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Helpless

Chapter 4

Kaoru smiled when she heard the thump on the porch. She had been waiting for it for two days, for the confirmation that her unknown friend had survived the storm as well. Brushing her hands clean, she walked to the door and lifted the bar.

Swinging the door wide, her eyes were focused on the porch step where the offering was always left. What she saw were four feet. Lifting her stare, she barely had time to focus on the faces when she was suddenly shoved back. She struck the floor hard and blinked startled at the men who stood above her.

"You smell that, Fujo?" the tallest said as he stepped past her and toward the hearth. "Food!"

Fujo closed the door behind him and dropped the bar in place. "Good. I'm starved." His glance fell down to Kaoru and she felt the old terror return.

"What do you know, Shun, you were right. It is a girl. Mighty pretty too."

"Food first, Fujo," he threw over his shoulder. "She may come in handy later."

Fujo sighed. "Fine."

Kaoru tried to squirm away as he reached for her, but he seized her injured arm and she instinctively went limp so as not to hurt herself.

"That's a good girl," he grinned as he pulled her to her feet and steered her to a corner where he pushed her back down again. "There will be plenty of time for play later. Like Shun said, food comes first. It's been a while since we've eaten meat."

Kaoru silently glared at him as he tied her wrists quickly, noting he didn't seem to pay as much attention to what he was doing as he was to her face.

"Come on, Fujo. Eat it while it's hot," his friend called and the man pushed away from her.

"What is it anyway?"

Shun made a thoughtful face as he chewed on a particularly tough piece. "I think its deer, but it could be rabbit."

Fujo took a huge swallow and almost gagged. "You call this food?" He turned a glare on Kaoru. "Don't you know how to cook, woman?"

Kaoru maintained her silence as she watched them gobble up the last of her stew. She still had a little jerky left, but they would soon find it and swallow that down as well. Her friend always brought her more just when she ran out. Somehow he always seemed to know exactly when she needed food.

Her eyes drifted to the door. He will come today. When he does, they will know I'm not alone up here. Maybe they will leave then. But what if they don't? What if they decide to look for him? I don't want him to get hurt.

What are you talking about, Kaoru? He's Oni!

She clung to the childish ideal she had created for her invisible friend because it caused hope to blossom in her heart. If he cared enough to bring her food, maybe he would save her. He would come and he would know something was wrong because he seemed to know everything, and he would save her. Because he was the fearsome Oni and this was his mountain.

He didn't come.

Battousai stretched his limbs before setting out on his daily walk that would eventually bring him to the hillside above his cabin where the young samurai lived. Two days had passed after the storm now and his young friend would surely be needing more food. It was difficult to tell from such a distance, but he had a feeling the boy was not doing well.

The day after the storm, the boy had left the cabin for only a few minutes. He held a blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders as he stood on the porch and gazed over the fresh white snowfall. He didn't gather snow or wood as he should have after three days trapped inside during the storm.

Perhaps I'll check on him first, before checking my traps. Deciding on this, Battousai followed the familiar path he had shaped along the mountainside. He had found comfortable shelter in a cave some distance from the cabin. This was best as he knew at some point the boy would regain his strength and become more active. There was no reason for their paths to cross no matter how lonely either felt.

All seemed peaceful and quiet, smoke curling lazily from the funnel in the roof. But marring the clean white snow of the meadow was the distinct path of footprints heading straight from the cabin into the woods.

Looks like he's feeling better, having ventured off into the woods today, Battousai decided and turned away to set about the business of checking his traps. There was a good yield two days after the storm and he decided he would leave his friend with two rabbits and a quail. He was a growing, healing boy after all and with the passing of the last storm, Battousai was feeling especially grateful for the blanket his young friend had offered many days back in exchange for the meat. Caves weren't nearly as warm as cabins after all.

He hummed softly to himself as he walked, thoroughly content with the peace he was enjoying this winter. There was something reassuring about knowing he was not entirely alone. Not that he would ever need help from anyone if trouble should arise, but sometimes a body needed to know that there was another soul nearby. He was certain the young samurai felt the same way because long cold winters made one feel his solitude much more keenly.

It was a round about route, he took a different one every time when circling back to the meadow so that the boy would not know from where he had come from. With the fresh snowfall it would be difficult to reach the cabin without leaving prints as the only prints the boy had left led straight up to the cabin's door. He usually walked in the boy's prints and he was never the wiser or else gave it little thought.

Surely he didn't come this far out, Battousai thought as he stumbled upon the deep tracks in the snow. Amber eyes narrowed as he studied the width of the path, the amount of snow displaced, and realized it had been not one young boy to pass through the woods but two grown men. He knew the boy's prints and he was too light to leave such deep tracks.

Someone else is on the mountain. With that he quickened his pace, knowing exactly where those deep prints led. Friends or enemies? It would be hard to say as he knew nothing about the boy. He may have been expecting someone to join him, but who would make the trek in the middle of winter, and in a storm no less?

Battousai's pace slowed as he considered just how much he had assumed of the young samurai. Is it possible he had been sent to find me? Did anyone know I would be back on the mountain? Perhaps because he was injured he had to wait for his friends to back him up in the hunt.

Fire flickered in his eyes as he considered the possibility that he had been providing for the enemy the entire time. He watched the cabin for hours but saw no movement from within. No one came out and the smoke continued to curl lazily from the funnel.

When darkness fell, Battousai moved. Even as he stood on the porch, he could hear nothing within and could believe the cabin to be empty if he didn't know better. His hand curled around the hilt of his sword as he concentrated on the souls inside.

There were three. Their ki was difficult to untangle at first as two were very much alike and the third was very weak, almost undetectable. The stronger two had the taste of blood on them and seemed both eager and satisfied at the moment. The only reason he was able to notice the third was because of the stark contrast it posed compared to the others…innocence.

It was a confusing impression and he narrowed his eyes in concentration as he tried to focus on that weaker ki. Beneath the innocence was determination to overshadow intense fear, but the determination seemed to be slipping. Either the person was loosing hope or falling asleep. Why would someone with such powerful resolve possess such a weak ki unless…

Battousai turned on his heal and softly padded away, careful to brush out the tracks he had left so that none would know he had ever been there. The situation had become clear, although there were some aspects that still confused him. He suspected the weaker ki belonged to the boy, weak because of his injury and possible illness. But the boy wore his sword as a samurai and never had he encountered another swordsman with such an innocent essence.

Tomorrow, he thought grimly. They cannot stay inside forever.

Stiffness woke her and Kaoru opened her eyes to find that all that she had hoped to be just another nightmare was in fact real. Despite the hard floor and the cold that shook her when the fire died down, she had managed to sleep.

The two samurai, Fujo and Shun had gambled on who got the futon, but they both got the blankets and all of her food. She had not eaten for a whole day now and she suspected she would not get to eat this day either. Her shoulder ached relentlessly, but the wound had not reopened so she considered herself lucky. The last thing she wanted them to know was how weak and injured she was.

As they slept, she gazed around the room to weigh her options. She was definitely on her own, she had decided. Oni never came. How desperate she had felt that night, her heart heavy within her as she awaited the familiar tap on her door. But he never came and she wondered why. Did he know there were others with her? Did he decide she could fend for herself now? Or worse, did something happen to him during the storm?

Kaoru shivered at the thought of her faceless friend lying somewhere on the mountain frozen to death. Her plight was far more desperate but her heart ached for him, the one who for some unknown reason had decided she should live by his mercy. A tear started to trickle down her cheek and she wiped it away.

Now is not the time to give up! There must be a way I can escape these men. They are almost twice my size in weight and strength, but this I can use against them. I only need to get my hands on a sword!

It mattered not that they were swordsmen too and possibly very good at their respective techniques. Plus Kaoru could not wield a katana with her injury, but a short sword could prove quite effective in her hands especially if they underestimated her abilities to fight.

I would not have a chance in these close quarters. I must face them outside. The snow will be a hindrance, but they could easily overpower me in here. She shuddered at the thought, fearful of when their focus turned away from food and towards the helpless maiden they had trussed up in the corner.

She dared not move, not knowing how deep they slept and before long they began to stir, Fujo the first to sit up and stretch his stiff limbs. He stared dumbly into the hearth before it dawned on him where he was and his head swiveled around to look at her.

"Survived the night, did we?" he asked cheerfully and Kaoru answered him with a glare.

A disgruntled moan announced Shun's awareness as he reluctantly stirred out of the futon and the blankets wrapped around him. "It's too early to be cheerful, Fujo," he groaned.

"When you wake up to what I woke up to, it can't be helped," the man grinned as he continued to eye Kaoru. His friend followed the glance and all weariness fled from his face.

"Say, she is a pretty thing," he commented and then he turned thoughtful. "I bet she would fetch quite a price on the market."

"Sure she would, if we could get her there. I don't want to trek through another storm like that again and it's a long walk to Domi."

"First things first, Fujo, we need more food. Looks like we ate up the rest of her meat. After we take account of our supplies, then we'll decide what to do with her. Damaged goods don't fetch as much coin, you know."

Fujo frowned and subsided. "Fine. But if things aren't looking promising, I get first dibs on her. After all, you did win the bed."

Shun chuckled and lumbered to his feet. "Fair enough." He checked his swords and turned back towards Kaoru who had watched the whole exchange in masked silence. She knew exactly what they were plotting with regards to her future, but Shun's words had promised her a little time of her own to think.

"Woman, where did you get that meat? You don't look like you could have caught it on your own."

Kaoru's dull gaze lifted up to his face as his words register. "I didn't," she said softly.

Fujo was immediately alert. "If you didn't catch it then who did?"

"Oni," she said simply and they stared at her.

"You can't be serious," Shun scoffed but there was a tinge in his voice that told Kaoru he was well aware of the stories.

"You said so yourself, I couldn't catch a deer on my own," she said as she smiled within. "I found it in the woods, throat slit as perfectly as you please."

"She's lying," Fujo snapped. "Those stories were made up to scare the kids."

Shun still held that thoughtful look. "Oni, huh? Then why are you still alive? He doesn't care for women or children anymore than he does for men who trespass on his mountain."

Kaoru shrugged and tried not to wince. "I amuse him, I guess. The deer is not all he has left for me."

The men exchanged wary glances and Kaoru took the opportunity to elaborate on the anxiety she knew was building within them.

"I've seen him too," she lied but her voice sounded convincing to even herself. "He's everything the legends say. His eyes burn with golden fire and his claws glint silver like steel, blood never clinging to him no matter how much he spills. He moves like the wind too and the trees shiver when he passes by."

"Enough!" Fujo shouted as he backhanded her harshly. Her head snapped back and cracked against the wall with the blow, effectively silencing her.

"No more lies from you, woman. Come on, Shun. We need food and water."

"I suppose we can leave her here," Shun decided. "But you should tie her up a little tighter. I've got a feeling she'd run if given the chance."

Fujo grinned wickedly. "It'd be my pleasure."

Kaoru's head was still ringing from the blow and the thought to fight barely entered her mind when reached for her. He drove his short sword into the floor of the cabin and bound her hands to the hilt above her head. Then he drove another short sword, probably her own, into the floor and bound her ankles as well. She lay stretched out to her full height and barely able to move an inch.

"Don't worry, pet," Fujo whispered as he leaned over her, stroking his hand across her lean stomach. "We'll be back soon enough."

The door closed with a slam and Kaoru was left alone. She struggled against the tight bindings, but was stretched so taunt that she could not get so much as a finger width of give. The rope bit into her skin and she ceased her struggle, terror finally gripping her as her mind turned to what would occur when they returned.

Her embellishment on Oni had done little more than anger them and even she could not believe the stories anymore. He's gone, whoever he was and I'm on my own. Tears sprung to her eyes as she stared up at the ceiling above her. No one will save me.