Hello again finally! So sorry about not updating! I will try to make up the wait as best as possible! This is part one and might be very much like the three part of Evenescent Encounter. Oh, another thing: I am ashamed to say I gave false info with the episode w/ the European; that is episode 6 not 5. So sorry! ' THanks for the reviews on my poems and the chapters! Well, the show must go on, so HERE WE GO!
Chapter 5-Final Friendship Part one
The next morning, Mugen, Jin, Fuu, and Hina ventured out from the hotel in hopes to get some food. (All I have to say to that is Good Luck!) They split up temporarily to search, going single file until they would find something of interest.
The young doctor saw a stand that had reasonable prices and was about to call out a heads-up when a sharp tug on her bag caught her attention.There was a struggle and finally a "HEY! Get back here!"
Mugen and Jin had gotten back with one another to compare finds when they heard her. Fuu was not far off and ran to help.
The ex-pirate rolled his eyes. "Dmn woman..."
The samurai went off after Hina as she tore off with impressive speed of her own, closely following the theif into an alley. She skided and almost tripped as he gallopped into a tight passage. Hina stopped as she caught sight of the theif huddling behing a bulky man, along with a small group of bandits.
"Hey, you, I want that back," she demanded, her small but strong attitude making a few people snicker.
"Well, well,well. Look what we have here. Sorry sweetheart, but this is ours now,"the bulky man laughed, pulling out a huge sword and stepping towards her.
She stepped back with the crowd, pulling her own out a little out of the sheath in the traditional samurai fashion.
More mocking snickers and a laugh. "You can't possibly think you can take all of us, do you? Being such a scranny little woman?"
Just then Mugen and Jin popped into the aisle.
"Well now, here I was thinking this was gonna be boring!" Mugen sneered. "How bout you guys come pick a fight with somebody your own size?"
A devilish grin spread across his face, making the theives shudder a little. Jin shook his head, unsheathing his own sword, his comrade squeezing the hilt across his back. Fuu fell into where the fight was about to take place and stayed back silently.
"I'm going to ask you one more time: Give it back," Hina said firmly.
"GO TO HELL!" was the reply.
Three samurai collided with the men, trying to retrieve the bag. Two tried not to spill blood if needed, and Jin repeated a word of caution from a previous experience: "Mugen."
There was a snort of protest and a sword was sheathed, instead going to breakdance kicking.
The gang did not last long. Hina stepped over toward the man huddled in the corner, clutching her bag. He practically threw it at her.
"Please don't hurt me!" he cried, using his hands like a sheild in front of his face.
Hina had started to smile with kindness to let him know that they would do no such thing, just off with a warning (A/N Please let me stress that Hina does not look down on anyone, no matter how bad they are. Well, just read.) The man's words sparked a memory deep in her childhood. Flashes of blood and sounds of screams, a woman's, rang inside her head. She was about 14 and sat sobbing next to a corspe.
"Mother? Please wake up! Mommy!" she wept.The leader of the theives looked at her scornfully, a cruel face seen by people just before dying.
Hina started shaking, all three of her comrades looking at her with curiousity. She glared at the man and let out a blood curdling growl. She kicked him hard in the skull, twisting his neck in the wrong direction, and grabbed her things. She left; Jin could have sworn he saw tears start to fall to her kimono.
The leftover money had been lifted and so a trip at Osaka had been cut short. They walked hungrily on the road, the night creeping up on them and causing them to camp out under the stars.
Mugen looked at the fire, the flames reflected in his dark eyes. Fuu turned in her sleep from across the fire and Jin slept proped against a tree. Hina came over to the wild haired man and sat down.
"Tell her yet?" she grinned.
It seemed as though she could smile no matter what had happened earlier that day.
He eyed her. "If I had anything to say, no."
She laughed. "Don't deny it, Mugen-san! Other wise it might be a fatal mistake."
"She doesn't like me anyway, and I could care less," he huffed.
"Like that, maybe not yet. But she does depend on you. How does that feel?"
He shrugged.
"Hmm.." she sighed, studying the stars."You all are pretty close to Nagasaki. What do you plan to do afterwards?"
Once again, Mugen shrugged." Dunno yet. Tend to just go along and put things together as I go. Kind of a drifter. One things for sure: I'm doing what I want."
He lay back gleefully. "Doing stuff on my own, nobody to tell me what to do, or where to go. OR btchin about 'the Sunflower Samurai'."
Mugen pulled his nose up a little with a crude impression of Fuu.
His companion snorted. "Is that all you get out of this journey? Hasn't it changed you or made you think about things differently?"
"Yeah: Don't save a waitress in trouble."
(Fast Forward- the next morning)
The day started off well but that changed as the afternoon approached and rain poured down on the travelers. The tromped down the road and soon kindness smiled at them. A town came into view. Small, but a place to dry off at least. There were not very many people outside, those only out with errands.
Fuu saw the barn first. She pointed it out to her companions and Mugen was soon pulling the door open. The barn smelled of old hay, but it was dry. Mugen strated to push hay into a pile;he lay down on his makeshift bed. Hina pulled out a foldup lantern and lit it, making the place more like home. She peeled off her dripping kimono and started to take everyone else's top kimono as well. The clothes were hung up on a low rafter. There was silence, everyone resting or listening to the rain. Fuu at one point started a small conversation with Momo, Hina later joining in.
Mugen's stomach growled. "Food..."
Hina stood up, straw wiped off."The rain has stopped, so I'll look."
The doctor came back a little later with nothing. Mugen shot up, his eyes ablaze.
"I WANT SOMETHING TO EAT!" he hollered, storming off.
"I don't want to know what it'll come to in order to fulfill his wish," Hina sat wide-eyed.
Well, lets just say he wasn't the most resourcefull and his method was strange, but a while later he came back with a bagfull of goodies.
Fuu poked the bag a little, feeling something soft bulge against the bag. "How'd you...?"
"Found it," he grinned, tearing the bag open. Fuu happily reached in before he did, only to have her wrist grabbed. Mugen stared at her for a few feirce seconds and then took the other wrist, pulling her to the side.
"Stay."
Her face flushed."What do I look like, a dog or something?"
"Yep," he said flatly, mouth full of a rice cake.
The look of curiousity that came upon her face caused him to stop chewing. His unusual imagination kicked in, a small dog head appearing just above hers and barking with small "Yipe! Yipe!"s. He almost chocked as he bent forward from laughing so hard.
Fuu's brow crinkled in confusion, then seeing him distracted, reached forward for a cake. A large-cleated geta sandal pressed against her forehead, pushing her back.
"HEY!" she said angrily, struggling. "I'M HUNGRY!"
(Fast Forward-a little later)
Jin stretched his stiff legs around the small town, enjoying the fresh smell of past rain. Stars poked through the rainclouds and added to the peace and quiet. As a matter of fact, it was a little too quiet.
The samurai took hold of his sword hilt just as a group of tough looking men stepped out from the shadows and surrounded him. They were some strange group if theives.
"Good evening sir. We are sorry for the inconvienience, but it is imperitive that you leave this town at once," one said, trying to cover his dangerous appearance.
Jin said nothing, feeling as though worse things would happen if he left rather than if he did not.
The man sighed."Have it your way then."
The young samurai stumbled back to the direction the barn was, his kimono torn in several places and blood dripping off his sword. The theives had no honor amongst them, despite the one's politeness. They had ambushed him and it cost him a few slashes, just on his arms. Something was wrong, though. The cuts were not deep and yet he was dizzy and weak. His arms felt like there were heavy bundles on them.
His glasses slid off his pale face, and he soon followed.
Hina applied a wet washcloth to Jin's forehead, dressing a gash on his arm. The man stirred and his eyes opened. The doctor comforted him softly.
"Try not to move too much, Jin-san," she said, smiling at him.
Jin looked around,seeing himself and his friend in another abandoned house. "Where am I?"
"Not far from where you collasped. You were gone for a while and so I came looking for you. The barn was too far away and this place wasn't. Hope you don't mind. Even so, you were poisoned. I had to hurry if you wanted to live."
Jin grunted a little, sitting up. The house was strange. The fireplace was built into the wall and the door opened by a knob onside of being pulled open.
Hina looked for some bandages for the worst cut on his arm, finally an idea coming to her. She pulled off her sash and wrapped it several times around his strong arm. He studied her as she did, the woman looking up once and blushing a deep scarlet red.
'Why'd she do that?' he wondered. '...Oh no...'
"I'm sorry."
"Hmm?" she asked looking up. His eyes told her."Oh... It's alright."
She looked at the sash. "Well, we should go."
Hina did not say anything, his words ringing in her head. No matter what she had done, it wasn't enough.
She sighed,going to the fire place and pulling on her kimono top and taking the propped up sword from its perch. As she did, something caught her eye.
"HOLY CRAP!"
Jin stumbled over to her, where she stooped inside. "There's a door in here!"
He stepped back as she came back out, a strange look upon her.
"I've found it... The secret hiding place of my paren'ts killers. Their symbol is on the door.Which means..."
Her voice trailed off.
A/N: Aww, the wonderfullness of a first love... Hope you liked this one! I will try to get back in my pattern I had going before the computer started acting 'tarded. Anyway, I should have a Wolf's Rain fic posted up pretty soon, too. If you like, you know who to look for! Until then!