This is a follow-up fic to my other story The Spear Wielder
You do not need to read the first one to make sense of this. I'm always careful about that for companion pieces in the same universe.
Oo0Oo0
"Dammit!" The young woman's fist hit the wall of the captain's office with a thud. "We've been tricked!"
The boy next to her was reading the records book. His eyes were sharp as he flipped through the pages while his teacher paced irately around the room like a tiger. He seemed to be around ten, though small for his age, made more so by his too large jacket.
"I can't believe this!" The young woman jammed her head of her iron spear into the floor in frustration, her hands fumbling about to fix the straps of her iron and leather bracers. "We've missed them!"
The boy nodded absentmindedly as he continued flipping through the book.
"I don't want to hunt these people down in the wild, I'd rather have them come to me for a beating, you know?"
"Of course, Ren."
Ren stopped for a moment, a large map on the wall catching her sharp grey eyes. She brushed her short, wavy hair out of her face and moved closer to it.
"Kai, do we know anything about the daimyo of this country?"
The boy shook his head, "Not really. Shinju doesn't like him though."
Ren tucked her dark hair behind her ears and examined the map closely. "The capital city of the Land of Rivers has this nice big port on the sea to transport goods or a bunch of kids and the nobility just ignores it in their own backyard…"
Kai placed the record book on the desk to adjust the red clan sash at his waist that matched his teacher's. He pulled it tight and double checked the security of his waist pack before going through the drawers of the desk.
"Whoever is running this operation is smart, running a lot of deals for rich people to keep their noses clean and out of trouble." Ren's brow furrowed in disgust. "Who would look twice at someone who delivers to the Daimyo?"
"Shinju did say that what little military force existed here was destroyed during the war."
"Right, the Land of Rivers doesn't really have a Kage, they're too small so the Daimyo makes takes a more active position to manage what little military power the country has. They make enough money from trade to hire shinobi from the Five Great Nations."
The sound of ripping paper echoed through the room as Ren pulled the map off the wall. It was a very nice map of the country, she thought she should keep it for her growing collection.
"Yes, they never had a big military force but their economy has not taken much of a dip if they're still importing goods to help hide the trafficking."
"Nice stuff too." Kai piped up as he examined some more papers from the desk. "Spices, silk, wine-"
"Luxury goods," Ren's thoughtful frown darkened as she examined the map. "Shinobi and mercenary forces are the backbone of these nations financial strength," Ren began to pace again. "Business here has slowed but, why are the people living so hard and suffering so much? The funding is here, even if it is less than previous years."
Kai tapped his foot a couple of times before he picked up the book again and flipped it to a recent page before bringing it to Ren who stopped to give her student her full attention.
"What if it is for an event?"
Ren took the the book from her student and read the page quietly, making occasional, thoughtful noises.
"They make most of their money in trade, they have the mere skeleton of a military force after the war…"
The recorded stops from previous trips showed that this ship would got to the Land of Iron as its next stop.
"What are you thinking, shishou?"
"I'm not sure yet… But I have an inkling of something." She snapped the book closed and took another look at the map, her gaze lingering on the daimyo's castle that was built into and encompassing a mountain. "We need to see Shinju!"
A cry from beneath their floorboards made the pair jump.
"Maybe this place isn't empty after all!" Ren pocketed the record book and picked up her iron spear, sending her chakra through the blade and staff, firm and unyielding as rock, stone and earth. She took a deep breath and slammed the pommel through the wooden floor, breaking a floorboard in two, one half falling down into the hole that had opened into a small room with wooden crates.
"If you're here, speak up!"
A chorus of muffled voices answered her.
Ren cracked more floorboards until there was a hole big enough for her to jump into. It was dark in the little room and it took Ren's eyes a moment to adjust.
"Say something!"
There was more noise, more enthusiastic than before. Ren was quick to pinpoint the noise from the crates, popping the crates open by shattering the locks with her pommel.
It was a quick thing. The three children tumbled free of the crates, woozy and a bit confused but alive.
"Let me guess, you were kidnapped?" Ren's voice had a confident, cockiness to it that seemed to proclaim that she already knew the answer.
A girl with red hair nodded as she staggered to her feet. "Are you the spear woman they were complaining about?"
"I hope so," Ren smiled brightly as she pulled a smaller girl off the floor. She wobbled on unsteady legs. "You three stretch and get ready to move out."
The boy staggered over to another crate. "Hey lady! Can you open this?"
"The name's Ren. There's not another kid in there, right?"
"No. Weapons. The others were taken away already."
Too late. Damn!
"Unless you know how to use a weapon it won't help you," Ren's voice was low and firm. "You'll have to trust me to get you to safety."
The redheaded girl spoke up. "Those weapons were payment for the other kids."
Ren's eyebrows almost hit her hairline in surprise, with a quick overhead swing of her spear she cracked the crate open and a collection of finely made daggers emerged onto the stone floor. The work was stunning, each weapon was crafted with skill that revealed a master craftsman at the height of their abilities. They matched some of the blades she had found on previous adventures on other harbor ships. Weapons as payment was new information, but Ren had been suspecting as much for close to a month.
"You all have bloodline abilities right?" Ren stood back up and turned her gaze to the door beyond.
The redheaded girl seemed to have a bold personality to match her fiery hair as she stepped forward to speak for the other children. "Our chakra is being suppressed by seals." She turned her back to Ren to reveal a fuinjutsu that began at the top of her spine and disappeared underneath her ragged clothes. "I've been trying to break it, but I'm not having any luck."
Ren leaned closer for a better look, her jaw clenched in thought. She had gotten to other children before they made it to these ships, stopping the inland carts on the road into the city. This route to the outskirts had flown under notice of the operation she was working with until Ren threatened one of their civilian transporters into talking.
"I don't know enough about seals to feel safe trying it myself. Let's get you all out of here before they come back."
Kai made a nervous noise above them. "Lady Ren!"
There was a loud noise from a the other side of the door.
"Kai," Ren hissed, "Down!"
The boy jumped down the hole, the older girl pulling him aside protectively as the door swung open. Kai took position at the back of the group, his smaller frame hidden by the older, larger children.
"Damn!" Ren gripped her spear tightly as her eyes darted up and towards the men entering the room. "Guess we're fighting our way out of here."
Oo0Oo0
"Over the bridge! Now!" The spear-woman barked at the four children who were staring at her in awe and terror as the shouts behind them grew louder.
Kai grabbed the hand of the younger girl and pulled her onto the rope bridge that was swinging wildly over the gorge below.
"Follow Kai!"
The remaining two children nodded, going after the Kai and the girl as Ren took a defensive stance and waited. The wind picked up speed and the bridge rocked in the wind behind her. She took a few steps back onto the shaking bridge as she held her spear in front of her. She was going to make a choke point and make them come to her in a single line.
Fighting her way out of the ship had been no simple task. She had drained her chakra severely to get everyone out unharmed. Even f those kids could access their bloodline abilities, they were still too drained from captivity to do effectively.
Bastards.
If they wanted these kids so bad, they could pry them out of her cold, dead hands.
And Ren was very hard to kill.
The wooden planks of the bridge swayed beneath her as she walked backwards towards the middle, her chest becoming cold and hollow as she caught a glimpse down to the river far below.
Okay, Ren. Don't screw up.
She knelt down to place some paper bombs on the bridge in front of her between the plank boards, hiding them carefully from view before making sure her chakra wire was attached to the one in the center. If she was going to blow the bridge, she wanted to do it right. Ren took a deep breath to get back to her feet.
This was dangerous. This was crazy. Master Juro was going to kick her sorry ass in the next life.
Ren had to do this. She had to do it correctly. There could be no mistakes. Her heart beat rapidly like a bird as the bridge swayed again over the gorge as the last of her pursuers stepped onto the bridge.
What the hell did his mother feed him?
This man was absolutely massive, easily a foot taller than Ren and some extra. Broad shouldered and made of muscle. More of an ox than a man perhaps. The thing that made him more interesting to Ren was the large spear her carried that matched his light armor.
Spear users were rare in this part of the world, shinobi found them impractical though Ren had heard of a traditionalist sect of samurai who still practiced this ancient weapon. Was this a member? If so, why was he so far from home?
Ren smiled crookedly and adjusted her weapon, moving into a low attack position. "How you doing?"
"Where are the children?" He snarled, his voice was deep and rumbly, hinting at vicious temper that Ren was sure she had yet to see as he grasped his spear.
"What children? I haven't seen any of those around her." The wooden plank beneath her creaked ominously as she shifted her weight to her back foot to raise her spear slightly.
"Liar."
Ren's voice stayed calm. "Smarter than you look, aren't you?"
"I've heard about you spear wielder."
"Me?" Ren batted her eyes in a way that could be construed as playful and flirtatious. "I'm flattered! What exactly have you heard about me?"
"You're a menace."
"From a certain point of view."
"A samurai killer."
Ren sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, "He was drunk and naked. More an execution than a straight fight."
"And the second?"
"He and his goons wanted the bounty. They died for it."
Almost killed Ren too, getting impaled hurt and she had no intention of repeating the mistakes of that fight.
The man's expression was unchanged, though his eyes seemed to glimmer from the excitement of fighting someone like Ren. She did not see the appeal, but she knew that she stood out in a warrior culture that embraced deception and underlying meanings. Ren was who she was and wore it well, and that made her an easy target to people who needed money or an ego fix.
Sometimes, it was best to lean into people's surface ideas.
"If you're all your master is sending, he needs better men."
He drew his spear and flowed into a fighting stance.
"Oh, did I hit a nerve? Sorry. I just don't like fighting third rate spearmen."
Ren had never fought another spear fighter actually, but that was not important right now.
"You have no idea who I am, though you use our craft."
Ren shrugged, "I'm only interested in answering a single question."
"What would that be?"
"If a samurai falls down a ravine, does he make a sound?"
The spear fighter lunged forward, his weapon coming at Ren with grace and precision. Ren shifted her weight to deflect the blow with her spear pommel and try to stab his feet. He moved to the side avoiding the hit only to run into the thick ropes along the side of the bridge, seeming to bounce off them as he swiftly moved to retaliate with such force Ren was sure the bridge would flip over.
This was not an ideal place to fight, and Ren did not want to leave the kids alone for too long.
She turned her side to her opponent to give a smaller area to hit while dodging and deflecting the quick stabs of his spear, waiting for the right opportunity to unleash her trap. Ren leapt back to increase her movement and put him where she wanted him.
It was strange to fight someone who favored the same techniques Ren loved so much. Juro loved to duel wield a pair of kama scythes and a sword as a sub weapon, Ren had to teach herself the spear from books and practice with a man who knew nothing about it.
Ren took an opening and stabbed the samurai in the shoulder, coming through the shoulder gap in his armor.
He swore loudly and Ren smirked in triumph.
The spearhead of the samurai's weapon glowed with infused chakra, the weapon morphed into something longer and more dangerous. Before Ren could react, the extended blade formed a three prongs like a trident and moved forward swiftly of their own volition and pierced her upper arm.
The pain was intense. Ren could feel the blade cutting through flesh, tissue and muscles were severed when the chakra blades grazed the bone of her upper arm as it was wretched free of her body.
She screamed, barely managing to stab him in the thigh with her spear blade as his weapon pierced her body. Ren managed to wrench herself free when the blood pouring from her arm so quickly she felt lightheaded as she staggered back.
"Nowhere to run!" He stepped forward, looming over Ren like a shadow.
Right where she wanted him.
Blood flowed freely down her arm. That was a lot of blood…
"You're right…"
With the last of her strength, Ren slammed her spear onto the bridge and moved her chakra through the wire and into the small explosive tags she had hidden under the boards of the bridge.
The bridge gave way from the force of the explosion, the rope and wood that made the bridge that covered the explosives quickly burning away to ash.
Ren held onto the bridge with chakra she had forced to the soles of her feet grasping her spear as she swung through the air on the falling bridge.
She screamed.
This was a stupid idea. Ren really had to learn to think things through!
There was loud crashing sound as the bridge slammed into the cliffside.
"KAI!"
Don't think about the blood!
"KAI! ROPE!"
There was a rush of childish voices from over her head and a rope was thrown over the side with a large noose tied at the end. Ren got the loop over her head and under her arms, being careful not to drop her spear into the gorge below as the noose pulled tight.
"Ready?"
"PULL!" Ren shouted to her student as the edge of her vision began to grow fuzzy. Her arms shook as rested them on the ledge as the kids helped her back onto solid ground.
"Shishou!" Kai's voice echoed through Ren's head as he and the older boy helped her back to the tree line and sat her down next to a tree. "That's a lot of blood. We need bandages!"
"I thought she said she didn't get hurt!" The older girl, Setsuna said as her voice rose in panic.
"She said she can't be killed in battle!" The younger girl shot back.
"Anyone can be killed!" The older boy, Satoshi, added in a sharp tone.
"She's not dead!" Kai fired back loudly. "Shut up and find the bandages!"
"I'm gonna have to cauterize these," Ren muttered as she slumped against the tree at the kids gathered around pulling strands of cloth apart for bandages. "I don't want to start a fire, the smoke will smell and bring attention."
"Do you need the field pills?" Kai pulled out a small tube container, giving it a quizzical look as he felt how empty it was. "Never mind."
Ren gave a low laugh, she had made that batch last week to restore small amounts of chakra. She was going to have to rest soon, relying on pills and her relentless stamina was not good in the long term, even for her. The only thing that would get them all back to the safe house would be willpower alone.
Satoshi stepped forward, holding out a small container of something that looked like small pills. "I stole some of these on our way off the ship. Would they help?"
Ren's woozy mind whirred. "I think those are proper soldier pills. Thats a good idea." It would hurt like hell, but it would allow stop the bleeding long enough to get her on her feet and lead the kids back to the safe house. She looked at the two girls, Setsuna was shaking. "I'll take half of one I think. Setsuna, I'm gonna need bandages ready," the girl nodded. "Naomi, get the scarf out of my pack and fold it as thickly as you can, I'll need something to bite down on. Then you two help Kai with whatever he needs. I'll use the spear blade, hopefully I'll only have to do this once."
The girls quickly got to work.
Kai was taking care of Ren's spear, he wiped the blood off the weapon before sanitizing the spear blade with medicinal alcohol and a fresh rag. He rested the spear across Ren's lap, his eyes wide with nerves.
"Kai, can you get some medical alcohol on this?"
Kai nodded and applied the medicinal spray quickly. Ren hissed through her teeth. When he was done, Ren took the scarf from Naomi, Setsuna finished arranging the bandages. The spear woman turned her gaze to Satoshi as the alcohol finished drying.
"Satoshi, hold me up and if I pass out, hit me over the head," she bit half of the soldier pill, swallowing it quickly before bringing the scarf to her mouth and took as much of it in as she could before biting down. Ren grasped her spear just under the blade and waited.
Satoshi put his hands on her shoulders and closed his eyes. His grip was tight and frightened. Ren took a deep breath and felt the warmth of her quickly replenishing chakra move through her body. Good it would be easier to alter its state if it already felt warm. She willed it to burn, the recalled the smell of heavy summer storms and the sensation of her hair standing on end as lightning crackled through the air. Ren could feel that energy moving through her spear.
Without a second thought, she brought the spear down on her wound as sparks of heat and lightning jumped off the blade.
Oo0Oo0
Author's Note: Was a follow up fic warranted? No.
Am I compelled to write this thing? Yeah.
Why? I really like the style here of short action fiction. A lot of this fic is drafted, several parts are written out but disconnected.
In short, you will get multiple POVs. Which means I can write more fight scenes down the road.
Don't expect regular updates on this fic, it will be finished but it's a side project, my advice is to follow for updates.
