AN: Just for reference, if a time indication is used like "Present" or X amount of days earlier," assume that we are still in that period until otherwise indicated, or we move to a different perspective.
Wanted to thank everyone too, the response for last week's chapter was incredible, and I had such a good time reading everyone's thoughts on the story, characters and pairings; always so good to see how much people are enjoying! Hope very much you all enjoy this week's as well.
Chapter 7: Blade
Ty Lee paced down the hall, preparing to make her stand. The summons had come the very minute she had slipped back into her room from visiting Toph, and the moment the knock had came, a humorless smile had crossed her lips. The guard had spoken quickly when she answered the door after apologizing for the lateness of the hour and Ty Lee could only nod pityingly at him before he turned and walked away, looking like he was about to have a panic attack.
Azula seems to have that effect on people, Ty Lee had thought as she closed her door and moved towards the princess's room.
This was far from the first time that she had received summons like this, often times coming from Azula herself. She knew perfectly well why she was being called to her room; it was just a matter of if she was going to be able to resist this time.
She reached the door to Azula's guest room and drew a hand back tentatively to knock before freezing where she stood. Her eyes moved to the well kept floor beneath her and she swallowed. This would be her first chance to back out; all it took was her turning on her heel and going back to her room and slipping quietly into bed. That would be all there would be to that, an outright show of insubordination to her royal highness.
But of course she didn't.
Knuckles rapping gently, Ty Lee took a mild victory in pushing the door open before hearing that slithery voice call out to permit her. It wasn't as though she thought Azula might not be ready for her, but that slightest show of disobedience was one of the only things that solace could be taken from for Ty Lee.
The room was lit only by bedside lamp as she walked in and closed the door behind her, letting the darkness of the dwelling swallow her up. It was a late metaphor, she thought, since she had been in the clutches of a monster long before the room wrapped her in its shadow.
She took a couple steps in and stopped when Azula's voice practically hissed out to her.
"Enjoying your evening?"
Ty Lee twisted her toes into the ornate carpet, her hands clasping in reserved anxiousness behind her back.
"You summoned me, your highness?" she said by way of reply and Azula moved from where she hid in the back of her bed into view.
Her face was alive with a predatory grin as her eyes danced excitedly. Her dark hair was down flowing down over her shoulder and running against the bed. She wore a loose fitting robe that hung from her shoulders, the fabric laying low enough as she crawled over the sheets towards Ty Lee to offer a look at her ample breasts, grown slightly from childbirth but still firm and seductive. Ty Lee hated herself even as she pulled her eyes away from them, but not at all with enough speed for Azula to know she had been looking
"Now, now, Ty, haven't we know each other long enough for such formalities to be well past us?" she asked in a dangerously playful tone.
Not trusting herself well enough to answer, Ty Lee chose to remain where she stood as Azula's eyes traced her body. The princess's smile wavered then as she inclined her head in the direction of her childhood friend.
"You've been out of your room this evening, haven't you?" she asked quietly. Ty Lee could barely stand the tone Azula used, partly because she had heard it before when Soza had been younger with that motherly and condescending air to it, and partly because as it sounded against her ears, Ty Lee could feel a warmth spreading through her midsection.
Why does she have to make me feel like this?
It was depressingly ironic, how she had just been with Toph only an hour ago to lull her to sleep, acting like she was in control of herself and not being as manipulated as Toph was being manipulated indirectly by Sasuke, when she herself was being so directly manipulated by Azula.
"To visit your room, yes," she tried and Azula rose to her knees, causing Ty Lee to bite the inside of her lower lip as the very thin fabric of Azula's undergarments clung tightly to her, leaving very little to the imagination.
"Don't play with me, Ty," she said, her voice still sweet, but now with an air of caution mixed in. "I know full well you were over to see your little earthbending friend."
The hair on the back of Ty Lee's neck stood up at Azula's words. The princess always seemed to adopt a very unsettling tone when she referred to Toph; it was an enigma what she really thought of her since, if she really hated Toph as much it sometimes seemed like, why would she let her daughter spend so much time with her?
"We were just talking," she said stupidly, knowing that would not be enough to satiate Azula's appetite for having the inside scoop on everything and everyone. The princess slowly leaned forward to kneel and cock her head somewhat expectantly.
"What about?" she inquired and Ty Lee tried not to think about how dry her throat was becoming.
She had already lost it, the hope she had brought into Azula's presence every time and that was always so quickly dashed by the princess's aura. Ty Lee would tell herself again and again that she was going to stand up for herself and throw off the shackles that held her in such a state of weakness, but nothing close to that was ever actually achieved.
"She was upset by talk of Sasuke earlier," she said, bowing her head. She didn't want to watch Azula smile as she submitted. "I just was trying to comfort her."
"You're a very good friend," Azula crooned, the smile audible. "I appreciate how honest you are with me."
Her voice dipped slightly lower as she asked, "Why don't you tell me more about dear Toph's problems with discussing him?"
It was a somewhat strange sounding choice of words, but Ty Lee noticed how careful Azula was to avoid his name, as though it were fire she were trying to walk around.
"Nothing really, just that she misses him," Ty Lee managed, but knew too that this wouldn't be enough.
Azula made a tutting noise and patted the edge of her bed.
"I know you're worried about betraying her trust, Ty, you're such a good friend… but you sometimes forget your place."
Her eyes flashed with a harsh steel then, even as her voice became even more delicate and seductive.
"Come here."
Ty Lee bowered her head and complied, stopping as Azula snapped her fingers when she was halfway to the bed. There came a brief silence between them, but only because Ty Lee already knew what it was that was being ordered of her. Keeping her eyes downcast in shame, she slid her nightwear down over her shoulders and let the robe fall to the ground at her feet. Hugging herself and feeling her cheeks redden, she walked over and sat down on the bed, trying not to shake like she always did when so vulnerable like this.
She shouldn't have taken it. Azula could be subdued in two quick strikes. Ty Lee wasn't a stupid girl anymore, she was a proud fighter, a Kyoshi warrior, ally to the Avatar and friends with two people she didn't know she could live without, both powerful women in their own right. She didn't have to take this.
Then, Azula's fingernails brushed her just beneath the neck and scraped slowly down her back and as Ty Lee groaned weakly, she felt no more will to stop Azula as she did to try and push aside a mountain. And as the princess wrapped an arm around her and pulled her bare shivering body into the folds of the bed to satisfy her highness, Ty Lee offered a silent prayer that Toph would never know just how weak she really was.
The sound of the ocean splashing against the hull of the Bjorn were deeply soothing to Yue, as the sun beat down above from a cloudless, blue sky. The ship bucked over a particularly thrusting swell and the cutwater striking it sent an ocean spray up, some of it striking her face. She smiled and closed her eyes at the feeling; she knew this familiarity and comfort that the water gave her was something granted to her by her past being a member of the Water Nation, and it was as much a nostalgic emotion that heightened her brief joy of the moment. As she opened her eyes to squint and the bright blue sky above that seemed to stretch far beyond the horizon, she found it hard to imagine that eventually, the sky would begin to pitch with storm clouds, blackening and shrouding them from the freedom of the sunlight they felt now as the Bjorn cut its way almost joyfully through the waves, on what was likely to be its last voyage.
Yue could never distance herself far enough from the current predicament she was a part of before thoughts of her mission slipped back in, and a shadow seemed to pass over her. She looked behind her to look over the main deck of the ship to see Ursa's crew working the rippling, taught canvas of the mast's sheets, coaxing all the speed from them that they could. Nowhere amongst the darkly dressed members of the crew did Yue spot Sasuke's spiky black head of hair moving about. Not that she particularly expected to; if he had taken Ursa's offer to heart, he likely was still boarded up in her cabin and resting, or at least pretending to. Anything to get out of being social, Yue thought.
Sighing, she turned to look back out over the ocean that stretched out before her, a massive carpet of deep blue. She knew what she had gotten into, and had fully ready to accept the responsibility to look after him when Roku had offered to spirit her through to her old world. But did Sasuke really have to make everything so… difficult? It was hard enough to have a conversation with him, let alone actually try and weed out his thoughts and feelings, or wrap her head around his actions. Damned if she hadn't spent a fair bit of time trying to manage to get a handle on him, but he made it such a chore to make any headway. Perhaps it wasn't her place, but Yue wanted very much to get to know the young man she was bound to protect and guide, to understand his motivations, and to figure how this one grumpy and sullen figure could hold so much importance.
She spent minutes more thinking about Sasuke and trying not to get annoyed at his rash use of doing the one thing Roku had advised him against. Perhaps he was right, perhaps there hadn't been another choice, but Yue couldn't help but feel that Sasuke had done it out of pride as much as necessity. She was well aware how much the restrictions he was having to deal with were frustrating him, but he had gone weeks without so much as drawing on those abilities and for them to be entering the final leg of their journey? To use what he called Kamui, now? Yue shook her head.
It's either frustration or resentment that has him so worked up now… it's not like we haven't made good time, all things considered. If the invasion had started, I would know, but we're still in the clear. Was it something I said?
Yue tried to think of a time in the past couple days where her words might have been cause to rile him up perhaps a little much; she and Sasuke had gotten rather good at lightly antagonizing one another, but it had never gotten to the point of forcing them into anything rash.
Maybe I overstepped.
There came an uproar behind her and she turned to walk over and lean over the railing.
It seemed that the current jobs that needed attending had been dealt with as the crew had formed a wide circle around two of their number; both had lengths of dark wood in their hands that Yue recognized as coming from the coastal trees on the islands she and Sasuke had traveled through, known for its strength and used in many forms of construction. These slats had been whittled to smooth edges and looked to be just the ticket for sword practice as the crew cheered for the two men dancing about and slamming the wooden lengths against one another. Yue saw that one of the two men fighting as Delrin, the man who had cried foul of Sasuke and tried to attack him. He seemed quite adept, almost looking to toy with the other crewmember he was engaged with.
"Enjoying the show?"
Yue looked to see the hook-handed man walking up the stairs on her left as he asked his question to her. He still had a hint of that same wariness in his eyes that she had first seen at the pub, but his expression was an amenable one, like he was trying to make amends for something when he truly hadn't done anything to warrant such a worry.
She didn't directly answer him, but asked a question of her own. "None of you look like sailors. Based on your appearances, you look more like mercenaries."
The hook-handed man grinned.
"You'd be right on that one, miss. We were mercenaries when we sailed under Lars, and we're mercenaries still under Captain Ursa. We're all damn good fighters, and thanks to the captain now, we know a fair bit about sailing too."
She looked at him with a furrowed brow. "That Lars, who found her and used her as a… mistress. You weren't sailing men under him?"
Shaking his head, he leaned against the railing with a frown on his face. "Not quite. He told us all what to do sure enough, but never the reason behind why we were doing it. We could sail, but only on his word and instruction. When Ursa put him down and took over as captain, she taught us all the ins and outs of the Bjorn and how to keep her shipshape and sailing. Thanks to her, we know the ship a damn sight better than some of us do the back of our hands."
Deciding that a little probing on Ursa's character could be useful, Yue remarked casually though kept a careful watch on the man, "You all seem to respect her a great deal."
His face grew tight and serious.
"We do. We owe our lives to her, on more than one account. We make our fortunes at her command and we have come to the conclusion that we would willingly follow her anywhere. Even to the ends of the earth and into the jaws of a massive sea snake."
Yue looked at him and he smiled, looking down at the deck below.
"I apologize, perhaps that was in bad taste, considering our circumstances."
He turned and extended the limb that didn't end in a curve of metal.
"I'm one of the captain's right hands, Siado. I'm sorry our number hasn't had the warmest of greetings for you and your bo… your friend."
It wasn't lost on Yue what he had nearly said and she stifled a an uncomfortable expression even as she gave him a small smile, shaking his hand. "Your concern and distrust are warranted. We didn't come aboard and exactly make a very reasonable request of your services."
Siado looked back over the deck and tilted his head from side to side. "I will admit, I remain skeptical of that what you have brought before us. But, Captain Ursa places faith in your claim, and she has yet to lead us astray in sixteen years. I may not have a great deal of faith in your words, but I do have a great deal of faith in hers. We will see within a day whether or not we are to be proven wrong in our suspicions."
Yue didn't reply to this as she looked out over the fight before her. Delrin had knocked down the man he was fighting as both men panted heavily, a triumphant smirk on his face. She wondered if he had at all moved on from his near deadly confrontation with her and Sasuke.
"That's quite a sizable looking blade you have there," Siado said beside her and she turned to see him looking the handle and outline protruding from underneath her travel cloak.
"It's gotten me through a few scraps," she said safely; she wouldn't dare unsheathe it here, not when there was already such a great deal of suspicion surrounding her and Sasuke. The last thing she needed was the crew seeing what surely would look like a magic blade in their midst to add to any potential or brewing chaos.
"You do much swordplay in your time?" he asked and she smiled faintly again, feeling her eyes glaze over as she thought to more than a few examples that might surprise Siado.
"Plenty," she said, letting herself make that confident assertion.
"In that case, why not have a go?" he asked, and she turned to him in surprise. He was smiling back at her, the faintest challenge in the upturned corners of his mouth.
"I'm not up to Delrin's standards, but I'd put myself in the top five swordsmen aboard this vessel," he said, drawing himself up with some mock bravado. "What do you say?"
Yue nearly chuckled at his self-directed humor, but she saw quickly what he was really after. There was a kindness in Siado's eyes there and she could tell he was genuinely trying to open up to her and perhaps make her feel comfortable after what had been a relatively hostile situation that morning. But more than that, she saw the probing, the same probing that she had prodded him with in her words not moments ago. She knew that there was much to her that surely seemed deeply strange; she was aware of her beauty, that natural element that seemed very odd with her wrapped in her travel cloak and with a large sword on her back. Siado wanted to know what she was made of, if this was just for show, or if there was more to her than he might give her credit for. He had seen her step between Sasuke and Delrin no doubt and that surely was playing at both the curiosity of him and other members of the crew.
"Sure," she said, again casually and undid her cloak, letting it fall to the ground at her feet. It was with some satisfaction that she saw Siado's challenging expression flicker as he saw her body; she wore tight-fitting leggings and a breast band that clung tightly to her, and both articles of clothing did a fine job in showing just how lean her frame was, muscled and toned. There was surely some allure there, and also perhaps something to intimidate him as well. She undid the strap that held her sword to her and laid it on top of her cloak, reaching up to tie her hair back in a ponytail as she did; she tilted her head towards the deck as she did.
"Shall we?" she asked. For a long moment, Siado just stared at her before breaking into something of an impressed and disbelieving smile.
"Let's," he said in reply and walked back down the wooden stairs onto the deck, calling out as he did.
"Jaud! Let's have those practicers!"
A crewmate who had come forward to collect the wooden swords moved forward to offer them to Siado, asking as he did, "Who you wanting to square up with today?"
Siado said nothing, merely looked back over his shoulder with a smirk as Yue descended the steps, her walk confident and composed. The eyes of every man on deck turned to her and she had to keep down a smile as they regarded her with various levels of incredulity and allurement. Her gaze passed amongst them and she caught a glimpse of Delrin, his previously satisfied expression fading into one a scowl again, tight with dislike and distrust.
"We're going to have ourselves a little go," Siado said, taking both the wooden lengths and passing one to Yue. She tested the weight of it, raising her hand up and giving it a loose spin; in the movement she could see the incredulity on the faces of some of the men turn into eagerness and anticipation. This was surely not the sort of entertainment they had been expecting to receive on this voyage. Yue moved a distance away from Siado within the circle of men, moving the blade around her body and getting a feel for it as she stretched her muscles, relishing the feeling of the blood running through them. Across from her, Siado twirled his own blade, looking at her with a still smiling impressment on his face.
"Are you ready?" he asked and she met his gaze unflinchingly.
"On you," she offered and he nodded.
"Begin."
No sooner had the word left his mouth did he need to quickly draw up his wooden sword to defend himself as Yue slammed the distance shut between them shut, smacking the wood of her weapon against his in a powerful overhead slash that shook them both at the wrist. Before Siado could do much more than blink with surprise, she drove her wooden blade down the length of his and hooked it around, trying to twist it free from his hand. He caught onto her trick then, and pulled back, jabbing at her stomach as he did, and she was forced to spin away, redrawing the distance between them and readying herself for another onset. A few meters from her, Siado was eyeing her, eyes reflecting surprise and impressment.
Remember, he only has one hand.
Yue reminded herself of this as she examined how he gripped his sparring tool one handed. His size and muscle told her that he was indeed stronger than her and could probably wear her out if it became a duel of attrition, so she decided not to let it get that far.
She let him advance a couple steps before she feigned another overhead before crouching low and twirling on her toes, thwacking him against the thigh with the flat of the wood. He grunted and pulled back the block he had been preparing to hold her overhead with, whipping it down into an incredibly fast downward thrust that hit the deck where she had just been a moment ago, Yue rolling away nimbly and coming to her feet unscathed. She watched him carefully, and wondered for a moment if this was going to be something that would come back to bite her; based on his surprise, he hadn't expected her to be quite as agile and skilled as she was, and judging by the fact that their entire audience was the crew, maybe she was embarrassing him in front of the men he held rank over. Not attacking again, she opted to watch his face as he lifted the point of his wooden sword from the deck and looked at her somewhat blankly.
But instead of a scowl or look of anger, a smile split his face, a genuine one this time.
"You're quick," he remarked and she flipped him a sly smile before returning to the offensive.
For probably around thirty seconds, Yue battered at his defenses with a flurry of smacking wood, using relentlessness to hold her advantage. Based on how he was playing at keeping himself steady with her, this aggression was not expected, but gradually, Siado seemed to be able to find openings where he could strike. Even with just his one arm, every blow he managed to sweep her way was enough to make her arms groan in protest at the effort it took to stop them. She too became distantly aware of the crew starting to cheer and chant, and found herself somewhat flattered to hear that some of the calling sounded like it was in her favor. Still, she knew that she would need to move through him quickly as to not allow herself a chance to make a mistake.
Her chance came when he pulled back and surged forward in a thrust, something he had already tried once before. A move like that took supreme advantage of his reach, something done to try and catch her off guard long enough for him to move in close enough to try and box her back. It wasn't difficult for Yue to telegraph the move however and she let his blow near her before moving quickly towards it, whipping her wooden weapon down as she did. Striking the sword just above his knuckle before he had fully entered his thrust, she found her hunch had been correct as his grip was still loose before following through and his weapon dropped to the deck with a clatter of wood against wood. Yue smiled with mock sweetness up at him as she pressed the edge of the timber blade against the bottom of his throat gently. Siado looked down at her, panting loosely and staring down at her with something like awe.
Then, he smiled back at her and spoke loudly, addressing the whole crew as he continued to look at her.
"We've got a stunner at bladework here, gents."
The crew took up a great deal of noise, some of it sounding like muted cheering and Yue could see the respect on the faces of those around her, some open, some grudging. It would seem that the men of the Bjorn were of the mind that might made right, and if she had just put some dignity to her name by demonstrating her skill amongst them, she supposed that was nothing that wasn't a positive.
"Did you get see that, Delrin? She might even be able to manage you!" one of the men shouted out audibly and their came a measured deal of shouting, most of it coming as encouragement. The circle of men parted and Yue saw Delrin leaning against a barrel, sharpening his real sword and looking far from as impressed as some of his compatriots did. His gaze flicked up somewhat disdainfully towards her, but she could see in his eyes the same wild distrust she had seen once before; this was no judging of her aptitude with a blade, but Yue could tell that Delrin resented her just as much as he did Sasuke. They had led him to an outburst, something that had surely embarrassed him, and if Ursa had been true to her word, she had likely given him a bit of a talking to which would no doubt add to any humiliation he was already feeling. This would lead to a resentment of both Yue and Sasuke which in turn would keep him from so much as even considering the idea of owing credence to their plight. So now, she could see the distaste and lack of trust on his face, even after his fellow crewmates seemed to have started warming up to Yue after her participation in their sport.
The wooden practice weapon that had dropped to the deck was picked up and passed along several men to stop in front of Delrin, handle facing him. He looked from the wood, to the men around him, to Yue and back several times before sheathing his sword and taking the grip of the sparring tool in his hand. His eyes never left Yue's as he did, and he spoke in a voice that was almost too quiet to be heard over the boisterous talking of the crew.
"Shall we dance, miss?"
As relatively passive as the words might have been on their own, Yue didn't mistake for a moment the open threat in them. She looked to his knuckles whitening on the handle as he clenched it tightly.
He means to hurt me.
Though she didn't doubt that Siado had been meaning to beat her himself, thee was much more reserve to his strikes that she knew wouldn't be something he kept in check against a person he meant to do real physical harm to, the same reserve that had kept her from striking him too hard when she had dealt the blow to his leg. But looking at Delrin's face now, Yue could see that there would be no such restraint in his actions. Guest aboard their ship or not, he had developed a personal agenda here, and based on the glint in his eyes, he would very much like to get the chance to indulge in his disdain.
Yue never even thought about denying the duel.
"Of course," she said lightly, trying to not let any sort of trepidation enter her voice. In truth, she didn't feel she had a great deal of need to worry. She was fully confident in her abilities, but she knew that if Delrin was not just the best duelist on the ship but also genuinely out to deal some real punishment, she would have to be on her toes.
Across from her, she saw Siado's expression deteriorating into one of concern, his eyebrows knitting and mouth becoming a tight line as he too regarded Delrin. As Yue moved to stand across from her soon to be opponent, he crossed through the circle within the crew and spoke quietly to her.
"You don't have to fight him, no one here is going to think less of you; you've already managed to completely outperform what anyone here thought you might be able to do."
"That'll make it even better when I manage to beat him too, won't it?" Yue said back, maintaining her light voice. Siado gave her a look and a sigh before shrugging and wishing her luck before moving to rejoin the huddled group of onlookers.
"Last fight before everyone's back to their stations," he called out, and Yue wondered if this was genuinely because things needed to be done, or if because he was worried what two individuals might square up, regardless of whether or not Delrin or Yue won.
Focusing on the fight at hand and shaking off as much of her anxiety towards Delrin's attitude as she could, Yue took the wooden sword in both hands and regarded him as he stood a half dozen meters away, slowly pacing back and forth. He was a fair bit smaller than Siado and she supposed that would make it at least a fair bit easier to counter into his attacks when he came for her, as she was quite confident he would do. If he was going to play things aggressively though, she imagined she would be able to wear him out pretty effectively if she took advantage of a more provoking defense, enticing him to attack her more and more.
Without a word, Delrin advanced, closing the distance between them swiftly and making Yue's prediction accurate. What she didn't accurately predict however was his strength; as his blow fell against her weapon, she felt her elbows want to give at the force of his strike.
Damn, he's strong.
Not wanting to give any sort of initial momentum to Delrin, Yue drew back as their blades came apart and sent a slash his way. He twirled his weapon and slapped aside her strike and Yue felt her lips tighten in regard. Unlike how many other men would have expected to easily block her telegraphed strike, he allowed the power of her swing to aid his deflection, turning it away and both putting out minimal energy of his own to block it, and also opening Yue up to another blow. She managed to get her own weapon up to catch his overhead and was again astounded by the strength his smaller frame was packing.
The duel evolved much differently than Yue's first match had. Whereas with Siado, there had been no point where she had doubted her ability to get inside his guard and disarm him, she was having difficulty even just being able to predict Delrin's strikes, let alone come up with an efficient way to end the contest. She was able to hold her own with him rather effectively, but he fought in a manner that was most curious, feigning when he should have struck, dancing backwards when she would have expected him to block, and so on. If only she had paid more attention to his earlier sparring match she had seen, Yue wondered if that would have provided her something of an edge now. Or perhaps this strange fighting style was a result of his clear dislike of her, something she could still see in his eyes.
They traded blows over the course of what became over a minute and Yue started to feel the fatigue of their violent strikes towards one another becoming more and more apparent. She had trained enough to mentally last against any number of opponents, but her physical body she had been returned to was not at a point where she could handle that same amount of stress that her mind could. It was just as much her fault for striking back so aggressively, but she knew that Delrin was just as accomplished as his reputation made him out to be. Yue could hear the sounds of the men around her fading away, and though she couldn't quite spare a moment to regard any of them, she imagined that they were all starting to perhaps get an idea on just how serious this fight was for the two combatants. Very quickly, Yue was losing her enjoyment of this duel and decided that she would have to end it shortly; she could tell that despite her opponent's skill, she was still just humoring him.
The end came just so, as Delrin's animosity towards her proved just as much a hindrance as an aid to his fighting prowess. He became overly eager with his swipes, and one finally came soaring past Yue, hitting neither her nor her blade as she sidestepped it and Delrin stumbled as the end of his wooden blade thudded against the deck. Yue slammed the hilt of hers into his gut and he bent double as she swept her own weapon underneath his ankles and knocked him over onto his side.
Delrin lay there, glowering up at her, his expression not hinting any sign of respect. The only sound came from the flapping of the sail above and the rush of the waves against the bow of the ship. Remaining silent around the pair of them, the crew simply stared as Yue felt the hammering of her pulse in her throat, trying to control her breathing. The fight had been a couple minutes, but felt like it had lasted seconds, even as her arms burned and denied this possibility.
That was stupid, she told herself. You could have put him down in seconds, but you let that fight drag to a dangerous point.
Angrily, she realized that she had behaved an awful lot like someone she knew.
Finally, Siado's commanding, yet somewhat gentle tone sounded out, "Alright, everyone square up those bets. Then, it's back to work."
There came a host of grumbling and shuffling around her, and Yue looked around in mild bemusement as the crew began exchanging coins amongst their hand. Basing on the gleeful looks being in the minority, Yue realized that a spare few had bet on her and were now paying in heavily for it. She glanced to Siado who gave her almost a guilty shrug as if to say 'That's just how they do things' and she nearly laughed aloud. Turning fully towards him, she walked his way, extending the practice sword to the man who was walking towards her, hands outstretched feeling alacrity slowly ease back into her body.
In hindsight, Yue would curse herself a fool for not having seen it coming. It was only in a pulsing wave of apprehension did she see anything coming and she made it into a half-turn before Delrin's wooden blade hit her.
As the wood met the side of her head, she heard the crack of wood against her skull as a dull echo, pain and numbness blasting her awareness into almost nothingness. There came a weightless feeling that seemed to last ages before she felt the return of that awareness as her body crashed to the deck. Her vision, which had blurred into near total darkness, came back in a hazy mess, a jumble of images before her struggling to make sense in her mind.
There was Siado as well as the other of Ursa's first mates, moving forward and reaching for their weapons, their mouths agape and surely shouting something that Yue couldn't hear over the ringing in her ears. The rest of the crew was closing in on Delrin who was standing again, just above her with a wildly hateful expression on his face, his arm pulled back to strike her again. Yue managed to weakly raise an arm as blood from where his dull weapon had split her skin leaked into her eyes; his strike would surely break or fracture her arm, but it was better than taking another blow to the head.
"That's enough!"
Yue heard Ursa's sharp call as she blinked the blood away and furrowed her brow in confusion at how quickly the scene before her had changed. In the time it had taken her to blink, there had been a drastic change to the setting before her.
Several swords had been drawn by the crew, including both of Ursa's first mates and they had formed a half circle around the main mast of the ship, looking intent and extremely on edge. Ursa herself was standing just before the stairs that led down into the ship's hold where she had clearly just ascended from, her expression fierce and eyes crackling furiously. It was when Yue's eyes found the man that had surprised her and been ready to strike again did she realize just now what the situation hinged on as her pounding head started to free itself from numbness.
Sasuke had Delrin a foot off the ground against the mast, hand crushing the man's throat. Delrin's face was red and his eyes seemed to be fit to burst from his head as his heels kicked and drug against the timber of the mast in an attempt to find purchase. His face alive with spite, Sasuke held him there as still as a statue, utterly unmoved by the man's struggles nor did it seem the captain's orders. He did however seem to have the reservation to at least speak even as he remained quite still.
"Your man attacked her," he said, a low hostility in his voice that was impossible to miss.
"I saw what happened," Ursa said back to him. Her voice rang with someone not at all cowed by Sasuke's utter and sudden domination of the scene; rather, she seemed quite like the only one willing to engage him as Delrin sputtered for air. The rest of the crew was frozen in midmotion, looking like they wanted to remove Sasuke from their crewmate by force, but the power and threat he emanated seemed enough to stay even their hardened number. Yue knew that she too might be able to sway Sasuke's hand, but even the thought of talking was enough to make her want to vomit and movement just then seemed impossible as her head thundered in pain.
"He will be dealt with accordingly," Ursa continued in a clipped voice. "But I must ask that you do not kill him. My word has held him and it continues to do so now."
For a moment, Yue was expecting Sasuke to make some disparaging remark at how little her word had done thus far, but he surprised her by suddenly stepping back and releasing his hand. Delrin toppled to the deck gagging and gasping for breath as he rolled to his hands and feet. Ursa's face seemed to echo the slightest tone of relief as she stepped forward, her crew moving aside for her to pass, seemingly glad she was there to take charge of the situation.
But before she could so much as approach her insubordinate underling, Delrin scrambled to his feet messily before righting himself, facing Sasuke and bending his knees, putting a hand on the hilt of his sword.
At once, everyone froze again, Ursa included.
"Delrin, you are far out of order," she snapped. "Hands down."
He did not comply, merely glared across the deck at the man he seemingly had drawn so much malice towards. His hand brushed against the handle of his sword and as Yue finally found enough lapse in her pain to push herself back and ease herself to her feet, she looked to Sasuke.
His face was blank, a mask of pure resolve, but Yue could see the disdain in his eyes. Unlike Delrin's however, which was so rooted in raw hatred, there was a fair amount of upturned antipathy, like he barely considered Delrin of any note. And as Yue's eyes moved down his body, she could see why.
Sasuke hadn't moved for his own sword, but his body had turned ever so slightly to direct itself at an angle, his right hip pointing towards Delrin. Immediately, Yue recognized this and felt her heart leap with worry. If she was reading this correctly, blood was about to be shed and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it.
Three Weeks Prior
The covered wagon that bounced and rattled down the muddy road held a total of nine passengers, all of whom might have been in worse spirits given the lateness of the night and the rain that had let up, but still drew mud and an uncomfortable dampness from the earth beneath them. The leader had the reins of the two horses pulling the assembly and behind him were two carts; one was shorter and uncovered, and housed the two men that he had pulled up front with him to keep their eyes peeled for threats. The other six men were in the other wagon, sitting with the stash of goods they were transporting and having been instructed not to show themselves unless ordered, a potential surprise for anyone who tried to ambush them.
And as it happened, something did seem to be approaching them rather quickly through the mist that had followed the rainfall, a single figure coming running down the road.
The leader noticed it as his two men behind him called it out and he brought the assembly to a halt, hand reaching for his pistol as the horses threw their heads about in agitation. He could feel his men at his back and found himself rather at peace with the idea of only having to deal with one potential attacker sprinting their way. Perhaps a desperate bandit, or a crazy vagabond starved and wild. But as the person neared them, the leader had to blink to make sure he was seeing things right.
A young woman, radiating beauty like he had never seen before, was running down the road, mud splattering up against her bare feet and legs, her white garments fluttering about her. The leader realized as he caught himself starting mesmerized at her slivery white hair that her clothes underneath her traveling cloak, wrapped around her neck billowing behind her, had been torn and her upper body was mostly visible, and his eyes settled on her breasts that rose and fell with an intoxicating seduction as she ran their way. The leader was an older man, but not yet so old that such things wouldn't arouse a reaction down near his waist.
She looked quite frightened and was screaming as she approached them, a hand gesticulating wildly in the direction from which she had come.
"Please, help! They're going to rape me! They're going to hurt me!"
As she skidded to a halt beside the cart, the leader got to his feet and looked down at her, hoping his expression was as kind and impressionable as he could make it. He had traveled across this island many times and in none of its villages had he seen a woman so beautiful; perhaps she would feel grateful enough for his help to satisfy him in a way that didn't require anything beyond a physical touch.
"Relax, miss," he said, after clearing his throat in what he hoped was an impressive manner. "Who's coming after you?"
"Men!" she practically squealed. "Men from a traveling band! They took me from my village and brought me to the forest where they said they were going to rape and kill me, I only just got away!"
The leader looked over her head, looking to see the bobbing of lights or waiting to hear the distant shouts of following men, but he heard nothing.
"Just relax," he repeated and turned to his two men, already planning how best to comfort her. "Take her aboard and then go to the back and take—"
A hand nimbly reached around his front and withdrew his pistol and its match wrapped around his chest, holding him in place as the barrel of his own weapon pressed underneath his chin. The woman's voice sounded behind him, no longer anything close to the panicked and high tone it had been just a moment before, now sounding lower and in control, no fear to be found.
"Lower your weapons, please," she said as the leader's two men pulled their own pistols free and pointed them her way, faces clearly unsure of how to proceed. None of the three men so much as said a word as the setting became eerily quiet. The leader looked to his men and they met his eyes; there was a flash of understanding and he prepared to lift his weight and hopefully pull free enough from the woman's grip to allow shots to make their mark on her.
He held for a moment as she quietly murmured, "Please don't."
There was a very gentle plea in her voice, something he hadn't expected to hear from someone who had so thoroughly played them. He wondered if she meant this, or it was another ploy like the one he had foolishly walked into. He imagined however that there would be time to consider this later, once the situation had been resolved, and he prepared to make his move.
Unbeknownst to him, the woman holding him closed her eyes sadly as she shifted her body weight slightly to the right and bringing the arm holding him back to make a quick hand signal. Without pause, there was a strange whistling sound that ended in a soft thump; the leader stiffened and began to topple forwards, eyes already glazing over as the kunai protruding from his back sapped away his life.
Yue felt her heart ache, but if she wanted to make it out of there alive, she had eight more men to deal with.
Her feet numbly pulled her body forward and she picked up the body of the leader with a strain, but managed nonetheless to deftly flick his corpse over her shoulder at the men still standing before her. The sudden movement and surprising advance being enough to sufficiently surprise them, both men reacted on instinct and fired both their weapons, each allowed a single shot. One metal ball embedded itself in the flesh of the leader's shoulder and the second missed altogether as both hand cannons seemed to blend together in a single earsplitting thunderclap as the hammers collided with their respective frizzens and created brief flashes that puffed into gunsmoke as the shots were let loose. The sound of the weapons had barely begun to fade before Yue was in full motion.
By the time the leader's body had collapsed to the deck at, she was already stepping over it, her body leaning forward like a tiger about to pounce, her torso moving in a powerful twist. Her hands had gone behind and above her head to grasp the handle of the sword that had remained hidden under her travel cloak and with a yank of her body, she pale green glow of her blade whipped across the distance between her and the two men. Both of them truncated just above the waist, Yue didn't waste a moment as she leapt past their slowly collapsing frames and leapt onto to the canvas that covered the larger connected wagon, her weight causing it to give and she dropped through into the hold.
Her feet touched down atop a large wooden box and as she tucked into a crouch, she looked about. The remaining six men were in various states of rising and looking around inquisitively and intensely; having been no doubt put on edge by the halting of their procession and the ensuing shots, surely the topper on this peculiar evening was a half-naked woman leaping into their midst. Nonetheless, they saw her strange weapon and hands went for swords and wooden pistol grips.
There was a flash of shadow and Sasuke suddenly stood at the other end of the wagon, causing the two men nearest him to cry out in alarm and stumble into their companions.
"Don't touch your weapons. No one else has to die," he said steadily.
The six men in the wagon disagreed, and seconds later, they were all dead.
Yue met Sasuke outside minutes later, having taken one of the kimonos that were packed in the wagon amongst the many things the nine bandits had amongst their stolen goods. Modesty was something that she found was strangely of little concern with her around Sasuke; she often wondered if having been reincarnated in this way had led different parts of her to be steeled or muted, things she previously might have reacted badly to no longer being of any real consequence. But they were posing as travelers, and being properly dressed was yet another thing that might go a long way in keeping any watchful eyes away from them.
Sasuke was preparing a satchel, digging amongst the thieved items within the wagon, refreshing on food and water, and having found a kimono himself. Its color was a deep purple which contrasted rather well with the lighter blue of hers, Yue thought, at least until she shook her head angrily at become distracted by something so trivial and spoke to Sasuke in a brisk, snapping tone.
"We could have taken them without killing."
He replied without looking at her as he sealed the satchel and slung it over the saddle of one of the two horses that he had relieved from their harness.
"You mentioned that well before we engaged them, but if I recall, you submitted to the idea that killing them was less dangerous to us as well as less likely to create risk further down the road should they try and pull anything on us. It was your idea to play the decoy, and in such a manner as well, if you recall, so if you're going to try and—"
Yue walked up to him and took him by the shoulder, roughly turning him to face her.
"We're here to get back to the Elemental Nations! This does not mean we stop to assail a group of men you recognize as bandits, killing just because you're in such a foul mood at all hours of the day!"
His face remained calm and unmoved by her words.
"We took this wagon because we need to get to the coast as quickly as we can; by your own admittance, it would be another six days at least on foot. With the horses, we will make it in a fraction of the time, we've been able to resupply, and when the men from the village no doubt in pursuit of their stolen things continue along the wagon's trail, they will find this scene and take back what is theirs."
Cocking his chin slightly, Sasuke gave her an infuriatingly belittling look.
"I thought you understood that when you took the lead on this."
Her lips curling in anger, Yue turned away and aggressively began packing some things of her own, only the clothes, food and material she thought she might need, not wanting at all to talk to Sasuke just then. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him also collecting a pair of katana and sliding them into cargo sheaths on the saddle of his horse. Within minutes, they were riding into the night, the hooves of their horses kicking up mud as they left the display of carnage behind them. All the while they rode, Yue's mind burned angrily.
It wasn't the killing that was so off putting to her; she had prepared mentally for the necessity of having to take the lives of others in order to save a great many more. She had cried on many an occasion while preparing underneath Roku in the Spirit World and there was no time for such tears now. This was not at all to say that she didn't despise the act still, but acceptance and understanding of the world she was walking into was not something foreign to her.
It really just was him.
Sasuke had a way of unsettling her deeply; she had grown used to resorting to frustration and anger to hide from these feelings, at least openly. He was cold, he was distant, he easily annoyed. None of these things bothered Yue, however.
The hate was what it was.
She saw it every time she looked into his eyes, even on days when he seemed to be in better spirits than usual. Always, there was that hate burning behind the black pits of his eyes. It was hard to say if that was what drove him, but it certainly kept him rather apathetic towards these murders that could in all honesty have been avoided. But her duty was simple: guide, and protect Sasuke. Should he charge into the fray stupidly, she was to be at his side. Yue was never blind to her mission, for failing it could very well mean the collapse of the Elemental Nations and the sheer chaos of an overtaking by those entities of the Spirit World. She would never stray from this path until her mission was seen completed.
But why… why does it have to be him.
They rode into the peak of night before settling in a clearing far off the mud road, nestled snuggly within the forest-covered part of the island. It was drier and warmer there, especially when Sasuke got a fire going to heat their dinners; Yue watched him closely as he worked his hands on the wood to create a spark, waiting for him to snap in annoyance and just create fire from nothing. But Sasuke stayed true to his understanding of the situation and brought the fire to life with his bare hands, no foreign abilities to be seen. He wolfed down his soup and began cleaning and reloading the pistols he had snared from the men they had killed. Yue watched him work as she slowly finished her own meal, her nose scrunching at the sight.
"I hate those things," she muttered. "It's so discouraging that the brilliance of wise men continues to work towards aiding other men in killing each other. We have nothing like that where I came from."
"It's been over a decade since you've been home," Sasuke said without looking up from his work. "Things might very well have advanced technologically since you walked within the Nations."
Though this was very possible, Yue chose not to acknowledge it, instead asking, "When was the first time you saw one?"
Raising the device made of wood and steel, Sasuke looked it over rather as though he might have regarded the remains of a person he couldn't quite identify.
"About eight years back, pretty soon when I began traveling the archipelagos. First one fired gave me quite the start; spent a couple weeks doing work for a local blacksmith in one of the villages, to keep some food in my stomach and to learn about these."
He leveled it and aimed it at some invisible foe making Yue wince.
"They're powerful but so risky. You put one of these in your hand where a sword could go, and if you then either don't kill or don't do enough damage with the one shot you have, you're as easy to kill as a legless pig. They take about a minute to reload, and you will rarely find yourself with that kind of time in any sort of real fight."
Happy to look away from the pistol towards anything else, Yue gave her chin a soft jerk towards the two katanas that Sasuke had taken.
"Is that why you took those? Is the sword you have not enough?"
Sasuke gave the pistol a last look and wrapped it in a cloth before he set it on the ground. He stood then and walked over to the blades resting near where they had the horses tethered to a nearby tree; picking them up, he walked back over to Yue and extended one of them to her. Giving him a small frown, she took it from him and he spoke as she looked it over.
"I don't know how often we're going to find ourselves in need of fighting, but I figure that the more you swing that spirit sword or whatever around, the more likely we are to get noticed."
It was a fair assessment. During her time among the spirits, Yue had trained in all manner of bladed weapon granted to her in an astral sense and the moonlight greatsword she had appropriately taken the most favor in was the one she felt most comfortable wielding, there was no doubt that no sword within the material world held anything close to the same unique standards as hers did. It would be very noticeable as such, to anyone that lived to tell the tale of seeing it.
"These clothes are native to an island north of here. For the time being, we should keep our other belongings, our swords and clothes, of matching respect. Anyone who sees us will see two wandering traveling warriors from the northern islands. We use these swords until it is safe to revert to our craft less orthodox to these places and we can bundle your sword and strap it to the side of your horse in the meantime."
As Sasuke explained his reasoning, Yue drew forth the blade from its saya and looked it up and down. In truth, they could have done with much worse blades if they were going to be using replacements for the time being. Well balanced and well forged if rather simple looking, Yue found she couldn't quite restrain the urge to leap to her feet and swing it about in a few arcing slashes around her.
"Watch it," Sasuke growled and she turned to look at him, angling the blade at the ground near his feet.
"Haven't you figured by now I'm quite proficient with a blade? I know what I'm doing," she snapped.
He narrowed his eyes at her slightly.
"I never said you didn't. But that's a much different sword than what you're used to and I don't need to lose an ear because you're getting all antsy with your new toy."
Yue looked at him closely and realized that he might very well have been made nervous by her actions and that thought alone was enough to bring a satisfied smile to her face.
"What? Frightened that I'll start something you can't finish?"
Just uttering the challenge gave her some degree of satisfaction as he glanced at her with a seriously tense look. Standing about ten feet from her, she noted how his grip tightened slightly on the saya of his own stolen weapon, his right hip angled slightly towards her and she gave him a smirk as she brought her wooden cup to her face to sip at the sake they had made off with.
Yue's body suddenly gave a single, powerful shake of what she found she could only describe as absolute dread. Not since she had been reborn had she ever felt quite so… free of control as her eyes widened at Sasuke who hadn't moved.
Or hadn't appeared to at least.
With a soft couple of sounds, an angle of her cup slid from the rest of the container, hit her knee and fell to the dirt where Yue's feet rested, as she then dropped the rest of it altogether, sake splashing over the ground. Slowly, she brought a hand up to her face, feeling fear like she hadn't expected herself to be able to feel.
There, just on the bridge of her nose between her eyes, she felt the thinnest incision. As her fingers pulled away, she saw the red there to know she was not imagining the every so slightly stinging sensation. As she looked unblinkingly at Sasuke, she realized that his right hand now held the katana that had somehow been drawn in less time than it had taken Yue to blink.
The pair would continue to watch one another for another minute before Sasuke sheathed his blade and returned to dinner, leaving Yue to ponder in stunned silence just how precise he had been to come so close to blinding her and with speed that she hadn't even fathomed could be possible.
Present
Yue felt the memory of that night flash through her throbbing head as she observed Delrin and Sasuke staring one another down. The crew was formed up around on either sides of them and Yue realized that Siado was behind her, a hand resting against her lower back to provide her support. She might have been grateful for his thought if she hadn't been so locked on to what was happening. Fear was surging inside of her; not any fear for Sasuke as she knew how unparalleled his speed and precision were, but fear for what could happen if that speed and precision were brought to the test.
"Delrin," Ursa growled. "You have defied my orders for the third and final time. If you do not—"
"Captain, these two are wicked and deserve to die!" Delrin suddenly shouted; Yue could hear the desperation in his voice, clouded by the hate that drove his words. "They've planted a siren's song in your head and mean to lead us and the ship to our doom! When I have dealt with them both, you will understand!"
Ursa looked rather like she wanted to draw her twin swords and engage her own subordinate then and there, but didn't seem like she quite knew what she could say anymore to rein in the situation. Yue honestly didn't know if there was anything at all, not with how focused and crazed Delrin was acting. Clearly he thought that there was nothing but evil within her and Sasuke, and his intention was to tear them free of the lives that they were using to sway their captain. Looking at Sasuke, Yue tried to see what he might be thinking and was amazed to find that he wasn't even looking at Delrin.
Her companion's eyes were locked on Ursa, standing to the side between him and the man who was so angrily threatening his life. There was no worry, not even really any anger, though Yue could still see the omnipresent hate flickering there. But with a start, she realized that Sasuke's expression rang with a look that was most unlike him.
He was asking permission.
Seemingly oblivious to the fact that his fate was being decided, Delrin continued to ramble.
"They've ensnared all of you with this idea that we will become legends in our own right, and rich to the content of our dreams! But we will die for this man's folly, his warped and impossible idea! He and his wench must pay for this affront!"
His eyes flicked to the side and Yue could feel the murderous intent burning there as he glared at her.
"I suppose I'll start with what's easiest."
As though it were as easy as breathing, Delrin spun on his feel and leapt for her, his sword drawn back behind his head. His speed and reflexes were incredible to make such a movement at such efficiency, Yue thought numbly, even as Siado seemed to try and pull her away from the madman's wrath. She was unarmed and couldn't even think of how best to protect herself from the strike that was coming.
As Delrin's feet his the deck, his upper body seized. He looked as though someone had just jammed a red hot poker into the small of his back, but no sounds escaped his lips as he stood before Yue, now motionless. His eyes were still wide and maddened, but his arms made no attempt to carry out his violent intent, his sword now hanging loosely from his hand as it dangled at his side. He merely stood there, now looking more like he had just been frightened into paralysis rather than continuing to move forward for a kill.
Again, the sound of waves and ruffling canvas were all that could be heard for several long moments before Ursa spoke in a commanding tone, quiet and ripe with anger as she seemed to now ignore Delrin who continued to stand with his back to her, his expression pulled in shock.
"Sasuke, in my cabin if you would please."
She turned and marched into her personal hold as Sasuke looked after her. Before he so much as moved his feet, he turned to look at Yue and she stared back at him unable to manage more than that, such was her pain and shock. He seemed to assess that she would be alright before he sheathed his blade and followed the captain into her cabin.
Immediately, confused mutterings broke out amongst the crew as they tried to rationalize what had just happened. Delrin still stood there, unmoving just a couple meters ahead of Yue, sword hanging uselessly from a slacked hand. Finally, above the bewildered talking of the crew, Siado spoke up and everyone's tone died down as they waited for an answer to his question.
"Delrin… are you alright?"
Delrin said nothing in reply and the crew watched him closely for several long seconds that neared a minute in total length. Then, the Bjorn hit a particularly rough swell and Yue closed her eyes, knowing what was about to happen.
The sound of Delrin's head hitting the deck was a sickening thud as it rolled to one side and causing the crew to break out in a series of shouts and gasps. Yue couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, even as a sad smile pulled at her lips when she realized that not one of the two dozen men around her had realized that Sasuke had somehow been holding his sword when Delrin stopped moving, a feat rather impossible considering it had been sheathed at its side as Delrin had made to put an end to Yue's life.
And Yue couldn't quite shake the thought that she had seen a demon, not a man, walking after the captain into her chambers.