Thank you for waiting, here is chapter 3. Please leave a comment when your done so I can improve my writing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina or any of its characters.
Notes: This takes place before Motoko fought her sister so she is looking for her original sword (shisui), not the Demon Blade Hina.
**** means a new setting.
If this story gets popular enough I will add the honorifics. If not I won't bother.
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With one last tightening of the bonds, it was finished. Motoko had crafted herself a shinai (sword) out of bamboo and some other things found on the island. She would have made a bokken but time was of the most importance.
The shinai was crude but would be enough until she found her Katana or died trying.
Giving it a few experimental swings it proved to be much lighter and less sturdy than she was used to, but she would make do.
Gaah, Keitaro cried out. Motoko wiped around, Keitaro was lying on the ground.
"Urashima, get up. There is no time to relax, we must search for my Katana." Motoko instructed him.
Keitaro got up messaging where the shinai had hit him. "And just why do I have to come with you to find your Katana again?" He asked.
"I needed someone to carry the bag," Motoko explained.
"And why can't you carry the bag?"
"Because you're already carrying it."
"Oh, right,"
And with a quick goodbye to the rest of the group they were off.
"If you don't mind my asking," Keitaro inquired as they trudged along. "What exactly is your plan to find your katana?"
"If it washed up here on the island it would be on the beach. So we are going to search every beach until we find it." Motoko explained as she pushed past a bush.
"But this is an island, it is like fifty percent beach," Keitaro complained.
"Then we better make sure we don't miss it on our first go around,"
Keitaro swallowed hard. She wasn't kidding about dying trying.
"Motoko," Keitaro asked again. "Why is your sword so important to you? Isn't the Shinai you made more than enough as a replacement?"
Motoko's back stiffened at this question, "That's- a personal matter,"
"Oh," Keitaro responded. "I just thought it would be nice to know why you were so passionate about this, considering we are a team in this.
"A team?" Motoko said in surprise as she turned to Keitaro
"Yeah, we're working together, right? I know you don't like "miscreant males" like me, but I am happy to get to know you better Motoko. You're a very strong independent woman, but also a very secretive one" Keitaro said, blissfully ignorant as usual.
Motoko looked away, "uh yeah sure a team. Even though it is with a miscreant male like you I guess we are a team,". Why did saying that make her heart feel weird? It was probably the stupid way he phrased it, that idiot was always saying things weirdly and getting misunderstood. But she decided not to hit him for it, this time.
***later***
After a while of travel, Motoko signaled for them to stop.
"Why are we stopping?" Keitaro asked.
"Look," Motoko said her arm outstretched to the ocean. There, floating on the wave was a long slightly curved wooden object. That has got to be my sword in its sheath.
"But how are we going to get to it?" Keitaro asked. It was caught in some seaweed about 25 ft offshore.
"One of us will have to go and get it," Motoko stated. And I think we both know who that is," Motoko said with a determined look in her eyes.
"So have a good swim Keitaro." Motoko finished.
"What? Why me? It's your sword out there," Keitaro whined.
I know your perverted mind, you want me to go in there so you can ogle at my body through my wet clothes. Motoko shot back.
If that's your concern then why don't you take your clothes off so they don't get wet? Keitaro suggested. As soon as the word passed his lips he wished he could cram them back down his throat.
"Whack," went the Shinai as it hit Keitaro in the head. "Die you pervert," Motoko declared.
So Keitaro ended up being the one to wade out into the water.
He slowly approached the drifting sword. Well, this isn't so bad he thought. Then he saw the seaweed move. He rubbed his eyes, was he seeing things? He continued forward more slowly, pew low tide smell, gross. He covered his nose as he reached out and grabbed the sword.
As he retracted his hand to him he noticed something odd. 2 yellow eyes staring at him.
The seaweed has eyes? Keitaro thought. Then bursting up through the seaweed came to the rest of the crocodile.
"Gaahhh" Keitaro screamed as he attempted to splash away in terror.
Motoko shielded her eyes as she attempted to see Keitaro's progress. Wait why was he freaking out? Is that idiot afraid of the seaweed of something?
Then she saw it, the crocodile leaped out of the water dragging seaweed with it like hair. Even from this distance, it's trajectory was clear.
Acting on impulse Motoko dashed out onto the water to intercept, her body almost seeming to glide over the water.
She was halfway there when the worst possible thing could happen, the crocodile made contact and its body had slammed into Keitaro's forcing him down towards the water where he would inevitably become a meal. Actually, Keitaro was more of a snack than a meal.
She finally was close enough to make contact, swinging the shinai with all her might, it rattled in its bindings as it collided and forced the crocodile away.
The crocodile would not be deterred that easily. Pumping its powerful legs it gathered speed and rushed at its new opponent.
Motoko attempted to dodge out of the way, but the water limited her mobility and the reptile snagged her clothes, tearing a hole.
Too distracted to worry about her clothes Motoko swung her sword at the creature as it shot at her again. But the Croc nimbly dodges her shot.
The croc quickly doubling back to attack the rear opened its mouth wide for a delicious morsel.
But Motoko seeing this suddenly got a boost of speed, smacking the croc right in the teeth she shouted "You will not lay a tooth on my butt you cold blood pervert," as some teeth were knocked free and even lodged in the shinais wooden blade.
Keitaro, who had finally resurfaced, recoiled in surprise at this comment. She thinks I'm cold-blooded?
Crying crocodile tears, the reptile decided to go after the easier prey as it turned on Keitaro.
Rushing forward, blood trailing from its mouth, the croc made one final charge at Keitaro.
Surging forward Motoko grabbed Keitaro and jumped free from the croc's range.
They landed with a splash in the shallow waters of the shore.
Turning to check their safety, Motoko sees the croc swimming out to sea.
Wait, why was their flesh pressing up against her? Looking down at her arm that was holding Keitaro, she realized not only were they pressed up against each other but there also was a big hole in her clothes.
"Let go of me! you pervert!" Motoko shouted as she flung him onto the beach.
Motoko trudged to the shore herself. She would have to change into different clothes once she got her sword from Keitaro.
Keitaro was attempting to brush the sand, now plastered to him, off as Motoko walked up to him.
"Urashima, did you get my sword?"
"Uh? Yeah," Keitaro answered as he reached into the sand next to him and pulled it out.
Grabbing it from him, she hugged it to her chest. Her precious sword.
"Uh, Motoko?" Keitaro asked. "You might want to look closer at your sword."
Holding it out so she could look at it, Motoko realized the unfortunate truth. It was only the sword case, the sword itself was still missing.
"No!" Motoko cried in distress. "Are you sure it's not still in the sand?" Motoko said as she went on her hands and knees to dig for it.
But her desperate digging turned up only seashells.
"Are you sure you don't have it?" Motoko asked Keitaro.
"Yes," Keitaro answered, unsettled by Motoko's behavior.
"Turn out your pockets, maybe it fell in them when you weren't looking," Motoko demanded.
There was a lot wrong with that logic, but Keitaro didn't think arguing would help. He turned out his pockets, nothing.
"Dang it" Motoko shouted as she hit the ground. Then with her jaw set, she rose to her feet "We need to hurry up and get changed, without the sheath my sword is in danger of rust,"
Keitaro was really worried, he had not been happy when Motoko had him come on this trip, but it was now clear that Motoko was unstable without her sword. Then again she wasn't very stable with her sword either.
"Urashima?" Motoko inquired "Where did you put the bag?"
"It should be right there," Keitaro said cautiously. He got up and (from a safe distance) joined her side.
The bag was gone, there was however a trail of unfamiliar footprints next to it.
Our bag walked away? Keitaro thought in amazement. No, what was he thinking, bags don't have legs, it was stolen.
"Who could have stolen our bag?" Keitaro wondered aloud.
Motoko let out what sounded like a growl. "Forget the bag we need to keep moving to find my sword."
"Woah, Woah there Motoko, we need that bag. It has our food, freshwater, and all of our needed supplies in it," Keitaro purposely didn't mention clothes; he didn't want another beating over Motoko's ripped kimono.
"No, we need to finish our mission and find my sword. Then we can track down the bag," Motoko argued back.
"But Motoko, the bag could-" Keitaro started.
"WE GET MY SWORD FIRST" Motoko interrupted.
"MOTOKO," Keitaro shouted, actually grabbing her by the shoulders. Looking her in the eyes. "I understand how much you want to find your sword, but if someone stole our bag then that means there are other people on the island, potentially dangerous people. Not just to you and me, but the other tenants too,"
Motoko looked torn for a long minute, but then her determined stare returned. Your right Urashima, the bag and other tenants come first.
Keitaro let go of Motoko's arms and stepped back from her.
Motoko turned towards the trail of footprints with determination. "Let's track a thief", she said shinai pointed down the trail.
The bottom half of her kimono fell to the ground.
Keitaro's hand shot up to his nose to prevent the nosebleed.
Motoko, trying to use the remaining bit of her kimono to hide her panties, turned to Keitaro, cheeks red with embarrassment and anger. "Don't look you pervert" using her shinai to hit Keitaro away.
"I will have to make some changes to my clothes and don't even think about peeping," Motoko told Keitaro as she hurried aside to the bushes.
She would have to make an emergency leaf bikini, she didn't like the thought of fanservice. But it had to be done.
As she gathered up some leaves and started to fold them she found her hands shaking and heart beating wildly. She tried to force them to be still, but it only helped some. Why was she shaking? She had fought scarier beasts than that crocodile before.
Maybe it wasn't the crocodile? Maybe it was the fact she still didn't have her sword after all the work she had gone through? Or maybe she was worried about her sword, as they were forced to detour to find their bag? Or maybe, her eyes slowly drifted to a gap in the leaves where she saw Keitaro's back turned patiently waiting. Ridiculous, besides she didn't have time to think about that troublesome male, their mission was too important.
***one emergency leaf bikini later***
The footprints had led them off the beach towards the heart of the island. Motoko was leading the way by using the shinai to clear some of the branches as they went.
"Who do you think would have stolen our stuff?" Keitaro wondered aloud as he followed several paces behind Motoko.
"Well, it's food and water so any living creature is a possibility. But considering that we haven't seen anyone else on the island I would guess a lone person rather than a tribe of natives. And the fact that they would steal our stuff makes me think it is a criminal or someone dangerous rather than another castaway." Motoko explained as she skirted around a large tree.
"Better and better" Keitaro muttered to himself.
Suddenly Keitaro heard a weird shout from Motoko. "Gah"
"Motoko, what's wrong?" Keitaro asked as he dashed forward to her.
"No stop," Motoko called. But it was too late, Keitaro stepped into the quicksand too.
Gah, Motoko grunted as she attempted to struggle free.
"Stop Motoko, that only makes it worse," Keitaro warned her.
"Then what DO we do, Urashima?" Motoko shot at him.
"Relax, humans are too buoyant to drown in quicksand," Keitaro assured her.
"Oh, oh thank goodness," Motoko sighed as she stopped moving.
"What we are worried about is being stuck here until we starve or something," Keitaro finished.
"Oh, great. That's so much better than drowning, a long painful death withering away in this stupid leaf bikini," Motoko ranted with sarcasm.
"I wonder if this could be a devious trap set by our enemy," Motoko said as she looked for a trace of them.
"They would have to be pretty smart to have thought of this," Keitaro remarked.
"Well, we know they are smarter than us," Motoko commented.
"How do we know that?" Keitaro asked.
"Because we're stuck in here and they're not," Motoko answered.
"Okay," Keitaro said, trying to reassure himself as much as Motoko. "What we need to do to get out is find a vine or some sturdy branch to pull ourselves out with,"
Looking around Everything seemed out of reach. But he tried to stretch and grab a bush on his left. Drat, he wasn't even close. Maybe there was something above him?
Craning his neck he looked up, there a vine hanging from a branch, perfect. He strained his arms, he was so close maybe only a foot away.
"Hey, Motoko could you give me a boost?" Keitaro asked.
"Are you an idiot as well as a pervert?" Motoko asked.
"Oh, right" Keitaro responded. "Well do we have anything that we could use to reach that vine?"
"I have my shinai, but I don't think it can grab vines," Motoko replied.
"I got it," Keitaro announced. "I'll just take off my belt and…."
"Do you EVER stop being perverted?" Motoko asked as she hit him.
Cringing from the pain Keitaro stood up. Wait a minute, stood up? Motoko's hit had freed him from the quicksand.
"Yes, I'm free,'' he cheered. He rushed carefully, but quickly, around the quicksand to Motoko.
"Motoko, give me your hand so I can pull you out," Keitaro told her.
Motoko hesitated. "You promise to not do anything perverted?" she asked.
"Motoko, the only reason I was going to take off my belt was so I could reach a vine,"
Still looking hesitant, Motoko reached out her hand. But the distance was too far. So they ended up using the Shinai. Pulling with all his might Keitaro finally felt a give Motoko slid out of the sand.
Using the shinai Keitaro dragged her body out of the quicksand's range.
Keitaro helped Motoko to her feet. "That was a close one, I'm glad you're alright,"
"Thanks," Motoko muttered as she avoided eye contact. Why did he have to say stupid things like that?
They found the trail again and were on their way.
***later***
"Motoko do you think we are getting close?" Keitaro asked as he held his rumbling stomach.
"We can eat when we get our provisions back," Motoko said bluntly, determined to not stop.
"But if we do find the culprit we will need our strength to fight him," Keitaro tried to reason.
"Well, what do you propose we do, going back to the beach to fish would take too long, the bananas and coconuts are way up in the trees, and the stuff down here is poisonous or hard to find," Motoko reasoned back.
Well, could you use one of your air slashing techniques to get the coconuts, and bananas down?
"I'm not sure, this shinai is way less aerodynamic than my sword. So it might have trouble displacing air," Motoko admitted. "But I will endeavor to try,"
Readying herself, Motoko pointed her sword at a coconut tree. Giving a few practice swings.
She went for it.
The air slash didn't completely miss, but it didn't hit either. Instead of one of the coconuts, it removed a palm frond from the tree. Which came crashing down on Keitaro's head.
"Why is it always me?" Keitaro complained as rubbed his head in pain.
Instead of more head trauma Keitaro decided to try and climb the tree.
He wrapped his legs and arms around the skinny base and tried to shimmy up it. But this proved ineffective as he kept sliding back down.
Next, he tried using his knees and legs to clench to either side of the tree as he used his arms to pull himself higher.
This proved to be more effective, but his legs got too tired and he fell back down.
The third attempt was the craziest. Keitaro got some vines and tied them together. He then used the vines to latch on to some of the tree's palm fronds and attempted to climb the vine up.
Motoko watched this all in slightly annoyed, but most polite amazement.
Keitaro's vine strategy seemed to be working; he was about a third of the way up.
Putting one hand above the other Keitaro continued to pull himself up.
But heard a slight creaking and the palm frond he was attached to snapped off the tree. Luckily the fronds knocked some coconuts down with them. Not so luckily they all landed on Keitaro.
With Motoko's shinai, they were able to open to eat and drink from the coconut.
It was bland, but a satisfactory meal.
***later still***
The footprints had led them to a cave. "I bet that's where the thief is living," Motoko said.
"The question is are they still there?" Keitaro said.
"I don't see any footsteps leaving, but there could be another exit," Motoko answered.
"What we need is a plan to lure them out," Motoko said, rubbing her chin. "And I think I got one,"
~transition~
Stepping out into the glinting sun the soft features and gratuitous body of an individual stepped out of the shadow, irritatedly pulling at their leaf bikini as they got ready to be the bait.
Hesitation and embarrassment washed over them. No, they could do it. They rushed back to the bushed to plead with their partner for a change in the plan.
"Motoko why do I have to be the bait?" Keitaro whined. As he desperately pulls at the leaf bikini trying to expose less.
Motoko, who was in Keitaro's clothes, sighed in annoyance. "2 reasons I'm the one with the sword so it makes sense for you to be the distraction,"
"What's the other reason?"
"I didn't want to do it."
"But you're a girl you would make better bait for a man,"
Motoko gave him a quick cuff with the shinai, "First of all that is rude. Second, we don't know if the thief is a man. Third, you don't need to make them fall in love with you, just distract them and lead them to the spot, and I'd say you look very distracting," as she stared at his hair sprouting out from behind the leaves and his stomach protruding way past the clothes. (Motoko just didn't want to wear the leaf bikini anymore the sand had made it chafe)
Keitaro sighed in resignation as he walked directly to the mouth of the cave.
Building up his courage he called down the cave "Hello, your uh subscription to "striped shirts and domino masks weekly" has ended. I am here to see if you want to extend it?"
He heard what shouted like a snort, as something big stomped towards him.
Taking a step back in fear Keitaro wondered what he had gotten himself into.
Stepping into the light was a big gorilla.
A gorilla? Did it steal our stuff? "Motoko" Keitaro called out "It's not a human what do I do?"
Motoko signaled at him to just continue the plan. Lead it to the spot Motoko could jump out and incapacitate it.
Keitaro sighed again, well the gorilla was as hairy as a criminal.
"Um, hey there gorilla uh, could you follow me this way?"
The gorilla stepped forward and sniffed Keitaro's chest.
What?! Keitaro gasped as he hopped back in surprise.
The gorilla walked forward again trying to grab at Keitaro this time. Keitaro stumbled backward in surprise at this.
Motoko was confused watching this from the bushes. What was the ape doing?
Keitaro had fallen onto the ground and was still trying to backway from the gorilla.
The gorilla stepped over him, his four massive limbs surrounding Keitaro.
The gorilla then did a weird rocking back and forth motion. And Keitaro was suddenly aware of something hard poking at him. And It wasn't a banana.
"Arrgh it's trying to mate with me," Keitaro screamed as he scrambled out from under the limbs of the beast.
He took off like a cork from a bottle, completely forgetting the plan as he took off in a random direction.
Motoko caught the full impact of Keitaro's shouting from her bush. But she didn't quite comprehend it until Keitaro was headed over the hill to avoid a honeymoon.
The ape took off after Keitaro, screeching as it went.
Motoko dashed out of the bushes after them, she had known Keitaro was hairy but she did think he would be mistaken for a female gorilla. But she supposed that his weak feminine shape and the fact he was wearing a bikini she had recently worn had not helped.
"Ahhh," Keitaro continued to scream as he ran, "Please no. We can't have kids. They would be horrible half breeds. They would never find love and would have to live in our garage forever, and slowly they would get into crazy media conspiracies and kill us in our sleep in the name of some space lizard. I am only thinking of what's best for us and them."
This, of course, did not stop the gorilla.
Charging towards the hairy beast Motoko knew it would be hard to stop it. But stopping perverts is what she did best.
Jumping over the creature she landed in front of it slashing the sand in front of her at the ape as a warning. "You shall not cross this line beast."
The gorilla stopped just a few feet from the line. It's nose twitching as it tried to identify it's opponent.
The ape narrowed its eyes; this lowly human would not separate him from his new mate.
Screeching the ape charged at Motoko.
Motoko stood her ground, her shinai held defensively in front of her. She was pushed back causing big gouges in the sand to be carved as her feet slid.
Branching her knees Motoko pushed forward throwing the ape off her.
The ape staggered back from the blow but was not down. He beat his chest in anger and charged again.
This time Motoko dodged out of the way and struck the beast.
The ape snorted in anger deciding Motoko wasn't worth the trouble.
It charged after Keitaro scented Motoko following behind it. As she shouts "come back here, you hairy pervert."
Keitaro had run out of breath and hid in a bush.
He was thinking of Naru, oh how he hoped he would see her beloved face again. It was true she beat him up a lot, but she was still special to him.
The ape ripped away from the branches above Keitaro.
"I don't suppose you're here for the real-estate?" Keitaro said nervously.
Plucked him out of the bush and slung him over his shoulder. The ape prepared to make his escape with his prize.
Oh, well maybe I should accept my fate Keitaro thought. The ape can probably beat me up as well as Naru, so maybe it won't be so different?
The ape copped a feel of Keitaro's butt as it ran from the approaching Motoko.
Oh, sweet donkey kong it's a pervert. Keitaro thought.
Motoko caught up with the ape in time to see it making off with Keitaro. This was a difficult situation with the croc she could go all out, but now the gorilla had Keitaro she might risk hurting him-hey, wait a minute Keitaro was immortal.
Adjusting her stance she prepared for a big strike. Dashing forward, bending low to the ground she charged up and delivered an uppercut. Causing the ape to stagger backward as Keitaro swung wildly on its shoulder.
Seeing her chance, Motoko rushed around the gorilla and slashed it back and forward, it's body swaying with each blow. Keitaro slipped to the ground as the beast wobbled back and forth on its feet like a drunken sailor.
Then it finally fell to the ground with a thud.
Motoko rushed to check Keitaro. "Are you okay?"
"I understand why Naru beats me up, perverts are horrifying," Keitaro said as he stared straight ahead.
He was fine. Motoko pulled him to his feet.
"Thanks so much, Motoko you saved me for the third time, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't flown in there and saved me. So strong and dependable," Keitaro praised her.
Motoko wanted to say no, to correct Urashima. He was the one who had saved her at the quicksand after all. Or even to reassure him he would be alright as long as they stuck together. But she was stopped by a strange feeling.
She wasn't sure what this feeling was, she hadn't felt it in a long time. Surely she didn't care about Urashima's praise this was the same stupid pervert who groped her nearly every day. It must just be an adrenaline rush from all the fighting or something. Like when she had thought she was in love with Keitaro but it turned out she had gotten sick from being out in the rain. Which had caused her weakness.
So instead she simply said, "We are here as a team, now let's get our stuff and get away from here before this beast wakes up,"
Keitaro was a bit confused by the stiffness in her voice, sure she was serious but she had always been happy when she made a big achievement like when she had successfully pulled off the rock slicing sword move for the first time.
But he decided not to ask her. She had beat him up for similar questions in the past.
So they gathered their things, switched back into their normal clothes, and made their way back to the beach.
***What could be wrong with Motoko?***
As they reached the beach the sun was dipping fast on the horizon. And they decided to make camp for the night.
Luckily now that they had their bag back they had every they needed for the night.
Wrapped up in blankets, Motoko examined her sword sheath with the glowing light of the fire.
It had taken some water damages and a few scratches, but it was mostly intact. Although it reeked of low tide. (google "low tide smell", warning it's gross)
Well, the smell was gross and the reason for it grosser, Motoko still cradled the sheath. It was a reminder of why the sword was important to her.
"Hey, Motoko?" Keitaro asked. "I was wondering"
"Yes," Motoko answered. Is he going to ask me why the sword is so important to me again? Well, I did put him through a lot, so I guess I can tell him. She wondered secretly.
"Why do I have to be tied up?" Keitaro asked.
Motoko sighed, "I told you, it's so you don't attempt to grope me,"
"And I told you I would never do that, (pause) on purpose," Keitaro defended himself.
Motoko gave a depressed sigh as bowed her head low as she looked at her sheath sadly.
"Motoko?" Keitaro asked again.
"I am not untying you," Motoko snapped.
"Motoko, why does your sword mean so much to you? I know you didn't want to tell me before, but couldn't you get another?" Keitaro asked as he caught on something was wrong.
"Well," Motoko started. "As you can probably guess my sister gave me my sword, but there is more to it than that. It was also a kind of going away gift when my sister left to work for the clan. I trained hard knowing my sister was doing the same, hoping to live up to the faith she had put in me when she gave me one of her treasured blades. But the next time I was able to see her, I found her in the embrace of a wretched man. I ran off when I found this and met a terrifying monster. I was crippled by fear and didn't even fight back. I just fled in fear hoping against all odds it wouldn't catch me. My sister found me and defeated the beast, but she was clearly upset by my lack of courage. Ever since then our relationship has never been the same. She seems to still be disappointed in me. And after seeing her be so brave to save me, I felt like I had shamed the gift she bestowed on me. That is when I became determined to grow as strong as her and defeat her with the sword she gave me. Proving my right to have received it."
Keitaro sat perfectly still, drinking the story all in. "Is that why you hate men?" he asked softly.
Motoko didn't answer at first, but then in barely a whisper. "My sister gave up the way of the sword for that man, she cut herself from reaching her full potential. If I ever want to reclaim my dignity I can't make the same mistake,"
This time Keitaro didn't respond.
And they both fell asleep around a very quiet campfire.
***the next morning***
Keitaro woke up first he was going to get up and stretch, but then he remembered he was still tied up.
He looked over at the lump of blanket that was Motoko. Her story last night had shed a lot of light on Motoko's behavior, but Keitaro couldn't help but feel that there was more to Motoko and her sister's rift than that story had told.
Motoko stirred in her sheet and then woke up. After a little breakfast, their search would start up again.
***After breakfast***
It was a brisk day, as they padded down the coastline the sand crunched and squished beneath their feet.
They had explored roughly ¾ of the beach so far. And Keitaro was worried. He wanted to help Motoko badly, her sword was very special to her, but if the sword was truly gone forever how long would she force them to search for it? She had claimed they would go until death, but was she truly serious about that? Keitaro was unsure.
Motoko held up her hand to single a stop. She kneeled low to the ground as if examining something.
She then picked something up. She felt it and tested it checking its authenticity.
"We are close," Motoko stated. She turned around and presented Keitaro with what appeared to be a string.
"How does this string let you know that?"
This is the silk that is braided into a rope that goes on the handles of katanas to make them comfy and easier to grip.
So where is the sword? Keitaro asked.
Motoko gestured to the almost invisible trail of silk that led into the jungle.
"This sword certainly knows how to string us along,'' Keitaro joked as they made their way into the jungle.
"An animal must have carried the sword off, just our luck," Motoko commented, ignoring Keitaro's joke. "Hopefully, the handle is the only damage, it can be repaired."
"I wonder why an animal would carry off your sword, are you sure it isn't a human?" Keitaro asked.
"Animals are often attracted to shiny things and no, I'm not sure," Motoko admitted.
Keitaro was already preparing an argument of why he shouldn't be the bait again when the string suddenly stopped.
"Drat, it must have run out or broken. Look around for leads," Motoko directed Keitaro.
Motoko started shifting around the vegetation trying to find footprints or any sign of her katana.
"And I better not caught you slacking off Keitaro," Motoko warned as she searched. "If I do you'll be in deep trouble,"
There was no response.
"Keitaro?" Motoko called.
Still nothing.
"Keitaro!" Motoko said angrily as she turned around.
Keitaro wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Keitaro?" Motoko called confused as she walked along where Keitaro was searching.
Where could he be? He wouldn't ditch me, would he? She reflected on all that had happened yesterday, okay maybe he would.
Then Motoko heard Keitaro's calling but it was hard to make out and sounded far away.
"Keitaro?" Motoko called again, where was his voice coming from? Suddenly she felt the ground crumble away beneath her feet.
Ahhh, she screamed as she fell down the hole into the cavern below.
Luckily she landed on something that broke her fall, Keitaro himself.
As she pulled herself off Keitaro she realized they were in a deep looming cavern of tunnels.
"So this is where you were," Motoko said to Keitaro.
"Yup you certainly got to the bottom of this mystery," he joked as he attempted to stretch out where Motoko had landed on him. I guess you could say he was the one carrying the weight of the team now.
Motoko tipped her head up to the tiny hole they had fallen through way above them. It was unlikely they could get out that way. "We'll have to find another way out," she decided.
"That could take a while," Keitaro remarked as he stared down the long dark tunnel.
They trudged onward and onward, but after an hour there was no exit in sight.
"Whew," Keitaro complained, "Does it seem like it's getting warmer, Motoko?"
"Yes," Motoko agreed. "I wonder what could be causing it,"
Hmmm, Keitaro thought, "Well, we are in a cave on a tropical island, maybe it was carved by lava?"
"Lava?" Motoko said with alarm.
"Don't panic as long as we keep moving uphill we should get further away from any lava," Keitaro reassured her.
Motoko breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey, Urashima, how do you know so much about tropical islands?" Motoko asked as they continued.
"Well, I was reading a book about them before we got into the shipwreck. It told all about quicksand and other dangers in the tropics. I just wish I could have finished the chapter on volcanoes. I had just gotten to the part about the dangerous chemical found in volcanic fumes." Keitaro explained.
"Well, that certainly is… convenient," Motoko commented.
"Don't worry," Keitaro assured her. "It should get cooler as we get closer to the exit,"
But the further they went the warmer it seemed to get. As the heat grew so did their temper.
"Hurry up Urashima, we need to make up for all the time we lost on detours," Motoko said for the umpteen time, as she impatiently wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Slow… down" Keitaro wheezed. "I'm not as athletic as you"
"Come on. It isn't that hard, you weakling" Motoko complained as sweat rolled down her face.
"Please stop calling me that," Keitaro said irritated, "just because I am not a good fighter doesn't make me weak,"
"Right, because it is not like you get beat up by a girl all the time and have repeatedly shown yourself to be incompetent at the most basic tasks," Motoko mocked him.
"Oh, sorry your "perfect-ness" (a play on your highness)" Keitaro said annoyed. "But this trip has been hard on me. I was attacked by a crocodile, a gorilla and almost died in quicksand"
"Come on you weren't in any danger, I was there the whole time," Motoko said irritated. "The only thing you have to worry about is how angry I will get if you continue to keep me from my sword."
"Oh, shove a sock in it," Keitaro lashed out. "Do you even need that sword?"
Suddenly there was a large cracking sound. The two of them froze.
"What was that-" Motoko started to ask when the ground gave way around them.
***moments later***
Motoko woke up, her vision blurry, a heavy smell of sulfur lingered in the air.
What? Where was she? She couldn't seem to string together a coherent line of thought.
She tried to stand, but her feet seemed unstable and she wobbled forward almost falling. Why can't I think straight? Motoko thought irritated, her heart racing.
Let's see I fell in a hole, after arguing with someone? Who was I arguing with? Urashima! Where is Urashima? Motoko thought frantically.
She tried to walk forward again, she managed to do it, but her legs shook tremendously. Ugh, why can't I walk? There must be something I can use.
Something long, and straight. I know, my shinai!
Motoko reached for her shinai, only to find she had lost it in the fall.
Argh, forget it we need to get out of here before we boil alive. Motoko thought as buckets of sweat rolled down her face.
"Urashima" she called out as she stumbled along the cave. Find Urashima, find Urashima; she thought over and over desperate not to lose her concentration.
The ground seemed to sway beneath her as she trudged onward. The sulfur content in the air makes her eyes water.
She desperately rubbed at her eyes to clear her vision.
As her vision came back into focus that is when she saw it. Something long and lean was sticking out of the ground in front of her.
She shook her head as if trying to clear it from her mind. But when she approached it. She was sure it was her precious sword.
Pulling it free from the dirt she hugged with all her might. Her honor was in reach.
"Fu Fu Fu," came an ominous laugh. What it couldn't be, Motoko thought as turned around.
But their standing before her was her sister. "So my dear little sister, you completed my test have you?"
"Test?" Motoko questioned.
"Yes, I hid your sword to see if you were ready to face me. Now let us fight to see if you truly deserve it. Come at me if you dare."
Motoko held out her sword, her mind still a mix of dizzying thoughts. She rushed at her sister. Seizing this opportunity.
But as soon as her blade came down her sister seemed to vanish. Whipping around Motoko saw her sister on the other side of the cavern.
"You'll have to be faster than that," Motoko her sister jeered.
Motoko whipped around this time doing an air slash at her sister. But once again just before it would hit her sister seemed to blur like light and dodge it.
"I see you are still very green Motoko. Perhaps you want to trudge around the island some more first?"
Motoko grit her teeth, she needed to beat her sister. It was the only way to regain her honor.
She attacked her sister again and again, but every time she attacked her sister would dodge out of the way.
Mountains of sweat were dripping from Motoko now, as she gasped for air. Damit why couldn't she catch her sister, why was she always out of reach?
"Why don't you just give up Motoko, you're too scared to beat me" Her sister jeered.
Rushing at her sister in full force, Motoko was fueled by anger and adrenaline. She could not afford to lose. But as before her sister dodged. Motoko stumbled as she passed. Hitting the ground hard as her sword skidded away from her.
Drat, she thought as she got up to chase after it. But then she heard some else call out to her. "Motoko," It was Keitaro.
Squinting through her sweat Motoko saw Keitaro was on his back his leg clearly hurt as the ground around him was starting to crumble.
Motoko dashed forward grabbing Keitaro's hand just as the ground crumbled away leaving him hanging over a pit of lava.
"Motoko you have to pull me up and get us out of here." Keitaro cried out. But Motoko's attention had been grabbed by something else; her sword was dangling off a ledge just a couple inches from Keitaro.
Go on Motoko came her sister's voice "pull him up and run away from me again, just like you ran away from home,"
"Motoko what's wrong?" Keitaro asked. "Look, I'm sorry for being angry. We were both just stressed by the heat, please pull me up,"
"I need to finish the fight," Motoko debated. "But I can't let him die."
"Motoko what fight? What's going on?" Keitaro asked, looking more concerned.
"I can almost reach my sword," Motoko muttered to herself as she brushed the sword with the tip of one hand.
"Motoko I need your other hand." Keitaro cried out in a panic.
"Yes Motoko, forget about the troublesome male, finished the fight." Her sister urged. "Regaining your honor can only happen with that sword.
"Yes, sister" Motoko responded.
"Motoko, who are you talking to?" Keitaro cried out.
"I need to get my sword and reclaim my honor. You wouldn't understand, after all, you don't think it's important."
"No Motoko, I didn't finish. I asked if you needed it."
"What's the difference?" Motoko shot back, "You don't think I can beat my sister either."
"That's not what I meant" Keitaro shouted as he started to feel his grip slipping.
"Then what did you mean?" Motoko asked, looking him dead in the eye.
"Motoko I don't think you really need that sword. You could beat your sister with any blade." Keitaro explained.
"Don't listen to him," her sister hissed. "He just wants you to save his pathetic perverted life."
"Motoko," Keitaro said seriously, bringing her attention back to him.
His face was completely unflinching. "Motoko looked into my eyes. Hear the sincerity in my voice. I have had the amazing good fortune to know you. And the past few days have only confirmed what I knew. You are a spectacular warrior. You constantly work harder than anyone I have met and push yourself every day to be the best swordswoman you can be. Tons of people could only dream of the amazing moves you can pull off. Cutting through rocks, air slashes, defeating perverts. And you think that's because of your sword? You stood up and valiantly fought a crocodile and a gorilla with a wooden stick and won."
Motoko's face was still. Images flashed through her head of her fighting the gorilla, the croc, and even Keitaro himself in the past.
Her eyes drifted over to her dangling sword. "But m-my honor."
"Motoko is your honor so invaluable it is tied to a single object?"
"But my sister, that disappointed look in her eyes. I need to prove my worth," Motoko said sadly.
"Motoko," Keitaro said again. "I don't know what happened on that day, but your sister would have to be an absolute moron to not realize the great potential you hold. I'm willing to bet your sister did not give you that sword as a test, but as encouragement, because she saw something special in you, just like I do."
Tears streamed down Motoko's face, mixing with the sweat. She had not known how much she had needed to hear that until right now. She pulled Keitaro not just free from the hole, but into a hug. Her tears soaking into his shirt.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, Keitaro."
The cave started to shake.
"I think the lava we unearthed is not reacting well to the air," Keitaro warned. Motoko picked Keitaro up in the princess carry position.
We can make it. She said bluntly. Still, a little shaky Motoko dashed from the empty cave.
The lava bubbling up behind them.
But there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Motoko put on the afterburners. And rushed into the morning dawn.
The cave gave a rude blech of fumes as it collapsed sealing the lava in.
Stopping a safe distance away. Motoko collapsed with exhaustion, Keitaro next to her.
They breathed lungfuls of the fresh clean morning air.
After a while, Motoko rose. "Let's go back to the others." She declared.
"What about your sword?" Keitaro asked.
"We are stuck here for a while, chances are I will find the real one sooner or later. And even if I don't, I can always get another one,"
Letting Keitaro use her as a crutch, the two of them made their way home.
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Note: yes the sword Motoko was fighting her "sister" with was her Shinai, the gases caused hallucinations.
I hope this was worth the wait. Next chapter we will find out what the other tenants were up to while Motoko and Keitaro were gone.
-ScoobyDooTheAnime