Fro Ninja; Hello guys! Thank you so much for checking out this series. I will attempt to do better by this story as I see a good few more people favoriting and following it every day. Please continue to do so, and leave some comments while you're at it. It really helps me grow as a writer and as a person! Now, let's get started!
Outside of the Coffee and Cream office.
Huey's Perspective
Filing down the street towards the office, the sun began to rise over my head, giving view to the horizon in front of me. I had no words other than it felt oddly refreshing to see such a thing. Every bird I saw them fly off with their assured freedom that was in the form of their wings, all towards the blue sky. I envied them somewhat. But not nearly enough to curse the new form of life I've been given, or the one I've decided to take for myself.
As I turned my last corner, I saw a familiar figure waiting outside of the office, standing by the posting board for our company. He gave no regards to the people walking by him. Some whispered and even pointed fingers at the man in question. He simply stood there arms crossed, with his blade ever at his side, and his long white head band flourishing in the wind. I ran up to him with slight anxiety and bowed at him.
"Good morning Sensei." I said to him. He slowly turned his head, and looked at me for a few seconds before responding.
"Good morning..." He said silently.
It didn't take a genius to know that Afro-sensei wasn't one for words, especially when I first met him, but I've learned to become used to phases of silence by trying to fill it as quickly as possible after he finishes a sentence.
"It's great weather we're having today, isn't it Sensei? And right before a mission too." He nodded silently.
"Yes, it is..." Well that didn't work much did it? I quickly look around to find something else to talk about. I then notice old man Kurosaki out of the corner of my eye, hanging up some fresh fruit on a string.
"I see Kurosaki-san has brought out his crops to sell. Those cabbages and carrots look fresh don't they?"
"Yes...they do..."
This isn't working. I know he wasn't one for words, but this is something else that I actually never had a problem with. I then decide to switch to something different entirely. Something that had just happened to me this morning..
"Sensei. As you probably might have guessed, my grandfather was highly against me going on this job. He and I had a long discussion this morning regarding it, and I disagreed with him, saying that he didn't understand that this path I'm on, it's one of my own making, and not me being influenced. As a result, he put me out of the house." I let out a slight sigh. "After this job, I'll have nowhere else to go. Because of this, I'll probably have to leave the company as well, since there isn't much point to me staying in the village anymore near a home I've been thrown out of. So I was wondering, after this mission, may I come with you on your journey? I know the one you're going after. The target of your vengeance is out there somewhere. I can help you find him!" I said with eagerness. I was expecting some kind of response, it didn't matter if it was approval or disapproval from him, but he simply held up his hand in front of me."Sensei?"
He then started to open the door as we both heard the loud, and loquacious sounds of
"SUEY!" All of a sudden, several quick flashes zipped past my eyes and went straight towards Sensei. On closer inspection, they were all short knives with extra pointed tips with the edges nettled down to allow better accuracy and speed. But instead of hitting their mark, they all began to fall to the ground like flies one by one. I started to focus my eyes, and saw the very, very brief image of Afro-sensei deflecting them all with his sword at an almost impossible to see speed. My eyes were only able to catch every fourth movement of his arms, but they had barely extended when uses his blade to block the weapons, and not a single wasted movement of the muscles were shown for me to see. After only a second the knives had stopped darting forward. "SU-SUEY!"All of a sudden, a quick streak of light just flashed right and front of me, and made contact with my master's blade.
Without warning, three more clashes gave way to the metal, and continued to crash into each other until they were both forced into a deadlock. I knew who was the person engaging in this little trifle, even before the sound off of his traditional fanfare. Sensei remained still in his stance, with his feet not even moving an inch, still buried in the ground, while his opponent on the other hand ended digging further and further into the dirt while striking in order to increase his power, but nothing had changed. "I see you ain't been slacking Afro, you jive ass turkey!" To be this hyper in the morning, Black Dynamite must be the most anxious get started on this mission more than any of us. Considering how much on the line here for success, I wouldn't be surprised.
I then see Cesar following hot behind 's trail, running out of breath shortly after reaching us.
"Huey-dono! Please! I tried to stop him, but he said he couldn't stand the thought of Afro-dono being ahead of him in the mission, not even for a second!" He said trying to catch his breath.
"But the mission hasn't even started yet."
"It don't matter if it started yet or not!" yelled out while trying to break through sensei's defenses, only to be baited into deflects and parries."Aghh! What matters is that Afro here recognizes who the real bread winner 'round here! If anybody is gonna be taking the lead on this front it's gonna be me, and you best believe that!"
I sighed exhaustively.
"Are you serious? Black Dynamite, we all get equal shares for our assignments, no matter the payload. It's how we avoid unnecessary conflicts among the employees like this."
"You better stay out of this one lil' Huey! You don't wanna get smacked all upside yo neck with the kind of mean back hand I'm packing!" went for a flourishing attack in a spinning flair."TAKE THIS!" Without much effort, Sensei swept him by the heel that was being used to make the spin slash happen, knocking him right on his behind, dropping his sword in the process. Sensei had then pointed the tip of his sword directtly in his face. Despite the situation, remained with his usual expression, focused eyes that were loyal to the goal of being twice as good as the next man that brandished a sword just like him.
Sensei soon sheathed his sword in a calm manner after pulling it away.. One thing I noticed was even after the whole exchange, he hadn't wasted a single breath, nor had he stopped to take one.
"Are you done...?" He silently asked a grounded Black Dynamite. He snorted at him as he stood up on his feet, brushing the dust off of his robes.
"No I'm not done! But I am for now." He then pointed a finger in front of Afro-sensei's face with a determined expression."I ain't through witchu yet Afro. You and me will settle this some day. Be it the next day, or the day after that, or the next thirty days!"
"You mean a month?" I pointed out.
"You know what I mean! Point is, you better not forget who it's gonna be between the two of us, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be you standing over me, can you dig it?" He declared to Sensei. We all stood there for a brief moment, expecting some kind of response, but all he had done was silently nod as he headed inside the office."Hmphh! Look at him, thinking he all bad and shit! I'll show him some day! You watch boys, someday, I'm gonna have the jive turkey tapping out with my steel breathing down his neck, and everybody will be watching! You might even be calling me Master soon little Huey!"
"Don't hold your breath Black Dynamite." He snorted as I said that, and headed into the office. Cesear breathed a sigh of relief, with his hand tightly knitted to his chest the whole time.
"Ohhh! Thank goodness! I honestly thought it would escalate to very far heights soon between those two!"
"No, that kind of thing happens all of the time between them. He's even starting to include me in the loop as well."
"That explains your calm demeanor towards the situation. But I do not understand, Huey-dono. Why does conflict always seem to spark between those two? It's almost as if a powerful hate is brewing between them every time the blade is involved."
"It's nothing like that. They don't hate each other. Far from it. It kind of like they have a...mutual respect for each other as samurai."
"Ahhh! A rivalry! I see...The fierce camaraderie between two men while trying to lay their pride on the line and prove their strength to each other and to themselves. I only hear rumors about such things in the mainland, and even then such statements have no base to clarify truth. But when I see it done right in front of me, the sense of romance fills my heart with such fireworks. Such granduer!."
"It's nothing so dramatic, trust me."
"Really?" He sounded disappointed when I mentioned that. "Then what happened between the two of them?"
"It happened about two months ago, when me and Sensei were on an assignment to defend a small village from some bandits in Yamatai that had been bothering them for about a year. It took us a few hours to clear them out, but it was no trouble. After that, the villagers invited us to stay for the rest of the night, and then we would leave in the morning. The reward for the job was pretty much chump change, but the celebration that the villagers threw us for getting rid of the attackers wasn't bad.
The next morning when we were getting ready to leave, Sensei had gotten a letter of challenge from someone, saying that they were the guardian of the village, and that we stole his thunder by driving off the raiders before him, and that he was going to teach us a lesson we wouldn't forget even if Buddha made it so. I suggested we ignore it and go back to the office, but Sensei was intrigued by the whole thing, it's not every day someone challenged him.
We then went to the town square where the letter told us to meet at. When we get there, we get greeted by this guy being escorted by little orphans and sleazy looking women, wearing nothing but simple robes and holding a lavish katana in his hand. He kept shouting out how he was the baddest motherfucker in the village, and it was him that was supposed to clear out the bandits instead of some random pea bodies from the out of town. The weird part was that nobody in the village had even heard of him, so that part was a little discredited.
After he spent the first hour or so mouthing off, he finally decided to duel Sensei. At first, I thought that despite his willingness to talk rather than to fight the men that wronged you in a duty, he was someone of considerable skill and fortitude with a mind of combat. But instead, all he did was charge forth at him with no thoughts for strategy. From his movements, he fought with less grace and technique than the average samurai, but his strength and clarity for fighting was not something to be underestimated. My master seemed to think so, since the fight took almost a day for it to conclude. I rarely saw Sensei fight with anyone, nevermind with full effort, but the guy did a surprisingly good job at keeping at his throat, and constantly keeping him on guard. The whole time, they were fighting, it was like I was in another world. Watching two masters of the sword do battle with each other was something extraordinary to see, every strike, every pacing of footwork, movement of muscle, and the clashing of their blades, everything about the way they fought was something that only I can dream of having for myself."
"Who had won that day?" Cesar asked.
"Neither of them had won, since both were at an equal level in terms of fighting ability, at least that's how it appeared to Black Dynamite."
"Amazing! I always assumed as much, but Dynamite-dono and Afro-dono really are of the same cloth! Both are formidable warriors that deserve each other's respect." Cesar's eyes began to get filled with excitement and glee after hearing the details of duel. Though I can understand that feeling, as I look back on it with the emotion myself."But wait..." His expression then changed once more. "If it were a draw, how come Dynamite-dono follows you two around then, and always antagonizes Afro-dono?"
"After the fight was over and we were about to leave, he declared that he felt cheated, and that Afro-sensei was holding back for the sake of not embarrassing him in front of his whores and little orphans."
"Whores? And orphans?"
"Don't ask. Anyway, he demanded that Sensei give him a rematch right then and there, but I explained to him that we needed to report back to our company to receive our pay. He noticed that with the increasing number of bandits outside of the mainland, companies like ours were having trouble handling everything, so he decided until he beats Sensei, he would help us out with our work, leaving behind both his whores and his orphans. Ever since then, he's been starting fights with him whenever he could."
"I see...That is quite a story Huey-dono. I had no idea that such a thing could happen between great men and warriors."
"It's really not as grandiose as you point it out to be."
"On the contrary. It's quite pleasing that you look back on a story about your master with such respect. How did you even come to meet such a great man?"
That statement made a dozen thoughts and memories rush to my head, but they were all feelings that flew past me.
"That's a story for another time..." I gave Cesar the best possible answer I could, but I know he wouldn't give up the search for answers that soon.
"I see. Well, let us head inside then. The others are waiting for us."
He then walked through the office door, but not before I caught his brief glimpse at me, and it was one that I strangely felt had pierced, albeit slightly. Even if I had the desire to tell him how me and Sensei came to be, I could no longer tell the story, seeing as how I couldn't even remember it myself. Even for the past two years that I've been his apprentice, not once had I thought about why I was following him, only that I had to at all costs. Why was this coming up now of all times?! I shook my head and slapped my face in order to focus for upcoming task.
Once inside, I was greeted to a quiet atmosphere, but it wasn't the complimented by the subtle tone of possible death that I was used to every time I came in this office, but it was...soothing. Along with the fragrance that I lost my feeling and emotion toward. Flashes of rose gardens and places that seemed unfamiliar came to me all at once. I could only hear the sound of my own feet hitting the creaky and unhinging floorboards under me as I drew closer into the structure. Upon reaching the front desk, a mysterious sight had beheld me.
It was a girl. She looked no older than me, but the difference between her and I was astonishing to the point of saying that I was dreaming. Her skin was...so much lighter than mine, and her hair...long yet with a natural sheen to it blanketed with a unique shade of tan or light brown. Eyes as green as the leaves on a summer tree, and the face of the brightly colored innocence. Rose colored as they called it. Her long white dress sprinkled with light blue and gold patterns that ran in soft streaks all around her, and cloth that had reached down to the floor covering her feet. Every single thread and weave on her looked brand new, with scent of ivory floating through the air that could only be the result of heavy care for impressions.
In that moment, she had looked at me. With such a discerning and innocent expression, positive vibes and radiated off of her very face. She had gave me a light smile. I couldn't find any other words to describe it, except beautiful. Beautiful in the sense that it shouldn't be in this world. The world that I had to grow up in. The one that spits on such terms, and where there is always one group of people that has power over others.
She had walked toward me with gentle grace. It took me a while to notice it, but everyone in the room, including Ed Wuncler of all people, had stayed completely quiet. The presence that she gave off commanded as such, even though I had yet to comply to it myself. Without even thinking that she would, she caught me off guard with the extended hand that laid in front of me. Even her hands looked delicate, with no such thing as dirt or anything remotely close to being called improper.
"It is such a pleasure to meet you." As soon as she spoke, I could clearly hear the birds chirping outside, with such glee and happiness. Even the water in the background made sense to my ears. Her voice was soothing to say the least, but it was so unfamiliar sounding to me. Not just the words, but how they were spoken. She had tilted her head slightly in curiosity to my focused expression. "Have...I offended you? You are not shaking my hand." Her stood there waiting for my own.
"Nobody had ever offered me a handshake before in my entire life. I'm sorry if I'm a bit out of sorts for that kind of thing."
"Is that so? I had no idea. I am truly sorry for offending you in such a manner."
The way she viewed me as some sort of bottom like individual was starting to irritate me a bit.
"Why are you apologizing to someone you don't even know? That's the same as admitting you're guilty of past crimes that you can no longer redeem yourself for."
"You piece of trash! Watch your mouth!" A bald headed guy stepped out of the shadows, with his hands trained on his sword. It was of a curved and broader sort, one that I had never seen but have only heard rumors about."How dare you speak to her like that!" I turned my head slightly to meet his piercing gaze. It wasn't enough to set me off. Not nearly enough. But this was a place of business, not of bloodshed. I noticed none of the others had bothered to move from their spots either. Sensei laid against the wall, Black Dynamite standing by Ed's desk, and Cesar standing right behind me as well. All of us knew that mantra, and we were prepared for the worse should someone break that very mantra
"No!" The girl in front of me threw out her arm in front of the armed man, and within just a few seconds, he had stepped back into relaxed stance, but with his fingers still racing on his hilt. Mine wasn't, but I could take him anytime."It wasn't his fault. The blame is mine alone. I wasn't aware that not every individual is sanctioned to be the same as I, and that every place has its own customs. It seems I have very much to learn about the outside world, and because of that I am very apologetic in the face of error." She then turned to me again. Those same innocent eyes kept looking back at me. She then slightly bowed to me out of respect."If it be possible, I humbly request you forgiveness on behalf of my naivete, Master Samurai."
The words 'master' and 'samurai' were enough to almost make me blush out. I didn't consider myself either of those. I was simply a boy with a sword. She brought herself back up and I bowed back to her in kind.
"It's fine. It's just...strange to be given such treatment." She nodded with a smile. One that I just couldn't bring myself to accept for some reason. I didn't even know this girl, but I felt a growing lack of hatred in the back of my neck for her.
Ed had cleared his throat after the whole affair, which had felt like an eternity had gone by.
"Ay yo! If y'all are finished, maybe we can get down to business?!" His loud voice brought me back to my senses. "Now then, since you have had the obvious pleasure of being introduced to each other, I might as well indicate her presence and whatnot, you know what I'm saying?"
"Just tell us what the hell you trying to say already you big fool!" Black Dynamite lashed out at him, but still keeping his cool. Ed slams his hand on the desk, right on top of his cup, breaking it into several pieces, and sending the very sound through the office.
"Don't rush me aight?!" I was gonna say that...AHHHHHHH SHIT!" It didn't take long for his pain to set in. He flailed around the office, hopping and screaming in pain at the top of his lungs. I could Black Dynamite's vein starting to pop out of his head out of frustration. He grabbed Ed by his neck and slapped the hand that had shards still burrowed in it. "Goddammit! That hurts you fucking idiot!"
"Would you stop wasting our damn time with this foolishness already?! Just give us the damn assignment already!"
"You ain't getting shit, until I get some stitches and some bandages in this motherfucker! CESAR!"
At the call of his name, Cesar scurried behind me and rushed out Ed with his helpful bag in hand. It always seemed to have everything in there whenever we went out on missions together, from medical supplies, food, and maps of any area we where in. He grabbed the afflicted hand and began to gently pull out the shards on by one. Every time he did, Ed screamed out even louder in pain. The sound became almost like a goat screaming out in fear, or a kid being taken to a doctor. Either way, it was getting pretty entertaining to watch him throw random stuff on his desk every time a shard was pulled out.
A few minutes later
We all stood around the desk waiting while Ed cleared his throat. He brought out some documents from one of his drawers. From the looks of it, they were most likely details about the assignment. We went over what it entails yesterday briefly, but there were always things he might have overlooked.
"Excuse me." The girl had tugged at me sleeve with a curious expression on her face."Does that kind of thing happen often in this place?"
"Not always. Last time we got our assignment, he got his foot stuck in one of the floorboards which took us an entire our to get out, and before that he had gotten food poisoning from some bad sushi chicken he ate out of a knapsack that he found on the street as well having a hangover. This was a first."
"I...see." Clearly she was set aback by the whole thing. Not that I blame her.
Ed rubbed his now bandaged hand while flipping through pages of the documents.
"Now then...Let's get down to business."
"Finally." I whispered to myself. The girl next me had started to giggle. Did she really hear me?
"Since some of us weren't here when it happened, allow me to reintroduce her." He flashed his hand out at the girl as if presenting a grand and regal individual. Wait, don't tell me..."This right here, is Princess Jazmin Amaria, from the country of Esmana. And she's going to be your charge for this mission." I couldn't see it myself, but I could feel my own face turning grim and unsure of his mission. Was this naive girl really the representative of an entire country and the one we're supposed to escort? I still couldn't believe it, but the atmosphere I had gotten from her earlier certainly conveys that fact." As the record shows, you are to escort her to the capital of Edo where she will be negotiating a trade deal with the emperor for her people. Y'all have three days to pull it off. The people sponsoring it have already given us the down payment, so we can't let them down, you feel me?"
's eyebrow twitched.
"So this little lady is supposed to be our charge huh?"
The princess in question had bowed in front of all of us. Her long hair slid down her dress. It was frazzled yet natural in its texture and style with it all let down.
"I am Princess Jazmin. It is a pleasure to meet all of is my bodyguard Zechal." Even after the kind introduction, he continued to give me that piercing gaze. I could tell we were going to get along just fine. "It is an absolute honor to be escorted by such noble warriors as yourself on my mission of peace." She gave out a smile, only for it to be returned with a chortling laugh from Black Dynamite.
"You bastard! How dare you laugh in front of the princess in my presence!" The bodyguard snapped at an unflinching , even with steel being pressed to his face. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that despite a careful stance, his hand were shaking at the hilt. Judging by his stare, seemed to noticed that detail as well.
"Unless you want to go to war boy...you'll put that little fugly sword out of my face and put it pack in your pants where it belongs."
"I'm no boy!"
"The way you seem to get upset at the drop of a hat says otherwise."
Pretty soon, the princess had stepped in between the two.
"Please, that's enough. Zechal, stand down. Now." With that, the bodyguard complied immediately, and sheathed his sword once more. "Please excuse my bodyguard's behavior. He serves with dedication as you can see, but did you find humor in what I had just said master samurai?"
"We're not honorable warriors or these fighters of truth as you might think your highness. We're mercenaries plain and simple. We get hired to do things, take things to places...or even kill someone that needs to be killed. We're not in this to make names for ourselves. If I could speak freely, this is just another mission for us."
I always knew that he was honest, but to the face of royalty, that's a different situation to swallow. Contemplating the words spoken, the princess maintained her composure, despite him offering a sense of reality.
"Be that as it may, I still give my respect to any individual that follows the path of the swordsman, regardless of their intention. No ordinary soul could wield such a weapon and remain whole after using it."
"I don't know if you noticed, but any punk with a conscience a hold a sword and call themselves a samurai. We deal with them almost every week. You know, bad guys."
"True, but at the end of the day. Are they not fighting for what they believe in? To carve their own path with the sword that they hold in their hands? Is that not honorable in its own right? You claim that any person can wield a sword master samurai,but not everyone can bear the responsibility of defining themselves with it."
Black Dynamite was completely silent after that statement. Even I was shocked by what I heard and what I saw on her face. The face of a person who already has the idea or at least the concept of what it takes to change the world, and the people living in it, by addressing the issues. It was one of true focus and brazen properties. It seems she isn't as naive as she let on. The responsibility to define who they are, huh? I wish I could say words such as that so easily. He then let out a huge sigh.
"Oh man! This little lady is a piece of work. You deal with this lil' Huey, I can't bite my tongue on this one."
"Wait what?" I was even more shocked at what I heard. As soon as that was said, she eagerly turned to me, wearing that smile again.
"Ahh! So your name is master Huey is it?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm, I see." Her eyes began to inspect every part of me from top to bottom. "I can sense you have a rather distinct aura around you. It's so clear, yet muddled at the same time. How intriguing!"
"That doesn't even make sense. You can SENSE my aura"
"*giggles* I'm sorry. It is a...talent that I possess. It is difficult to express with words. Maybe one day, I will properly show you what it is. Other than that, I forsee you will be a great warrior some day."
"You can see the future too?"
"No man foresee the future unfortunately. It is only made by the actions that they convey through all means." I couldn't really argue with her, but I couldn't find the point of her words either, or at least their meaning.
"I guess so. I have yet to take the future into my own hands."
"As am I. Let us hope that this journey fulfills this for the both us!"
"Yeah. Sure." Her smiled shined through me yet again. It was one that I couldn't bare to look at. For whatever reasons.
"Alright now!" Ed's words then brought me to attention once more. " I'm counting on you suckas to finish this mission in the allotted time, which is three days."
"Not for nothing, but how exactly are we supposed to reach the capital in just three short days?" I asked him.
"Relax. I've arranged for transportation in a nearby village that's not that far from here for ya. It'll take you as far as Yamatai. Yo boy just ain't gonna leave you hanging like that in the wind! So just take it easy. Ceasar will be going along with you as your attendant as always. If you need anything, just holla at him, aight?!" We all responded in silence."Aight! So let's get this show on the muthafucking road!"
At the village gate
We all stood in front of the towering gate as the keepers opened the doors, revealing the path in front of us. It was sight I've seen over a dozen times, but one I've never gotten used to witnessing. Especially now, since it will be the last time that I do. Black Dynamite had said teary goodbyes to all of his whores and orphans before joining us on our departure. Looking out at the village on last time, I saw everything about it. The place that had been my home all of these years was no longer to be to me. I took in every sight of this, and a sight that I thought I would never see showed itself in the distance. I saw them. My family, staring off at me as I saw them. They didn't bother to pursue, nor did they wave goodbye, and I knew exactly why.
"...Have you said your goodbyes?" Afro-sensei said to me in a gruff voice.
"No...and I don't think I ever will."
I couldn't tell if he knew what I meant by that, but I saw everything unfolding before me as the path I have taken for myself, so I didn't need that sentiment that came with my words.
"...So be it..." He told me before walking off. Black Dynamite had ran off following Sensei with floods of tears in his eyes, with the cheers and yells of his loved ones told him goodbye. Big guy, big emotions I guess. Ceasar then slowly walked up to me, gesturing me with a friendly nod before joining the others. As I began to turn my back on the home I have come to know for myself as what it is, the princess walked beside me and placed her hand on my shoulder.
"What's wrong? Is this not the first time you have left your home behind for purpose?" She noticed my unchanging expression as I began to pick up my feet proceeding forward. The flashes of all the things I have left behind laid out in front of me, and the times my feet had placed themselves in fair distance from them. All the time, there was always something and someone being left behind along with it.
"No...it's not." I told her honestly
I could no longer look behind me now. My body would no longer allow it. It could only move forward
CHAPTER 4 END
Fro Ninja; Thank you so much for reading! Sorry this release took a while, but please stay tuned for the next chapter drop. Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a comment while you're at it to show some love!