Tainted Souls, Tainted Swords
Chapter Eight: The Assassins
A living breathing evil, a demon, Varelli Tenbrarum, held onto the dark shard of the soul-consuming blade, quietly communing on a telepathic level with the injured sword that did, indeed, have a consciousness of its own. "She shall suffer for her crimes against you, my master. Her and all the others. The shattering of Soul Edge will be the undoing of its enemies."
The fragment responded to Tenebrarum's words, it gave off a menacing crimson glow with a sinister aura that felt euphoric to the monster holding it. With the fragment and by Soul Edge's will, Tenebrarum could strangely feel the essence of some of the other holders of the shards. The power was limited, dependant entirely upon the number of fragments, distance, and Soul Edge's willingness to aid to its holders. Smaller fragments could only be detected nearby, such as the ninja who merged a fragment with Mekki-maru. As for the nearly completed swords themselves, Tenebrarum could sense the far away knight and pirate who held them, he felt their history and frustrations, their pains, their furies, and more.
Soul Edge wanted to reform, and whether the holders of the fragments knew it or not . . . they would all be drawn to one another. Soul Edge would unite them, one way or the other, and if it could, it would use its servants to undermine its enemies and even the rival blade, Soul Calibur. Now the sword was no longer one single blade, but a network of fragments containing sentient evil that can learn the strengths and weaknesses of all who hold it. And Soul Edge can put this knowledge to use.
The demon closed his fist around the fragment of Soul Edge, staring through his sealed eyes in the direction of a relatively close Mekki-maru, whose holder had been a thorn in the evil's side for some time. A threat that would soon be no more. Already the blade had planted the seeds to destroy this troublesome kunoichi, and Tenebrarum would execute the sword's revenge. "Mortals," it rhetorically said via telepathy, "they have to sleep sometime . . ."
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Day bled into dusk, and eventually into night. The Assassins gathered together and stopped to make camp before the light faded completely. The trail of the ninja proved incredibly difficult to follow. These six professionals, however, had the training to notice subtleties that most trackers would have missed. Even still, without optimal lighting not even they could track Taki. She had left no footprints and scarcely any markings to follow. In fact, her struggle with the demon left the only real traceable sign of her presence.
'She's good,' The Assassins told themselves, 'but we're better. Two more days, at the most.' Then they'd return with the wench's head on a silver platter for their employer.
Withdrawing food and water and other necessities from their saddlebags, they secured the horses and settled down for a night's rest with minimal conversation. No fire. Twine with bells encircled the camp, along with strategically placed caltrops. Three watches of two men each (one to watch the camp, the other to watch only the horses since they didn't secure their food out of wild animal's reach.) None ventured more than an arm's reach away from their own sword, and none went off alone.
And less than fifty feet away, a tired Taki (in her cloak) lay motionless in the brush carefully observing through tired bloodshot eyes. She knew before she ever left the Riverport arena that someone would come after her, and anticipated them tailing her which needless to say helped tremendously in noticing them before they noticed her. She was also aware that the Fu Ma had not given up their pursuit, and perhaps if she weren't so tired and preoccupied with these Assassins, she would notice the threat lurking uncomfortably closeby in the forest . . .
Laying low the better part of today in this very spot, she watched and waited for the Assassins to come through while fighting the fierce temptation to drift to sleep. 'I have to devastate them, cripple them, with my first strike,' Taki thought, mentally developing a plan as best as her tired mind would permit. 'otherwise they'll overwhelm me in a heartbeat.' she recited to herself. From the formation these men used, she could deduct how challenging they would be. They traveled along the trail in pairs, and each pair stayed at least three minutes apart from the others to trick impatient attackers who think they only faced two Assassins. 'Confident enough to try it, and still alive so it must work.'
Furthermore, they took several precautions to ensure the security of their rest. Unfortunately for Taki, the Assassin guarding the camp (in black attire) and the Assassin guarding the horses (in a dull gray-ish blue attire) were too far apart to strike simultaneously but were still within eye sight of each other. Killing one would alert the other, and she'd still have to tangle with five assassins. Taki could take out two, maybe three . . . but five? 'Think Taki, think.'
She really needed to sleep, but not when they were so close. She had to finish them off first, then rest.
"That's it!" She whispered to herself. Four of the six assassins slept in a relatively tight cluster so the guard on watch could oversee all four of them at once and use a minimum number of caltrops and tripwires. "They expect me to attack the guards on duty first. This could work."
And so, Taki slowly crawled through the brush, careful to stay out of sight, circling around the encampment until the four sleeping assassins lay between her and the wakeful guard. Laying flat, her cloak still hiding her (swords and all), she inched her way closer very carefully. She couldn't afford to catch their attention with movement or sound.
Twenty feet away, still moving forward. Closer and closer. Taki felt the anxiety of flowing adrenaline pumping through her veins, waking up her muscles for the coming battle so for the first time today she did not feel the temptation of sleep. Very awake now (mercifully), and very focused . . . too focused. She knew full well that if they caught her preparing this attack she would not survive. If she failed to get the first strike she would not survive. If she neglected any detail, she would not survive. Fortunately, she hunted demons for a living, an occupation that had even less room for error. Ten feet to go.
Taki veered off course just slightly to take cover behind a large tree, then she eased herself up into a crouching position (and indeed, her legs still hurt from the hooks from a few days ago) and unfastened her cloak so when she took off it would slide off her body without an effort. Closing her eyes, her breathing remained controlled and calm as she flexed her fingers before reaching for Rekki-maru and Mekki-maru, soundlessly sliding the swords from their scabbards while remaining behind her cover. In her mind, she mapped out where the Assassins lay down the tripwire, the caltrops, and planned her single strike. Opening her eyes again, Taki licked her lips, then waited for both watchmen to scan the forest opposite her at the same time.
But one watchman was always looking her way. She waited calmly, listening to her own breathing and feeling every heartbeat within her chest. Her every muscle ready to spring on a moment's notice, and she could feel the evil pulse of Mekki-maru, beckoning her to sink its blade into them right now. The Assassins never both looked away at the same time. A minute passed. Two minutes. Five. Fifteen. Thirty.
All the while, the sword's temptations grew stronger and stronger, proving harder and harder to resist. Taki's grip on the sword tightened until her knuckles turned white. She would put it away, but couldn't afford to suddenly draw it later - the sound of the sword coming out of its scabbard would be all the warning they needed. She couldn't afford to draw it during the attack . . . then again, could she afford to keep it out much longer?
The black-attired Assassin who guarded the camp looked away.
Mekki-maru never spoke, per se, but she felt its overwhelming desire to charge. It compelled her to go. It wanted Souls, and it no doubt wanted to get her killed.
And now the Assassin in Gray looked away.
The cloak flowed from her, revealing her torn red outfit that hugged her body tightly. Taki felt time slow to a crawl in her mind, measured by the beat of her heart as she sprang from behind the tree, and before she could reach her full speed she gracefully leapt over the trapped trip wire. No bells to sound their warnings. Only the sound of the wind. One foot touched down, and Taki leapt again this time over the caltrops. Across the camp, the horses watched this dark shape come out of the night. Instinctively they reared back as far as they could, but by that time Taki's feet touched the earth again between two of the sleeping assassins. Using the momentum from her charge, Taki brought Mekki-maru and Rekki-maru down upon her victims.
With the next passing heartbeat, Taki sprang forward (ripping her swords out of the dying Assassins who made some sickening gurgling sound). In that same moment, the Assassin in black and the Assassin in Gray (the two guarding the camp) turned their attention to the crimson shape that startled the horses. In unison they began calling out, "Breach!" as they drew their curved assassin blades.
The watchman succeeded in giving their sleeping companions just enough time to see the ninja descend upon them and plunge her sword into their chests. As blood flowed to their open mouths, the already defeated men managed to draw their own swords. Again she ripped her swords free as she suddenly changed directions and sprinted towards the horses. The dying assassins swiped, one managing to put a very shallow cut on Taki's leg (so shallow that it would hardly bleed.)
The Gray-clad Assassin intercepted Taki, swiped at her but she rolled safely past him to the horses where she cut the spooked animals free. They reared up, kicked, and in a stroke of insanity Taki seemed to duck beneath the heavy animals and she disappeared into the confusion of hooves, darkness, and flying dirt.
"Did you see that?" The Gray Assassin yelled in shock as their animals darted out of the campsite. Who is stupid enough to get under a frightened horse! He expected to find a trampled woman at his feet, but found nothing.
"Enough! Just go try to get two of the horses," and the Black-clad Assassin turned his back to his partner, surveying what was left of the camp and calculating the next best move. Hopefully one of the animals didn't go too far. The Assassin could hear the footsteps of the other Assassin heading off . . . alone. "Wait! No!" Spinning around, he looked in time to see the Assassin in Gray fall to the earth with a sword in his chest.
Taki knelt down, never taking her eyes off the survivor, and she pulled her sword free. She twirled it before returning both swords into their scabbards for her typical en guard stance, and she did one of those double-eye brow inflections. "Even professionals make mistakes in the midst of chaos."
He narrowed his eyes at her. Their gazes met, and Taki realized without words that giving him the opportunity of escaping with his life was out of the question. Her trail would run cold before he could return with reinforcements, and his wasn't a profession that allowed him to return empty handed. Her left hand had stayed on the hilt of Mekki-maru, which she kept drawn about an inch out of its scabbard. An inch was all the demon sword needed . . .
Right on cue, the Assassin unleashed an ear-shattering war cry as he charged her with intentions of cutting her in two, provoked by the rage and desperation in the moment. The Assassin blade came down with soul-shattering force, and Taki halfheartedly parried with Rekki-maru, and without thinking she thrust Mekki-maru with intentions of piercing his heart—but the Assassin's strike turned into a feint. He easily positioned his assassin blade to defended against Meki-Maru, then slashed to cut Taki in two. She barely got Rekki-maru into a position to block, but the Assassin wasn't through. He stepped up onto her, then kicked her viciously in the back of the head and put Taki face-first in the dirt. The curved assassin blade came down, and Taki instinctively rolled out of the way and managed to deliver a kick to the face of the assassin.
"Even professionals make mistakes," he echoed her previous remark, fixing his mask.
Wiping the dirt from her face, she returned both swords to their place and gestured for him to come, "Let's try that again."
"As you wish," and he charged a second time, sword flying exactly as before. Taki defended the exact same way, he feinted exactly the same way, and this time she rolled under his counter-attack instead of trying to block. And when she popped up from the wind-roll to deliver her vertical-slash attack, the Assassin was waiting – he deflected the blow and in the same motion roundhouse kicked Taki hard enough to take her off her feet once again. She landed harshly on her backside, and scrambled to rise before he could take advantage of the situation. The assassin, however, allowed her to rise while he cracked his knuckles one at a time.
"Yeah, all six would have made short work of me," Taki commented under her breath, thankful she was able to take out as many as she did from the get-go. "Hell, two would have made short work of me if I didn't catch them off guard."
And for the third time, the Assassin charged but what would the variation be this time around? He was smart enough not to do the exact same attack string twice, or would he just to defy her expectation? As he came within range, Taki trusted her battle instinct and closed her eyes. The assassin's sword came down, and both Rekki-maru and Mekki-maru came out to meet it. This time, he did not feint exactly as Taki had expected. Her twin swords scissored around his, and with a mere flick of the wrist she disarmed him.
And then she buried Mekki-maru into the center of his chest. Taki let go of the sword, letting the corpse fall lifelessly to the ground, and she stared at her open hand in bewilderment. "That wasn't me . . ." or was it? Had her battle instincts become so refined that she reacted naturally to the situation? Had she faced so many men foolishly charging her that the response was automatic and thoughtless . . . or was it the sword's will? Did she land that blow, or did Soul Edge? Taki honestly didn't know as her gaze traveled from her hand down to the sword.
And to her horror, in this moment when she questioned how much power Soul Edge had over her, the rush of the adrenaline faded, which allowed exhaustion to hit her like a train. She couldn't fight anymore. In the middle of the camp, Taki passed out, collapsing into a pathetic heap on the outskirts of the camp.
Rekki-maru, and only Rekki-maru, cried out with its warning which fell upon unconscious ears. A shallow fog came in, flowing over the forest floor, covering Taki like a hypnotic body of water. Then a discolored hand gripped Mekki-maru, pulling it free from the assassin's dead body, while the sword's master lay helpless and oblivious . . .
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author's note: thanks for the feedback, everyone.