Tainted Souls, Tainted Swords
Chapter Two: The Riverport Arena I
The sailing vessel reached its port in Italy roughly an hour before the dawn, allowing the weary ninja (wrapped in a tattered cloak) to depart unnoticed under the cover of darkness. The coarse patchwork fabric of the garment concealed her weapons and her form, permitting her to pass in the crowd without attracting much attention . . . the sort of attention that her underlying outfit would (no doubt) attract.
Down the Italian streets, the woman warrior casually walked and allowed her bloodshot eyes to drink in the foreign surroundings, taking note of the city's general structure, places to get information, she mentally absorbed the small details that could help her later such as possible escape routes, alley ways, and shadows to hide in. She hadn't wandered fifteen minutes when she inexplicably went dizzy; she put her hand to her temple and shook the sensation away. The nightmares had taken their toll on her. So the casual observation of the city turned into a hunt for a place to rest, and as the sun arose to welcome in the morning, Taki curled up on a rooftop on the outskirts of the city, using her cloak as a pillow (and also to hide her weapons.) She closed her eyes, and passed out.
Fortune and misfortune always intertwined to form Taki's fate, and so it continues this day. Fortune allowed Taki to rest without dreaming, brought upon by the misfortune of being so physically and mentally fatigued that her mind could not dream. Only rest, leaving her vulnerable beyond her refined reflexes, vulnerable for a mere peasant to effortlessly kill her in her sleep. She slept peacefully, though, and undisturbed until she awoke naturally half a day later when the sun had just started on its way to dusk.
"And I was hoping I could be on my way by now." She sighed, shielding her eyes from the sun.
Taki arose, arched her back until her vertebrae popped, then surveyed the surrounding area from her vantage point. The sea lay off to the West, and a cool breeze came in providing some relief from the hot summer sun. To the East she heard the distinctive sound of a crowd roaring its approval. The ninja observed a few people scurrying off in that direction. "A public event?" She thought out loud. Moments later, she leapt to the street below, her figure in that tight red outfit was exposed as she descended, and the moment her feet touched the ground the cloak concealed her bright outfit once again. Then off she went.
Where there's a people, there's information.
As she approached the source of the noise, her battle trained ear recognized the sounds underscoring the hundreds of screaming spectators: sounds of swords colliding. Slipping through the coliseum's outermost gate, the ninja pushed through the multitude to discover the peculiarity of this arena. The combat took place upon a caged-in floating platform, anchored in the center of the river; the people observed the battle from the riverbank. Two bridges stretched across the river, boxing the arena in. Along the East Bridge warriors tested their swords and prepared for their turn in the water-bound coliseum, and along the West Bridge the apparent rulers of the city overlooked the whole thing. Both of the main bridges featured a small drawbridge that could be lowered to reach the floating battle platform, then raised again to ensure the battles were, indeed, uninterrupted and to the death.
Taki drifted in the sea of people along the riverbank while the drawbridges lowered and the next set of combatants took their place: one obviously an outsider, the other a native to these part. The ninja paid them little attention though; her agenda was not to watch a fight. She paused occasionally should a bit of conversation catch her ear, but more or less she made her way to the city's officials specialty seats intending to make a full 360. Most of the discussions dealt with the battles within the arena, anyway.
By the armed guards, Taki safely assumed that only privileged individuals may watch from the West Bridge . . . or individuals capable of becoming one with the shadows. And with the coliseum keeping a deathgrip upon everyone's attention, Taki could easily maneuver beneath the West Bridge's seating structure.
"Are you out of your mind!" Some unseen rich fool snapped, only to be silenced. Then at a slightly lower volume, "Are you out of your mind? You bet against your own man? Why! That Korean punk doesn't even have a shield! He's just an ignorant foreigner!"
Taki rolled her eyes at the egocentric conversation, and quietly hoped the Korean would win. She also entertained the idea of killing this loudmouth bastard herself for the satisfaction of having him die at the hands of an "ignorant foreigner", but that one would remain an unmanifested concept dwelling in the back of her mind. She moved on before the temptation overtook her.
"M'Lord, Vincenzio's has been killed . . ."
It wasn't the words that stopped Taki, rather the tone of the man's voice. A tone that implies both urgency and secrecy. The cloaked ninja moved closer and peered through an opening to see a soldier speaking to one of the decorated spectators.
". . . most of his men were killed too."
"Have the survivors provided us with any useful information?"
"No, m'lord. They just ramble about being attacked by some sort of mummy with knives for hands."
"I want that treasure . . ."
At which point the sound of the crowds overtook the conversation; her attention shifted to the arena in the lake (which she could barely see), and Taki wasn't particularly surprised to see the Roman Gladiator on one knee, cradling his slashed abdomen while the red-headed Korean stood over him. "That's it? Ha! I hardly broke a sweat."
The ninja smirked. Ordinarily such pompousness would bother her; however, after the conversation she overheard a few minutes ago, she was somewhat amused. Some nobles will no doubt be pissed off by the kid's arrogance. Good.
The nearby speaking parties decided not to pursue their conversation much further. It was just as well. She wasn't interested in mummies and raiders, anyway. Moving on, Taki was waiting for a distraction in the ring so she could dart for the next riverbank, but then the Korean dragged the dying Gladiator to his feet and pressed his blade against the man's throat, "Tell me about the Sword of Salvation!"
"Sword of Salvation?" A red flag went up. Immediately she returned to her vantage point and observed the gladiator pass out from blood loss and the Korean removed a metal fragment from around the gladiator's neck. Thus, Taki's fears were confirmed.
"Dante's amulet!" yet another of the upperclass gasped, witnessing in horror as their robbed dead champion fell lifelessly to the platform.
"Don't worry. We'll get it back." An unknown voice answered with a bit too much confidence, "And we'll deal with this kid."
"Damnit," Taki swore, "Why is it circumstance always forces me to make a scene?" What the hell? If you're going to make a scene . . .
With a graceful leap, Taki seemingly from nowhere and landed front in center on the West Bridge. "I'll take that." She declared, and with a swift kick to the right lever the release for the drawbridge was disengaged and came crashing down, violently rocking the arena platform.
Needless to say, the upperclass jumped out of their seats at the sudden appearance of the ninja. Needless to say they called for guards, and heavy clanging footsteps answered but Taki showed no concern.
Yunsung barely kept his balance, and looked on to the source of the commotion across the water. He saw a cloaked figure step onto the drawbridge and approach as the upperclass scrambled away. "You want this?" He asked rhetorically, as he placed the fragment around his neck, "I'd like to see you try and take it.
Coming to a stop just within the cage walls, Taki now found herself frustrated with this kid's arrogance. And despite the fact she knew that talking would get her nowhere, she tried anyway, "The sword is evil--"
"I don't care if it's evil."
"It will consume you--"
"Are you going to fight, or bore me to death with your yapping?"
Taki sighed as she coolly pulled of her cloak and let it drop to the platform, "I was hoping to avoid a fight and the whole 'you're too young for this; you're just a kid' lecture that you wouldn't listen to anyway."
"Ha! When I'm through, I'll be telling you you're too old for this!" And with that Yunsung charged the ninja. Taki just shook her head, very unimpressed. The Korean swung wildly to the point of nearly losing his balance. The ninja sidestepped and wound up executing what looked like a kick, but actually turned out to be a hold as she wrapped her leg around Yunsung's neck. With her prey held in place, Taki drew Mekki-maru and bashed the kid in the face with the sword's hilt. Taki, while graceful, performed the entire maneuver as though it were as mundane as breathing.
The crowd watched in silence. They had no idea of what to make of this woman. Clearly she was the better fighter, but her fight wasn't nearly interesting to watch.
Yungsung crumbled, landing in a pitiful heap. Still treating the entire arena ordeal as mundane, Taki knelt down and retrieved the fragment without so much as pausing. Then as she started to leave, a voice belonging to a young female called out from the East Bridge. "And where do you think you're going?"
Taki glanced over her shoulder to see the opposite drawbridge drop, once again rocking the coliseum platform, yet it did not phase the ninja. Across the arena Seung Mina crossed the drawbridge with her naginata, Scarlet Thunder, resting over one shoulder
