to keep her warm "I'll be back later to see how your doing okay?" she said as she stood up she walked out to go and find Kira, Tanaka and Heriko waiting outside for her
"Is she okay?" asked Kira
"She'll be fine Kira," replied Saya she looked over at Tanaka "We should find somewhere to rest for the night,"
"Yes we should," he agreed they began to walk to an inn to rest for the night
"Can I help you?" asked the inn keeper
"Yes we would like rooms for the night," replied Tanaka, Saya looked down at burn mark on her forearm, she coughed lightly the taste of smoke still in her lungs was catching the back of her throat, she looked around the bar area she then looked down at Kira she then closed her eyes
"What's wrong Saya?" asked Kira looking up at Saya
"Nothings wrong," she replied she turned to Tanaka after he got the keys to the rooms "Am going to check around I think someone's hunting us…" she whispered to Tanaka "You should take Kira and go to the room and lock the door,"
"Okay…" he replied he took Kira's hand and began to walk up the stairs to the room, Saya walked over to the bar she looked out of the corner of her eye to one side then to the other. Tanaka opened up the door to the room, Kira looked up at her father confused by why Saya never came up with them they walked into the dark room the only sign of light was shining through the window from the moon he then locked the door he frowned when he saw Kira giving him a worried look "What's the matter Kira?" he asked concerned
"What's wrong? Something's wrong I know it?" she questioned worriedly "I know that you would never lock the door if something wasn't wrong," he knelt down in front of her he put his hands on her shoulders and smiled trying to comfort her
"You should get some rest Saya just went to just check something out she said she'd be back soon okay?" he said moving her long black hair out of her eyes she looked up at him hesitantly before laying down the bed on the floor she sat on the floor for a few seconds looking up at him concerned for Saya she then climbed under the covers and closed her eyes, Tanaka closed his eyes he hoped nothing was going to happen to Saya as well he sighed as he sat on the floor of the room he closed his eyes as he lowered his head, Saya had quickly scanned the people in the room most of them were just drunken men that were too drunk to stand up, but the one's she had spotted to the far left of the bar were the ones she recognised she closed her eyes
"Can I get you anything Miss?" asked the barman
"No thanks…" she replied lowly 'Its Shinjitsu's men…' she cursed mentally 'I wonder why they would be here…?' she thought to herself she blinked, she tilted her head slightly to get a better look at them before she back out the room she went to walk outside to see if they would follow as she narrowed her eyes when they did she quickly ran over to a building and jumped up onto a rooftop as the 5 men walked out of the inn.
"Where'd she go?" questioned one of them
"She can't be far split up and find her and when you do kill her!" ordered the officer in command they all split up Saya crouched on the edge of the rooftop she watched with narrowed eyes as one of them entered an alleyway she jumped down into shadows she drew her sword just as he was about to leave the alley she grabbed him from behind slitting his throat so fast that he didn't have time to scream she jumped back up onto rooftop she looked around for her next victim that would fall by her sword 'One down four to go,' she thought to herself she jumped to the next roof she saw one of them standing just outside an alley she looked around to see if anyone else was around she jumped down on him with the blade pointed down this way the blade slashed through his head, she looked around she then noticed one of them see the body she quickly ducked into the shadows.
"Shit!" he growl lowly looking around "Your around here somewhere I know it show yourself Kunoichi!" he ordered he didn't have time to react as a throwing knife was thrown at him the knife impaled itself into his forehead his body fell to the ground she walked over to him and pulled the knife from his head blood sprayed from the wound splattering over her face 'Three down two to go…' she peeked around the corner to see that the last two were together she quickly and quietly ran over to them killing them before they knew what had happened she then ran back to the inn to check on Kira and Tanaka, to see if they were okay, she quickly jumped onto a rooftop she climbed in through the window into the room, sensing that was where Tanaka and Kira were.
"Saya!" gasped Tanaka at the sudden appearance
"Sh!" she warned "Get Kira out of here," she whispered she turned to the door while Tanaka lifted up Kira and climbed out the window that Saya had climbed through he quickly jumped to the rooftop on the otherside he crouched down waiting for Saya to join him she quickly climbed out of the window jumping over to the rooftop
"Why didn't you kill him?" he questioned just above a whisper
"He doesn't know where we are," she replied "We'll wait here till he leaves then go back inside besides let's face it these guys aren't that smart they wouldn't think to look in the same place twice..." she paused when noticed the assassin standing at the window Tanaka looked at her they stayed in the shadows until the assassin went away it was a few minutes before he turned his back on them they waited a few minutes to make sure it was clear "…I'll go and check it out," she said before went back she check to see if the coast was clear she quietly made her way over to the door she opened the door slightly she quickly looked around before closing the door quietly she signalled Tanaka to tell him it was safe. For the rest of night Saya sat in the corner of the room hidden in the shadows of the room in deep thought but still on her guard she looked over at where Kira was sleeping on the floor she then looked over to where Tanaka slept she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. The room was very cold as she sighed lightly she rested one of her sword against her shoulder, she put the other beside her, she lowered her head. A cold shiver was sent down her back she wrapped the blanket tighter around her she couldn't sleep if she wanted too she was too worried about Mallory she stood up, she walked over to the window she closed her eyes as light breeze from the outside blew into her face moving her black hair a little she sat on the window ledge she looked up at the moon thoughtfully 'I hope Mallory's okay…'
Early the next morning Saya was about to head on over to see if Mallory was okay. Heriko was already there waiting for her, she frowned slightly as she turned her head slightly.
"Takeshi?" she muttered she ran over to him "Hey Takeshi!"
"Saya!" he called she hugged him tightly "I thought you were dead,"
"No but I thought you were," he replied as he chuckled lightly "Saya is Master Tanaka and Kira okay?"
"Yeah there fine," she replied he looked around for Mallory
"Is Kurenai with them?" he asked when he didn't see her Saya lowered her head
"Well am going to see how she is right now…" she replied he frowned slightly
"What happened?" he questioned worriedly
"She was ambushed after that attack," she replied "She was in a pretty bad state when we found her," she explained "She was barely alive... some of Shinjitsu's men must be hunting us down we should be on our guard 5 of his men tried to kill us last night… I was able to take care of them though,"
"So you're the one that did that last night," he questioned
"I had no other choice if they found us they would have killed us..." she replied she looked down at the three other kids "Is this all that survived from the village?" she asked
"I think so where's Shintaro? He should have been helping last night?" he questioned, Saya thought for a moment
"I really don't know what happened to him…" she replied "You don't think he's?"
"I don't know come on lets go see Kurenai," the five of them began to walk back to where the doctor lived to go see Mallory
Shinjitsu as soon as he heard what had happened put his fist through a wall in the training yard he yelled in anger.
"What is it going to take to kill them?" he growled lowly
"It would seem they are more skilled than we thought," replied the officer
"Tohma you know you should never under estimate your enemy…" he paused for a second "It's a mistake that you'll pay… WITH YOUR LIFE FOR!!" he yelled as he without warning sliced off his head the courtyard went silent as the head of officer rolled to a stop "This goes for the rest of you! Those who fail will die a quick death!" stated Shinjitsu "No second chances for failure DO YOU GET ME!! NO SECOND CHANCES!!"
"YES SIR!!" they all said at once
"Tokoro your will be acting as Captain for know on," he ordered pointing a finger at the Drake not to faraway Tokoro gulped slightly
"Yes sir!" replied Tokoro bowing, Shinjitsu narrowed his eyes "I want you to get your best men on this and kill them without delay,"
"But Sir I thought the Emperor wanted them alive?" he questioned, Shinjitsu narrowed his eyes at him "Okay I'll get on it right k-know!" he stuttered as he ran off before Shinjitsu could attack him
To Be Continued…
