Chapter 2: Buratto
Blinking his eyes open, Usagi was met with the bright glare of sunlight down upon him, along with a small tokage lizard sitting on his chest. He groaned and forced himself to sit up, ignoring the still aching cuts, and rose to his feet as the tokage scurried off.
The tree from the night before had burned to the ground, looking like it had been cut in half by the sword of a god.
But his attention went from the tree to the scorching spot where Jei had been before the lighting had struck him, his long black spear seeming to be the only thing left of him.
Usagi stared at the spear, a look of conviction on his face.
Somehow he knew that would not be the last he had seen of the mad wolf.
Patching up his wounds had been difficult due to the sheer amount of them. Luckily, the hut where he had tracked Jei down was close to a flowing stream. After cleaning his wounds and bandaging them, the ronin found himself on his way back to the village he had taken a brief refuge in during his quest.
The forest he walked through was rife with thick fog, the trees tall and almost stretching up into the clouds.
Reaching up, he adjusted the kasa hat on his head, which he had put on to keep his identity anonymous. One couldn't be too careful in these parts of the land.
Just then an all-too familiar smell reached his nose, forcing him to look up. Ahead of him he saw smoke rising into the sky ahead of him.
Usagi's heart lurched with worry. Oh no, the village!
Moving fast, Usagi spirited out of the forest and into the clearing where the village was.
But when he arrived, all he found was the village in ruins.
Smoke was everywhere, houses had been burned down, wagons were overturned, and the bodies of fallen villagers were everywhere, all having either been cut down by a sword, having arrows sticking out of them, or having been burned to death. It was obvious this village had been attacked by raiders.
As he walked through the village, Usagi kept his hand on the hilt of his katana, ready to pull it out if the raiders were still around.
He stopped in the middle of the town, his eyes shifting towards one of the few intact buildings.
He was being watched, and he knew it.
"I know you're here." Usagi called out. "Come out!"
He put his other hand on the side of his saya, slowly drawing his sword when suddenly a tokage lizard came running out of the house, carrying a severed hand in it's mouth.
Usagi released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding as he watched the lizard scurry off out of sight.
He then heard a rustling sound to his right and he turned to see a familiar face.
"Akemi!" He exclaimed, relaxing his guard.
The cat woman sighed, leaning against her naginata spear. "I'm glad you've come." She said, limping over to him.
"You're injured." Usagi stated, noting her heavily bleeding leg. "What happened here?"
"A band of samurai." She answered, wincing a bit at the pain in her leg. "They must have been ronin. They were led by a mercenary they called 'Sumo Kuma'."
"I have never heard of him."
"All of my samurai have been wiped out. And many villagers too." She said, gazing forlornly at the bodies of the fallen. "I barely escaped. They ransacked the village and slaughtered anyone they could find looking for the Holy Child. But they could not find him." She turned back to him before heading to one of the intact houses. "Come. Kintaro is this way. I hid him well."
The house she led him to only had one room, and at the center was a small trap door, likely leading to a bunker.
Inside the bunker was a small pug dog child sitting at the bottom with a large axe that was way too big for him sitting in his lap.
Upon hearing the creaking of the trap door, the child looked up and stared at them in silence for a moment. "It's about time!" The child suddenly shouted, sounding very angry. "I was in there for days! How dare you treat me so disrespectfully!"
"This is the Holy Child?" Usagi questioned, trying not to sound too incredulous as the child continued to rant about how he didn't like small spaces and that he was going to have their heads for this.
"Please, humor him." Akemi insisted as she reached down to pull him out. "He has been pampered his entire life because he is the Golden Boy, blessed by the gods to have supernatural abilities, just… not yet."
With Usagi's help, she was able to get the pug child out of the hole. "My apologies, Kintaro-sama." She told the child. "This is Miyamoto Usagi. He is a fierce swordsman, and with his help I will deliver you to the Golden Palace."
Kintaro scoffed. "Bah! This sorry-looking long-ear? He looks like he couldn't deliver sushi to a banquet!" With a huff, he heaved his heavy axe over his shoulder and marched out the door.
However, knowing that the child could not be seen by any remaining raiders, Akemi quickly grabbed Kintaro and yanked him back in with a yelp.
"We must get started immediately." She said after making sure it was safe to go out. "The hour has already grown late." However, a sudden surge of pain through her leg caused her to collapse, hissing at the pain as she held her injury.
Usagi and Kintaro rushed to her side with concern. "I am not hurt badly." Akemi insisted. "I must continue with you to escort the boy." She tried to get up, but found her strength failing her as she collapsed again.
"No." Usagi stated. "You are barely able to stand, much less travel over mountains. If you continue like this you will only become worse."
Akemi sighed. "You are right." She admitted. "I am not strong enough yet to travel." She then turned to the pug child. "Kintaro-sama, you must go with Usagai-san, he will keep you safe as long as you do what he says."
But Kintaro frowned and threw his axe down. "I am not listening to this stupid ronin!" He growled stubbornly. "He was late for the battle, and I don't like his face."
"Tarō-kun!" Akemi snapped, making Kintaro yelp, his stubborn resolve having been immediately destroyed. "Do what he says! He will protect you."
Kintaro looked down, nervously twiddling his thumbs. "Well… uh… alright!" He slumped down, defeated. "But I will hold onto my axe of power." He said, picking up his axe and swinging it around a bit. "Just remember your place, ronin, and treat me with the respect I deserve." He swung his axe overhead, only for the sudden weight of the heavy blade to cause him to lose his balance and fall over with a crash.
"Good luck, Usagi-san." Akemi told the ronin as he and Kintaro began their trek out of the village and into the forest.
Usagi looked back at her and nodded before continuing on. Hopefully this child would at least be quiet on their journey.
"You don't even have a horse?! What kind of ronin are you?!"
Usagi almost sighed, doing his best to ignore him as Kintaro continued to whine. "Can you carry me, you smelly rabbit?" The small child asked. "Hello? Can you hear me with those giant ears?!"
"Be silent, Kintaro-sama!" Usagi snapped, shoving a bone into the pug child's mouth. "We must not be noticed on the road." He then patted the child's head as he continued walking.
Kintaro frowned, spitting out the bone. "What?! You dare insult the Golden Boy by giving him a bone?!"
Usagi resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he lowered his kasa hat, hoping to tune out the Golden Child's rambling.
"So, ronin, the gods have brought you to me again." Jei grinned, gazing at them through the vision of his water. "No one has escaped my blade before, I will need great warriors by my side in my crusade. Strong warriors powerful enough to destroy you, Miyamoto Usagi, and claim the Golden Boy for me."
He then reached into his black kimono, pulling out four turtle talismans. One blue, one red, one purple, and one orange.
"Powerful pawns to strike when the time is right."
And so ends the second chapter! Usagi and Kintaro heading off to the sky temple, and Jei getting ready to summon our boys in green. Next chapter, we'll see what the Turtles are up to. Until then, bye!
