Fro Ninja;Wassup people, it's ya boi back at it again with his ol'bullshit. I'm finally up from my half a year yearly coma, and I'm ready to do what I do best, giving you the best that I got, which is what you're getting. So while I shake the crust out of my eyes, and feel the warmth from getting out of my lovely rut, let's read some comments

Onyeka Agada; Thank you for your kind words fam. It's a tired statement, but's so good to be back on the helm. Be sure to keep supporting the series too!

RabbitMelody; Don't cry my dear, I was out, but I never left. I'm back and back for good. I hope your love for the story keeps strong.

FN; Alright now, now that the stars got me feeling like I'm 10 feet tall, it's time to get back into the piece for this month. Let's check back in with our motley crew dealing with the Blind Bandits.

Dramatis Personae

Huey Freeman

Caesar Yamamoto

Princess Jasmine

Afro Samurai

Black Dynamite

Zechal

'Maybe it was a mirage', thought Caesar as the illusion of the moon continuosly flickered in and out of his eyesights, though reality had kicked back in whenever him and the princess passed through thickets of the deeper part of the forests. He felt a strange sensation from the back of his neck, one he hadn't felt in a good few hours that put him at ease as he saw trackings of footprints. Although Jazmine rebounded his slightly relaxed expression with a skeptical look, she humored him nonetheless, and decided to follow the trail.

Soon it lead the two to what looked like a shack, aged yet sturdy in its design.

"I'll check for intruders." Caesar said quietly. Affirming with a quick nod from the Princess, Caesar scanned the inside from the windows, gripping the bars to get a better viewpoint. Dust and mold floated around the room, with walls chipping and the floors creeking from the ventilation. Though his perspective was somewhat obscured due to the poor lighting, he at least couldn't sense any movement from inside. He hopped down from the window, returning to an eager Jazmine.

"Well, it's empty, or at least it has been abandoned for some time now."

"If it has been abandoned, won't the original owners return?" Jazmine said cautiously. She had every right to be, with her young bodyguard missing in action, as well as the young apprentice staying behind to fend off the enemy, things are more than likely to be more than they appear at the moment.

"I sense your worry, your highness." Caesar said calmly. "I have no doubt in my mind that the others will reunite with us more hastily than you might think. Plus your ward in particular seems to be resourceful when it comes to combat."

Jazmine nodded, thinking back to earlier this evening with Zechal taking on one of the blind bandits that attacked the farm, despite having minimal live combat experience handling himself with skill and fast wit in his fighting.

"He received the finest training in Esmania from the finest generals the kingdom's army had to offer. A regime he is expected to take over once he comes of age." She said.

"Indeed I have noticed, and he has not failed to make such a fact well known to me and the others, especially Huey-dono. One would think he aims to convince others as well as himself."

"He has a good heart, despite some...shortcomings in communication with others outside the kingdom walls. He would do anything to protect me and his country."

Caesar rubbed the sweat from the back of his neck before beckoning the princess to come follow him. Without pausing in his footsteps, he turned back to her and said "I know that you are aware of that, but I honestly wonder if he is as well."Slightly bewildered, Jazmine decided not retort mostly out of respect to Zechal, as he wouldn't dare allow anyone to speak on his behalf when it come to his writ as a knight. Even as an heir to the throne, there were some principles that not even royalty could intrude or comment upon based soley on their feelings.

"My aplogies. I speak on matters far beyond my own station, and to one leagues above me in status. Forgive me my lady." He said slightly bowing his head.

Jazmin shook her head in protest, chuckling off the slight vex that came with such a statement.

"No. It's quite alright. I don't receive many opportunities for someone to speak to me without any regards to my heritage, as no doubt you all have demonstrated thus far."

Ceasar immediately thought back to the spats that the Princess and Black Dynamite had gotten into prior to their involvement in with the attack, not to mention her strange connection with Huey, the latter of which had puzzled him quite a bit.

"I'm sure you can guess that many in my kingdom do well to hold their tongues when addressing me in any sort of context. It can be pretty stifiling sometimes to not get an honest statement about anything involving me. It cannot be for fear that I will have them executed for looking at me in the wrong way, I assure you."

Cesar raised an eyebrow.

"That is the only reason is it not?"

"Positive." Though assured in her response, she pondered her words."But maybe my combat training may be of some influence. Oh! But, it is only in self-defense however, I would never seek conflict where there is none."

"That...goes without saying my lady." Ceasar says it in a way that almost indirectly reminds Jazmine of her image of being royal family member, and a female as well, to which she yelped in surprise.

"Oh...I see my error."

Ceasar then turned his head, not wanting to stir the awkardness of the situation any further.

"I certainly see why Huey-dono is so cautious around her and the young knight. Esmania sounds like quite the place with individuals this...idealistic."

The two then proceeded slowly into the shack, coming to a wide open space of the room. A gust of wind flew around the room, whistling their ears from the lack of objects to vent it out. Ceasar began to search around the building in the slightly luminated light, finding only remains of clothes, fabric, and supply rations that had since been eaten clean for days.

"Whomever this shack belonged to, they are here no longer. Abandoned it perhaps with some things left behind. But, these rations, these clothes..."

Jazmin came up behind him, examining the scene along with him.

"Was it possible that someone lived here recently?"

"Possibly, but definitely for not a long period. Everything here is scarce, but judging by how sturdy this place is, this was the home of someone for years, yet there is so little to even call it such."

"But who would make a home so far out in the wilderness? It seems like such a puzzling action." Jazmin asked.

"It is a tradition believe it or not. My mother used to tell me of people that made their homes in forests and trees in the times before the shogunate and would survive off of the natural land while traveling from place to place. In fact, some wanderers emulate such a lifestyle when they have no other place to go."

Jazmin while absorbed into the conversation, walked slightly to the west side of the room where the light hadn't hit, only to stop dead in her tracks. Her nose began to twitch as a strange strange smell filled up her nostrils, causing her to quickly cover up her face.

"Such a foul stench! It smells like-" She gasped, noticing the sight in front of her the moonlight beamed through the window as if eerily on cue. The noise interrupted Cesar mid-lecture to notice the Princess in a shocked state. He walked over to her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Your highness? Is something wro-" The same stench had cut him off as he saw the sight Jazmin had been entrapped in.

The sight of lifeless, still, unmoving bodies sprawled out on the floor in decayed flesh. Cesar halted his breath, taking a few steps back before stumbling into the now visible dried blood trail, made apparent by the mark of his handprint.

"These people..." He slowly uttered his words out, noticing the bodies of an elderly couple, with a million alarms going off on his head making connections from every conceivable angle. The clothes that the bodies wore were covered in dirt and mold that had stained it for several days, although the bodies housed a particular detail that gave way to the answer of who was responsible. Their eyes, where one would assume to find the blank expression of a corpse staring cold into death before meeting their end, was gouged out revealing only a black pit with only strands of dried blood seeping from the lids."They were murdered, by those bandits it seems."

Jazmine feeling slightly feeble unconsciously took a few steps back before catching herself.

"How do you know that?" She asked worriedly.

"Well besides the eyes? These bandits judging by the fact that we haven't seen any other individual out in this forest besides the farmers from this afternoon tells us that they most likely have retreated from this place, or..." Cesear took a second to catch his bated breath before it overtook him to a panic."met a similar fate to these two..."

"Does that mean the farmers from before knew about what the bandits were doing out here, and were simply allowing this travesty to take place?" Jazmine said, almost in a manner that presented disappointment to such an action. Ceasar picked up on such a tone, looking back at her with wary eyes.

"And what would you have them do your highness? Take up arms, unify for a common good against an evil that looks to forcibly establish a territory in your own home? These are common people, living common lives, not individuals that have been trained for a righteous cause and to defend if neccessary!" Ceasar said in a harsh rebuttal, one that took the Princess quite off guard for a moment. The once thought of as a meek accompaniment to her escorts had stood his ground against a statement made by her, a fact he himself quickly realized and moved to correct his stance."My apologies, your highness! I didn't mean to-"

Jazmine calmly shook her head with a subtle smile that formed on her face. Taking a deep respectful bow, she gracefully approached Ceasar, holding his trembling hands together in her own.

"You have nothing to apologize for speaking your mind Ceasar. As you can tell, my perspective of the world is limited only to the walls of my kingdom, and so I am still learning of its' ways." She looked into his eyes with a prudent expression."However understand this, whereas I am lacking in experience, I make up with the teachings of my people and their history of conflicts with invaders, revolts, coups, assassinations, and every single one of those lessons had taught me it is better to strike your opponents in the affair of battle, despite any intrepidations you face in regards to your abilities or lack there of. You say that because they are farmers they should not defend themselves or lack the training to stand against the ones threatning their very lives."

Ceasar taken aback, chuckled, pulled his hands back and went over to the other side of the shack. He gazed at his hand in disgust while thinking of the brief second of contact with the princess, his dirty hands wiping against a porcelain treasure.

"I'm sorry Ceasar." Her apology arrived not long after her disposition, but Ceasar could tell wasn't sincere enough to warrant a return back in her mouth. And why should she go against her teachings or the lessons she has taken from life, scarce as it is? He knew this was the way of the world, being the secretary to the Wuncler fortune-reading people for the exchange of business was his job and he was good at it.

"I should remember you hail from a warrior kingdom your highness. Like one's reflection, death becomes easier the more time you witness it, even familiarizing its appearance, does it not?"Jazmine felt a spike in Ceasar's words, and felt a response trying to claw its way out, but managed to swallow it just in time when a sudden rustling noise peaked just outside the shack. Ceasar and Jazmin immediately rushed to the opposite ends of the door so as to prepare for their potential intruder, with the young secretary grabbing a nearby well filed stick nearby to act as his weapon of defense. He was by far no warrior despite traveling with a company of them, but he was at least competent in the means of self defense, though the reception of such an effect had actually yet to be judged by anyone, friend or foe.

A few seconds of silence passed before the two could see a burly shadow approach the inside of the shack with Ceasar shakingly attempting to hold a grip on the stick. Soon, a foot made itself in the frame of the door.

Without warning, the young Ceasar lunged out in attack aiming for the head, hoping to strike an eye or two, only to feel his motion suddenly halted by what seemed like a wall that almost broke the stick in two just from the impact. Ceasar's previous state of concern transitioned to one of relief upon seeing the details of the intruder, with the most familiar being his permanent scowl.

"Black Dynamite! You've come back to us! We thought that one of the bandits had come after us to get us!"

He huffed with a swelled chest and said with no hesitation in his voice "Trust me young Ceasar, if I wanted to get you, you would have already have been got."

"Right." Ceasar sighed as he felt the urge to weigh his impressions of people twice in one night."How could I possibly forget, the strength of a man to rival the might of the Number Two."

"Getting out of me almost making you see what yo' ass looks like from the front does not give you permission to blow me up boy." He lashed out his finger in correction."Besides, I'm not A man to the Number Two, I'm THE rival to the Number Two, and you can quote me on that shit."

"Um, I do not mean to interrupt your grandstanding." Princess Jazmine chimed in.

"My what?!"

"But how exactly did you find us? This isn't a location that is nearby from where were camping, and this is a shack that has been abandoned for days with no nearby vicinity for miles."

"I tracked you little children. You were running a lot, so you left a lot of signs around the forest. Footprints, scents, you name it, Black Dynamite found it."

"Tracked? I wasn't aware you possessed the skills of a hunter as well."

" Little princess, when you seen the type of shit Black Dynamite has seen, there isn't a limit to what he can and can't do, or what he can and can't learn from just being in nature for several days to weeks on end."

"Before he signed on with our company, he was hard pressed for income, so he had to hunt for his own food for a while. You should have seen it your highness, the first time we bared eyes on him at our office door asking for work, he had a half a mother fox stuffed in his face with his entire stomach exposed."

"Oh my! How barbaric!" Jazmine said with hands covering her mouth. A motion that did not go unnoticed from Black Dynamite's face palm.

"Little Ceasar, you know that proposition of me twisting your neck backward front also comes with a foot up the ass." Black Dynamite looked down at the chuckling Ceasar who quickly decided to forgo his snark, though Jazmine did nod her head in gratitude toward him as it did aleviate the previous tension.

"Anyway, you little turkeys need to come with me, we're getting the hell out of this forest." Black Dynamite commanded with strong gesture to the exit leading back to the forest clearing." I already laid out a path to the forest, it's a few miles from here, but we can make it before daylight if we hurry."

"We're leaving?" Jazmine questioned.

"Did I stutter princess? We're getting out of here before any more of those blind mothafuckas jump out and try to put a sword in our backs. We killed their own, and they won't stop coming until they return the favor."

"Surely they are not so resilient as to hunt us down until the face of the earth?"

"I wouldn't doubt it if they did, these are Ryukyu folk." Ceasar's expression turned dark with mention of that association, with his face sinking to the floor.

"If what you just said is true about their ilk, and also about them being from Ryukyu, then we...we have little hope left of survival." He said as his chest tightened with anxious pressure of the situation update. While not as perturbed as Ceasar, Black Dynamite felt a level of concern, having actually settled swords with the enemy, which is a feat that he himself would never garner a guess of happening to him before, to feel slight fear. To be a warrior of his caliber, the same one on par with the Number Two, one had to be capable of mastering such a fear, taking it to bed, knowing its in and outs as your lover in order to muster the will to conquer all. He knew this was no different. His hands became balls of iron as his fingers rolled into his palm to make fist that curdled blood just from the pressure.

Jazmine then raised her hand. " If I may, who are these warriors that come from these 'R-y-u-k-y-u Islands?'" She asked with the same blinding naivete that B.D found himself growing a lack of disgust for.

"In short, princess." Black Dynamite took a deep breath before continuing. "Bonaified back muthafuckas that's who they are. These are the kinds of people that make the Boogeyman look under his bed at night. They're the ones who left the gate open! The first ones to show up at the mandingo party and they never leave. They are, without question. Niggas."

"I've heard you call Master Huey and Master Afro that before. Is that a compliment that you give to them?"

"Compliments to their ignorance, sure whatever helps you sleep at night little lady."

"I do not feel like sleeping."

Fighting against the strong urge to slice his head off, Black Dynamite vehemently nodded to Ceasar, begging him to engage in one of his lectures.

Ceasar cleared his throat as if to break the awkward mood.

"To explain Black Dynamite-dono's statement, they are islanders that live outside the qualms of the Edo territories. To the southeast of our location, there are a series of islands that stretch outside the mainland of the country, where dozens of sailors and pirates from various walks of life around the world port and do trade or even settle. Because of such a history, the culture surrounding the islands is unique in its nature, as they are progenitors of international culture, including some from your country as well, if I'm not mistaken. They do not see themselves as purely Japanese, thus do not abide by the traditions of the culture and etiquette, but by their own instinctive way of life."

"Laws of nature...they are barbarians." Jazmine said.

"Precisely. The Ryukyu Islands gain their name from the Ryukyu Kingdom, a nation that existed during the last century from the Okinawa islands and conquered most of the Amami islands. Many of their people are descended from proud warriors that did battle time and time again from many invading forces as well conquered. Nowadays with the source of trade and financial boons coming from Edo, many of the people living on those territories find themselves in dire straits, thus most of them turn to petty thievery and mercenary work when they come to the mainland, or just seeking combat in general."

"I...understand somewhat now. We are dealing with formidable warriors who have earned their reputation through blood and carnage, who are all without restraint."

"Not only that, these men are of a new breed. Have you noticed that nearly all of them of whom we have encountered thus far, are all visually impaired? But yet, they are able to fight on even ground with us?" Ceasar asked not only directly to Jazmine, but rhetorically as well. He knew she had seen their very capable skills firsthand, even being overwhelmed by it." One can assume that they have some way of sensing their environment around them, or they have some sort method of detecting or picking up movement from their opponent when they fight. But what could it possibly-"

"Sound."

"Pardon?"

"You slow jive turkey, it's sound! They use sound to know who and what's around them when they fight. When me and Afro were fighting them, some of them would stand still for a few seconds, waiting for us to make a move on them. Whenever we took a step, they knew exactly where were heading and what moves we were going to make. It was like some kind of...super hearing."

Ceasar's eyes soon gained vigor in them at the revelation.

"Of course. The nature of the human body is that when one of the senses are impaired, the body compensates the others by developing their usage. Despite their lack of site, they are able to use sound not only as a navigational tool, but a weapon! Such ability can only be taught by a deadly fighter who has the same condition and has learned how to fight in the same condition, or in this case has mastered it." His expression suddenly darkened. "We...stand no chance against someone of that prowess. It is a miracle that we have been able to escape death by their hands up to this point, any longer, and we will surely-"

"All right, all right. That's enough of the slobbering and complaining! You forget I'm here or something little Ceasar? Black Dynamite don't run from nobody, especially not some grown ass blind men who make a forest their playground! But right now, we have a mission to complete. And that takes priority."

"What of Huey-dono and Afro-dono? They might still be in danger!" Ceasar stood back up on shaky knees.

"Afro said for us to go on ahead without him." For some reason Black Dynamite felt a strain in his throat just delivering the syllables for that sentence. He had no reason to doubt that his appointed rival would survive the threat of the blind bandits, but definitely would not unscathed regardless of skill. Like everyone else, before his title, Afro was just a man of flesh and blood."Little Huey...that little runt can handle himself. Afro didn't waste his time with him for all those years just for him to die in the mud like a chump."

"But we still must find them! Heaven only knows in what remaining quantity the bandits have taken up refuge in the forest. Huey-dono is skilled and has been well trained , but he is not his master! He is a child with a sword to the rest of the world!"

"But is that not enough of a threat?" Jazmine asked with a stern tone.

"Your highness?"

"In Zemuria, by the time we are able to crawl, we trained in the art of the sword, not for the sake of learning how one uses it when it is brandished, but when it is also sheathed. The sword is an extension of ones will with the blade itself being a mere tool that harbinges that will. Day after day, a child is told to study, refine, establish what it means to wield it not as a weapon but as a part of you, and conflict exists as the exchange of the weight one carries with them as a warrior. Despite his size and stature, with a weapon, a tool for death and destruction, he still a dangerous force as the master who taught him how to wield it."

"I'm well aware of such...a ideology, your highness." Ceasar said with a canny voice."But the key factor is experience, which Huey-dono sorely lacks if I must be honest."

"Your honesty don't mean jack shit if you can't back it up boy." Black Dynamite said. He takes his blade out of his sheath, it's steel glimmering off of the moonlight and holds it out in front of Ceasar" Especially from a chump who hasn't even held a sword a day in his life. You want to know the life of a warrior, the strife that comes with being one, the rush that comes when steel clashes steelm or even fist? Then put this thing in your hand, drag your ass into that forest, and take out the first fugly blind mothafucka that you see pop out from the bush. Then, and ONLY then, you can pop off with another one of your self-righteous speeches."

Black Dynamite stared down at the young attendant with a whelmed expression, his wandering eyes floated around the sword still held up his grip. It was no understatement to see that he was hesitant, fraught with anxiety of what he was being asked to do. Jazmine stood by eager to see the next course of action from either of them, obviously seeing through the muse that Black Dynamite was pushing onto young Ceasar, his clammy hands attempting to reach out for the hilt caused her to recall Zechal in a similar predicament when receiving the same test from his father, of which the result was obvious given the present events. He cleared his seemingly dry throat as his hands settled on the blades hilt just a few feet from Black Dynamite's, rolling his hands to form a grip though not firm enough to bear the full weight of the sword however. Knowing this, Black Dynamite let go of his end of the hilt allowing the full weight to pass onto Ceasar, and the blade fell instantly to the floor pulling him down in process.

Ceasar's mouth flew agate with absolute shock at the weight of the blade, his arms continuously straining just to hold it above his shoulders. To think he's seen Huey, a boy younger at least three years his junior is not only able to lift it, but use it with such poise and skill to best an opponent that comes his way. All the way from his arms and abdomen, down to his legs and thighs, his muscles vibrated with an intensity that he had never experienced in all of his time being a personal adviser to the Wuncler company, toiling his hours away at a desk handling books and writing incident reports. His life meant solely for matters of the text and trade, not combat, was a fact that was sorely adding to weight pressuring him. He grit his teeth against each other, attempting to find some semblance of strength to summon in this trial, or at least that's how he viewed it. To Black Dynamite it was to prove a point to a boy who never so much as spoke the question of what such a life encompassed, but the answer would no doubt appear before him in cunning fashion.

His arms locked in place, straining the veins in his muscles to support the weight of the sword that was bigger than his torso and head combined. Soon his fingers began to pop loose as his hands started to wrest against the coarse sensation of the grip, the engravings in the hilt burrowing marks into his skin as he attempted to keep it above his chest.

Suddenly, Ceasar felt the weight suddenly leave his hands as he still was stuck in the pose of pushing upward, forcing his body to fall flat to the ground. Jazmin immediately rushed to his aid as he slowly picked himself, his face held down in shame and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

"Are you all right?" Jazmine asked.

Ceasar stayed quiet, giving no clear affirmation.

"You know, I would laugh right now if I had a sense of humor, but since I don't all I can do is shake my head at you little Ceasar in disgust. Afro's brat first lifted up a sword when was even younger than you, and I don't doubt he was fighting even before that."

"I know, but I'm...I'm" He felt his throat swell up as he struggled to reach out for the words in his clouded mind, ones that would suffice the man standing above him, and himself.

"You ain't shit. Remember who does all the heavy lifting around here, and in case you forget again, I'll be sure to remind you again." He then sheathed his blade, tying it back around his waist, and gestured with his head to the outside.

"I understand. It won't be neccessary, it was a lesson well learned..."Ceasar said in a dejected voice

" Now, come on. We've wasted enough time chewing the fat, now we have to get out of here."

Jazmin quickly stood in front of him as he attempted to exit the house.

"What?"

"Please, we must go and look for Master Huey and Afro." Jazmin said.

Black Dynamite scowled at the princess. "Did you not hear the part about us having to complete the mission, i.e. getting yo' half and half ass the fuck out of here and safe from danger."

"They are your companions are they not? Isn't only natural for you to help them in times like this?"

He then took a deep breath and crouched down to her level, exchanging direct eye contact with her.

"First off, never say we're companions in front of me again. I want to kill this fool Afro, and his little disciple for reasons that I won't go into because not only is not relevant to this situation, it's none of yo' goddamn business. Second, you should be more worried about your own bodyguard, instead of some strangers you've only known for a couple of hours."

Jazmine put her hand on her chest, her eyes lit up with vigor as she meets his own stoic gaze."

"Zechal is my bodyguard, that is correct, but do not pretend to know the design of our relationship. He has been trained since birth to be loyal to me, fight for, protect and give his life to me if neccessary, and I myself fulfill my role as his sovereign. If he dies, he died knowing he fulfilled his duty to me, to me the same sentiment. I AM worried about him, but I would be betraying his skills to simply doubt his ability to survive until he returns to me."

"Like I said, we are not-"

"Plus if I recall, I requested the aid three samurai to escort me to the capital by the end of the week, forged in contract agreement with Lord Wuncler. If it were to be that we were to find ourselves in the capital with two less than what we agreed upon, your pay will be docked by a third of the original price."

"WHAT?! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" Black Dynamite's gaze immediately locked onto Ceasar who promptly turned away, obviously revealing that he knew such details of the assignment. His eyes scorched in disbelief at what he was hearing, stomping around the front yard with rage, even striking the air with his sword. Returning to his neutral state after a few seconds, he begrudgingly agreed to the princesses''s request , all the while having a rancorous feeling rise in his gut, stupified at what he had gotten himself into. What seemed like a suicide mission beforehand, was starting to become an uphill battle he had little chance of winning. "Leave it up to that old cracker ass Wuncler to slide this past us without so much of a hint." He said, while pacing around the entrance way of the house, occasionally breaking it to stare daggers at Jazmine, grumbling all the while in a mixture of curses and slurs. Not wanting his emotions to reach its peak, Jazmine broke the tension with a dry cough that stopped him in his tracks

"Are you quite finished Master Samurai? As I believe you had stated earlier, time is of the essence."

"Don't put words in my mouth princess, Black Dynamite knows what he said, and how he said it." He said, wagging his finger to the audacious child.

"If you have broken with your words, then perhaps we might break with action?"

"Action, yes I agree." Ceasar, now seemingly back to his tactful self begun to speak once more, gesturing to the path they traveled on to get here, most likely pointing to the possible exit to the forest's outskirts."But seeing as how we have yet to find a way method to navigate our way through this maze of a forest, safely might I add, regrouping with the others should be a secondary priority your highness. "

"Be that as it may, the lives of the ones that we ventured into this situation with us should be paramount, regardless of our traversal options. Not only that, we must acquire more numbers if we are to even make it to the exit without harm. Even with Master Black Dynamite here, he cannot both defeat our foes while also protecting us at the same time." Jazmine said.

Ceasar began to ponder Jazmin's words, rubbing his chin and forming his words. Black Dynamite scoffed before his mouth opened and judging by his lack of acceptance in his stone expression, Ceasar felt affirmed that his thoughts would be better expressed through the stern ronin.

"Are all royalty as naive as you?" He said, crossing his arms.

" I am one with knowing the world as I know myself Master Samurai, as well as others from queer origin."

"Great. A fucking nomad for a princess. Perfect."

As he continued to walk further into the endless corridor that was the forest's maze, young Huey kept a prudent frame of mind, his bandages loosening with every step he took, the blood smoldering through the material. Pressing his hand against his ribs to stop any further leakage, he started to slow down his previously moderate pace and leaned against a tree to catch his breath. He took a second to scan his surroundings, sensing for any disturbances in the flora and fauna, smelling the air for the odd odors that the Blind Bandits seem to have exhibited from his experiences fighting them. The strong stench of rotting flesh and aged blood that had lingered for weeks after stalking their target in question, waiting and watching their movements for hours and hours on end, never eating or sleeping,to catch them by surprise. Although they would never go for the kill immediately, the true pleasure lied soley in the hunt, the torture that would ensue upon the capture to which they would explore countless methods of creating only the most unpleasant of experiences for the prey, extremely so to the point that they would beg for death. He knew such a behavior well, but not from his training as a samurai however.

After a few minutes of rest, Huey struggled to get up, using his blade to stand and even straighten out his back. Still feeling the effects of his vein repreive, thoughts of, 'What were the current goals?' 'Where was he supposed to go from here?' 'Could he still fight effectively?' attacked his mind. He silenced them all with a deep breath, restarting his mental countdown back to zero, soon the previously formed clouds began to clear only a little with the simple reminders he gave himself. The first thought, 'Find the Princess and the others as soon as possible', with the corallory to it obviously being to get the hell out of this overgrown backyard. The second, was a little tricky to fit in a realistic frame,'finding the bandit's lair and ending their operations in this area, permanently'.

Although difficult to manage solo, he'd know without a doubt that his master would be heading the same way with the same line of thought as the apprentice, or perhaps vice versa. Afro's influence once again working his way through him. Before the snake could bite once more to speed up the spreading of the poison, cut off its head. Huey shrugged his shoulders at such a machination. It wasn't the most viable solution as their numbers have yet to be confirmed beyond their lair(if they have one at all), but it was the most feasible one from where he was standing.

A snap just a few feet away from Huey could be heard, just before the third thought could be reached with an answer, by thinking about it, acting on it however...

His hand rested on the sheath of his blade with his feet dragging through the grass and dirt into his stance, right to front to support his weight, and left to the back to hold himself up. Split it evenly. 50-50. His body felt a disturbance in the air, his back neck hairs standing up to attention as steel began to show itself, gleaming in moonlight drawing in, illuminating him. Time stopped, his breath stilled, the bright light shone itself completely and lashed out in front of him meeting steel with his flew as Huey and his assailant did battle with each other, encircling each other one foot after the other, with both feinting their strikes to gain the upper hand through deception. Despite focusing his eyes to adjust, the darkness shadows his opponent, though the pattern breathing did give hints to their identity. He takes a step back and balances the tip of his sword forming a new stance, with a look of grit forming in his eyes, assured of his assumptions.

"Well then...if you're going to kill me here, you better make sure you do it before I do."

Chapter 12 END

Fro Ninja; Sorry again for the long wait y'all. Be sure to stay on top of the notifications for the next chapter, and I might throw in a little something extra when the next upload comes. Until then, be sure to share this story with your friends, favorite, follow, ALL that good stuff. Until next time guys, Peace out, and remember, ONE LOVE!