Wanderer

The sky was pitch black as Lana approached the new village. She gazed at the village with a great sadness in her eyes. Then again, it seemed to be the only look she had nowadays.

The village lanterns were lit, for it was dark. The houses appeared to be thatched. Though slightly crude the place seemed to be quite homely. Most were indoors as Lana paced around town. It was quaint and emitted a welcoming glow on her face. She would be content to continue but resigned to sitting near a river bank instead.

She had only been running for a week or so… But her feet ached as if she had been gone for a month. She proceeded to count her belongings which consisted of three things. One small pouch of money, a dagger and a pot. She had the items tied up neatly in a large piece of blue cloth.

"I love this village." She heard a small voice say.

"I hate this village!" shouted another.

"Only 'cause you're a stinky boy!" The voice sounded feminine and really young.

"N-uh! You only say that 'cause girls got cooties!" The girl protested immediately and began chasing the young boy around while attempting to whack him with a stick.

Lana could not help but laugh at their childish antics. The two stopped and stared at the newcomer.

"What're you laughing at!" The boy yelled while pointing an accusing finger.

"She's the same age as us!" She scrambled up to see Lana.

"What's your name?" He asked her.

"Sorry… I can't tell you." She gave a half-smile.

"Aww… Why not?" She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled deeply.

"I-I… Actually I can't remember my name. All I know is I was running from a scary place… It feels like such a long time…" She held her head high. The sun was no longer in the sky and the stars shone brightly. All was well, at least, for now.

Lana knew not about the world and had never venture so far from her home before. Maybe she had, once, but for now she could not recall.

"You shouldn't sleep out here it gets real cold at night." The girl told her.

"I'm sure Okaa-san won't mind. We're used to seeing travelers here. This town is like a pits stop for Tokyo." The boy recited from memory. Lana smiled gingerly; they were being awful kind...

"I don't have much money to pay for lodging you see… A-and…" A piercing cry echoed throughout the area. I gasped, never having heard such an awful noise.

"Taskete! (Help me)" It was a woman's voice, a really desperate woman's voice. Lana gripped the blue cloth that held her belongings. She ran swiftly towards the cry.

"That sounds like the Udon aunty…"The boy mused. The girl nodded as they ran.

"Wasn't she… Wasn't she pregnant?" The girl bumped into her brother and was knocked to the ground.

Lana was horrified at the image she saw. She knew the other children were as well. She had seen that look before. The woman's hair was disheveled, her clothes soaked with a red liquid and her shoes discarded messily.

The lady had a rounded stomach, but a long sword jutted through it. The blood dripped from the sword. The lanterns around them could only give Lana a small visual of the large bodied man that held the sword. It was definite that the man was no common thief… But… Lana was sure she could take him.

"You plan of saying' something girlie?" Lana wanted to run… And hide… It was especially distracting with the boy and girl gripping the rim of her soft belt. Lana gave the man a determined look and prayed her voice did not fail her.

"Bring it on."

The man grunted and pulled the sword roughly out of the woman, throwing her on the ground in a heap. The man gave a hearty laugh and waved nonchalantly at her. The man was not even considering the outcome of her winning, he was… Underestimating her!

"C'mon! Where's your weapon? You ain't challenging the greatest fighter in the world with no weapon! Don't be a fool." Lana narrowed her gaze. She apologized to her possession inwardly. She'd have to bloody it.

She dug inside her small blue cloth, and gripped her dagger pulling it out into the open. The blade was dulled and the hilt was slightly dusty, but Lana needed nothing else. The Dagger made Lana feel slightly stronger. Just holding the weapon gave her courage.

The 'great fighter' gave a low swing to Lana's right. She jumped in an attempt to dodge, but the blade had nicked her ankle causing a few drops of blood to seep from her skin. She charged at the man and drove the dagger into his side. Fresh scents were released into the night's air. The scent of fresh blood. The man yelled in outrage as her tried to gorge her side with his sword.

She blocked with her dagger to prevent the sword meeting her flesh and gave another blow to his side. She was not nearly tall enough to reach over him, being only half his size. She knew she had cinched victory when blood tricked down from his mouth and his grip loosened on his sword.

"Now I shall never rescue my…" His words faded. Lana raised her head to see the man's eyes grow dull. His body became limp as she removed her dagger from his skin. Her eyes widened.

'I didn't puncture his vital organs… H-He… He shouldn't be dead!' She staggered back and fell, trembling slightly. The other two children had shielded their eyes from the sight of the dead man. She let the dagger fall from her slackened wrist. The object clattered as it dropped on the ground. Lana breathed deeply and tried to gather her thoughts.

'OmigodIjustkilledsomeone' was her first thought. Which; obviously wasn't helpful.

"Hey! Kire-chan! Lipo-kun! I-I," The officer was dressed smartly in a police uniform.

"Onii-chan! The girl tried to save Udon lady from meanie-san. Then meanie-san almost hurt her a-and now their both dead!" The young girl burst into tears and fell into the arms of her big brother. The other boy folded his arms and turned away from them.

"Traveler, from where do you hail?" Lana paused trying to absorb the gist of what he had said.

"I-I hail from a… A place in…" She tapped her chin thoughtfully. She was beginning to wonder where she had come from as well. When did she begin to lose her memory?

"I-I'm sorry…" She thought about remuneration but decided against it, not that she could afford it anyway.

"Come here." She saw another man appear from the shadows. She shivered slightly, something about that man created a disturbance in her heart. The last time that happened, she fell off a three meter bank and almost twisted her ankle. The man was tall at least 180 centimeters, if not more. His hair was a dark shade of brown, accompanied by eyes of blue.

He did not see to want to cause Lana harm, he displayed no violent intentions. She reluctantly padded towards him but was stopped by a hand which gripped her shoulder.

"Are you stupid or what? You're just gonna follow him? Do you even know him? Didn't anyone ever teach you not to talk to strangers!" It was the young boy's voice. Lana gently removed his hand from her shoulder.

"There is no place for this aimless wanderer. This is my retribution for I have stained my hands." In her perspective, no one was a stranger. Everyone who lived breathed and trod upon the earth was no stranger. No one had taught her otherwise and she was not about to start. Her caramel eyes displayed no fear as she came closer to the unknown man.

"Good. You will now be under my care Lana-san." Her eyes flickered with a brief acknowledgement. She recalled being addressed as such before.

'Oh. I suppose Lana is my name after all.'

"Lana is your name. Is it not?" She gave a brief nod.

"Your leg is slightly fractured and you hold a small wound to your ankle. You sustained that in the fight. Correct?" She nodded once more. She was sure if he kept asking such questions her head would surely fall off from all the nodding. She noticed that he was slowly leading her away from the three stunned faces and the two dead bodies.

"You have considerable skill Lana-san." She looked at the man and studied his face. He had worry wrinkles on him.

"Not really… He was going to hurt me so I fought him." There was a deep silence between them before he spoke again.

"What of your family?"

"I'm a runaway." Yet again silence reigned.

"You are to become my pupil and I shall teach you how to wield a sword. Hopefully you shall become a great warrior my son." The man gave a bubbly chuckle. She raised her eyebrow.

'I'm a girl! Do I look like a guy?'

"It sounds wonderful… What is your name?" She smiled as pleasantly as possible.

"Kazuo Tanaka (Man of peace, Dweller). Call me Tanaka-san."

"I have another question. Why do you want to teach me? How do you know my name?" His blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

"First of all… Akiko-san (bright light) is you name from this day forth."

'Well… I was thinking of getting a job to feed myself… But I get to learn some nifty skill if I learn from this guy… Okay. I guess I don't mind discarding my old name.'

"Hai Sensei."

----------Flashback--------

"Hey Sou-chan!" She was grinning wildly at Soujiro who held two sacks of rice on his shoulder. She held a large pail of water and a cleaning brush. She dropped her items and ran over to him while inspecting his arm.

"They banged you up again…" She noted the bruises along his arms as well as the fresh cut that ran along it.

"Ah-haha… Well… I wasn't careful with where I was going and I walked too close to Uncle's sake." She rummaged through her Yukata sleeve and pulled out a roll of bandages.

"Hold still." She wound the bandages over his arm and skillfully removed a piece of glass from its place in his arm causing him to wince. She knotted the bandage tightly.

"Hopefully it won't come off later."

"Arigato Lana-Chan." She held a small blush.

"It's nothing." She embraced Soujiro gently.

"Be careful." She wanted to cry as she held him. He was suffering and she couldn't help. Nothing she ever did really helped anyone. Word could not express her feelings. Her heart beat gently and in time with his. So helpless… Like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Soujiro lifted his arms to pull her closer. He smiled again as she leaned into him. They never wanted this moment of serenity to end, the calmness and warmth of this moment. They wanted to hold onto it and never let it cease.

Genuine love. Almost uncomprehendable.

Except to those who feel it.

--------End flashback--------

Her Sensei led her through a vigorous training regiment.

Soon

Soon

She would see him once again.