All Comes Down To This
The time Kasumi had feared for so long had finally come. She knew deep inside that it would, sooner or later. The pale moon loomed high above the treetops, stars scattered about where dark clouds gathered in the otherwise pitch black sky. A harsh, unfeeling wind traveled through the area, signifying a storm on the way. Her muscles tensed up, her entire body leaning slightly forward as she waited for them. Surely enough, they came, two through the bushes, one from the higher tree branches. They stopped a few feet away, somewhat surprised to see Kasumi stand her ground. But they chuckled, drawing their katanas, one of them speaking with an arrogant smirk.
"Your life ends here, runaway."
She closed her reddish-brown eyes as they stepped menacingly forward. She didn't want to fight, of course, as she hated causing pain to others. But, this seemed to be the only way...the only way to put an end to the daily hell she went through. She unsheathed her wakizashi just as one of Hayate's ninjas broke into a run, sword raised. Kasumi stepped in deftly, deflecting a slash with her blade that would have otherwise removed her head. As the foolish ninja stumbled forward, she reached out with one hand, placing it on his back to pull him close while she rammed a knee to his gut. He would not go down so easily, however as he turned and swung his blade again. Kasumi ducked under, rising up with the wakizashi, slashing upwards across his chest. The man took a step back, yelling in pain as he collapsed to the ground.
The other ninjas froze for a moment after seeing him go down, but both dashed in, at the same time. She dodged two more quick swipes, spinning to plunge the blade of her short sword into one ninja's stomach. While stuck in this position, the other ninja successfully drew blood when he cut her in the upper arm, but she was quick to pull the blade from the first man, to spin around and swipe it downward across the neck of the other. As she froze in place, they both dropped to the ground almost simultaneously.
After they fell, Kasumi put her free hand over the gash in her arm, trying to stop some of the blood flow. It stung, but she would be ok. The adrenaline coursing through her veins would be enough to take her mind off of it for a while. She started to walk away from the area, but she hadn't gotten very far before she heard even more footsteps approaching, from a slightly different direction. She dropped into her defensive stance as 5 silhouettes emerged from shadow. At about this time, a light rain had begun. Kasumi's eyes narrowed. This was going to be a long night.
Two of Hayate's ninjas stood back to throw shurikens as the other three advanced. Kasumi hopped backward, while blocking the shurikens with her short sword. They came fast, and it was difficult to deflect every one, so some of them she simply dodged. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite quick enough to dodge them all, as one zipped past, just barely slicing across her thigh, ripping her white leg stocking before it slammed into a tree trunk. A moment later, another slashed at her side as it whipped past. She let out a short pained gasp as the shurikens cut her, and there were small blood spurts at her thigh and at her rib, but she would be forced to ignore the pain for now.
She closed her eyes, locking the pain away into a far corner of her mind as she jumped into the air, pulling her own shurikens from within her uniform. With two fists full, she flung them down on her oppressors, dropping two of the five immediately. The instant she landed, one of the surviving ninjas turned around, slashing his katana at her back. She knew it was coming, and tried to speedily hop away on the rebound, but the attack came too swiftly, before she could even fully land. She yelled out again in pain as she stumbled forward, falling to one knee. As she dropped, she shot out her free hand to the ground to support herself. She remained still for just a few moments longer as the attacking ninja ran toward her again.
Just before he'd brought his sword down in a finishing blow on her, she was instantly on her feet again, grabbing at his wrist while slashing the wakizashi twice across his torso and chest. After the ninja went limp, she took the katana from his hand, sensing that the other two ninjas were coming up behind her. Allowing him to fall, she turned to throw the sword in their direction, nailing one of them square in the chest. This ninja flew back a few feet, a crimson trail tracing his path through the air until he landed hard on his back.
The last ninja hesitated, but swung his sword anyway. Kasumi parried, but was caught off guard when he kicked at her side, following up with a quick slash to her ribs. Kasumi turned to the side with the force of the slash, side-kicking the ninja forcefully in retaliation. He was sent sprawling, but rolled into a recovery on impact with the ground. He dashed forward once again, slashing angrily with his katana.
Kasumi closed her eyes as he approached, focusing her mind on the air directly above them. Her perception of the world distorted, both sights and sounds fading into a blur as she concentrated. Her closed eyes suddenly saw the image of cherry blossoms floating against the black nothingness as the shift began, the instant body transmission which hurled her away from her present location.
A split-second later, she found herself airborne, looking down at the ninja's missed attack. As he swung his sword, all he struck was air, a burst of glowing cherry blossom leaves scattering outward all around him. The ninja looked about his surroundings in a panic as the Mugen Tenshin Ryu kunoichi descended upon him, grabbing at the man's chin as she flipped over his head. She twisted in midair before landing, to snap his neck. He was taken off his feet, spinning to the ground in a heap.
After landing softly, she flinched at the pain. Doing the teleportation was exhausting, and took an excessive amount of energy to perform. The ache from her wounds was sharp, but she had to keep going. She walked onward with a limp. By this time, the rain had increased, a much heavier rainfall pouring down, torrential sheets which lowered visibility somewhat. She was soaked to the bone, the freezing cold biting deep into her already existing cuts, amplifying the agony. By this time, she was breathing heavily, her entire body heaving with each breath. She was so tired... but there was no time for rest. They would give her no time to rest. She hadn't walked more than 20 paces before two more ninja pounced from the high treetops.
Kasumi crouched low, anticipating the arrival of the first ninja. Closing her eyes again, she focused her mind on the ground directly behind the spot where he would land. Again the surroundings distorted, and Kasumi shifted to the spot she focused on in her mind's eye. As the scenery flooded back into her vision, she saw the ninja attacking nothing but a swirl of cherry blossom leaves. He predictably swung his katana down, in an overhead slash. To punish him, Kasumi whipped around with a fierce roundhouse kick to the back of his head which sent him reeling until he collided with a tree.
The second ninja landed a few steps away, wildly slashing at her. After parrying one of his vicious slashes, Kasumi was surprised by a swift palm strike to her chin, one which forced her body up a couple inches from the ground. The ninja struck again, slamming his foot into her stomach. Kasumi was flung backward, rolling several times over after hitting the ground. Despite the growing intensity of pain from her various wounds, she still coerced her muscles into rolling into a standing recovery. As soon as she stood, the ninja was in her face again, the second one had recovered from Kasumi's kick and was moving toward them.
Grimacing, she suddenly stabbed the wakizashi directly into the man's heart, retracting it quickly. As this ninja collapsed, the other leapt high into the air again, raising his sword for a powerful slash. Fool. Kasumi swiped the wakizashi at his chest, lifting him slightly into the air. She followed up cleanly with a backflip kick, sending the ninja into a wild flail as he flipped through the air. Not quite done with him yet, Kasumi dashed at his falling body in a blur, swiping the short sword across his chest one final time. The ninja spun through the air, writhing on the ground in complete horror before his body went limp.
Finally able to take a breather, Kasumi clutched at her side, wincing terribly. The pain was unbearable. But the nightmare wasn't over yet. The rain was as heavy as ever when lightning flashed.
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