- Momiji -
Momiji had never been to the Mugen Tenshin clan before, she was curious about the famed ninja clan.
The clan elder, who had introduced himself as Hiroshi escorted her and Ryu through the forest until they came out on a clearing overlooking a large narrow canyon; a waterfall cascaded into a river some fifty feet below. There was an ancient but sturdy-looking bridge crossing the gap; more dense forest waited for them on the other side.
Hiroshi lead them across the bridge and onto a narrow path. They walked, single file through the forest for a good five minutes. Momiji following behind the older ninja closely, Ryu right behind her, bringing up the rear. She began to wonder how remote this clan's location was exactly.
The path began to widen, finally, the dense brush broke and lead out under a huge cliff. The edge of the path overlooked a large open valley with beautiful grassy meadows.
It was mid-day and the sun was high in the cloudless sky. A light breeze rippled through the meadows, and the light reflected off a lake in the distance. The sight was so beautiful Momiji stopped to stare.
Hiroshi noticed her reaction, he smiled. "The Hayabusa village doesn't offer a view like that does it."
Walking a short distance, the path started sloping upwards along the cliff. They continued along the path until they neared the top. Eventually, they came up on a cave in the side of the cliff; they were lead inside. Dimly lit by torches, there was a narrow set of stairs carved into the stone, they walked up them single file.
Walking up the stairs for a couple of minutes, they came out in another cave. This one large and the mouth was only a few feet from them.
Exiting the cave, they followed the path into more forest area. This one, however, wasn't nearly as dense as the last. Momiji could see a large gate up ahead, with two ten-foot guard towers on opposite sides and a surrounding wall. The gates opened as they approached.
"Welcome to the Mugen Tenshin clan," Hiroshi said. Extending his arm in welcome.
It was like a city. They were in the middle of a huge bustling circle. People crowded the street. shops and stalls all around. The scene reminded Momiji of Tokyo. She didn't know what she expected the ninja clan to be like, but this wasn't it.
Ryu smiled, seemingly knowing what she was thinking. "Missing the peaceful village life?"
"It's so big... How many people live here?"
"Some thousands, but the actual ninja clans are much smaller than that. Come on, we're being left."
Momiji looked up and saw Hiroshi was waving at them, he had already started down one of the crowded lanes branching out from the main circle. Ryu took her hand, so they wouldn't lose each other and followed the older ninja. She hoped no one noticed the faint blush creeping up her neck.
They weaved through the crowd. Buildings stood on either side of the road, varieties of different vendors were selling a range of products, from fresh produce to baked goods, to trinkets, to weapons.
One woman stopped Momiji and tried to sell her luxurious jewelry, but Ryu pulled her along before the woman could drag her into her shop.
The further they progressed, the crowd started thinning. Until the rows of buildings ended in what looked like an inn. There was a road behind the inn connecting the other streets, Hiroshi had taken them through the central street, there was one on either side with even more shops and vendors.
"Just up ahead," Hiroshi said. "The meeting hall for all the clan's factions is just up ahead."
"Factions?" Momiji questioned.
"The Mugen Tenshin clan is divided into two factions," Ryu said. "The Tenjinmon and the Hajinmon, Hayate is the leader of the Tenjinmon, the most prominent and forefront faction of the clan. Ayane is the head ninja of the Hajinmon, their numbers are fewer but they are every bit as deadly. The clan is governed by a group of twelve masters."
Momiji was familiar with both Hayate and Ayane, although she had never met them in person. She had never met anyone from the clan actually.
Crossing the road, they were in what looked like a residential area. A few rows of houses lined the street, replacing the shops. Sitting on a hill was a wide single-story temple. The road lead up to a set of intricately carved steps leading up to a large gate with a surrounding eight-foot white stone wall. Red shingles lined the top of the wall and gate.
The temple reminded Momiji very much of the one at the Hayabusa village. They walked up the short set of steps, Hiroshi opened the gate and they entered the courtyard.
"Master Hayate should be right inside, he'll be waiting for you. I must return to my post now," He said, bowing.
"Thank you for your hard work," Ryu said. They walked up to the main temple entrance, stepping onto a wooden deck, Ryu slid the door open and they stepped inside.
The main hall of the temple was a simple room, the walls were plain, with only a few decorative hangings adorning them. Two hallways lead off into more of the temple on either side of the room. The building was square-shaped, with an open courtyard and garden in the middle.
A door was open at the far side of the room, Momiji could see out into the courtyard, beautiful garden beds and cherry blossoms were in full bloom. There was a small pond in the center with a large maple tree overlooking it.
Hayate was standing in the middle of the room, speaking to two ninja's dressed head to toe in black gear, masks covered their faces and they had short close-cropped black hair. When he noticed who had entered, he said something to the two ninjas, they bowed to him and exited through the open door.
"It is good to see you unharmed my friend," He said smiling, walking over to greet his guests. "What happened? Omitsu, along with a group of others arrived at the clan a few days ago. She said the Hayabusa village was attacked, but she didn't have any details."
"The village was attacked by someone we think is called Nyx," Ryu said, skipping straight to business. "She bore the appearance and traits of the primordial being from legend."
"Hmm, I'm not too familiar with the story of Nyx," Hayate said as if this was an everyday occurrence. If he was at all surprised by what Ryu had said, he didn't show it. "What do you think she could have wanted?"
"I'm not..."
"Master Ryu was wounded," Momiji said bluntly, interrupting the conversation. Hayate looked at her, this time he did look surprised.
"It's not what's important right now," Ryu said, giving her a sharp look.
"Master Ryu was cut by a dagger that woman was holding," She said, completely ignoring Ryu and speaking directly to Hayate. "It was a cursed blade, and it's searing away his soul. Can you help?"
Hayate was silent for a second, his surprised expression turning serious once he saw the bandage on Ryu's arm.
"Is that true?" He asked.
Ryu didn't reply.
Hayate sighed, he turned and gave Momiji a warm smile. "Thank you for telling me, I'm sure Ryu would have conveniently forgotten to mention it until he had collapsed."
Momiji grinned, "And then told you he was alright."
"Yes," Hayate said laughing. "You must be Momiji, I've heard a lot about you but we haven't been properly introduced. I am Hayate, the current leader of the Mugen Tenshin clan."
"It is an honor, Master Hayate,"
"Now that you are acquainted," Ryu interjected, "I need to speak to Hayate... alone. Go check on Omitsu and the others."
After a few seconds glaring contest between the two. She finally relented and did what he asked.
"It was a pleasure meeting you," she said to Hayate.
She walked out of the temple in a huff. Ryu didn't usually leave her out of things, especially not anything important like battle strategy. She wondered what could be so important that he had to speak to Hayate privately about it. She was becoming increasingly more irritated with her master's stubbornness. She didn't understand why he was so hell-bent on ignoring a serious injury.
She walked back through the temple courtyard, down the stairs and started through the residential area. She was lost in thought and wasn't paying too much attention to what she was doing or where she was going, not even when she entered the open-air market and started fighting through the crowd.
There must be something more going on with Ryu, that was the only thing she could come up with. His priority was to the village, she knew that. But this reckless behavior and complete disregard for his own health wasn't like him.
Momiji contemplated what could be behind her master's odd behavior until she looked up and noticed she was standing in the huge crowded circle again. She had been so deep in her own thoughts she had forgotten what she was originally supposed to be doing. She hadn't even asked where to find Omitsu and the other villagers.
She was just about to ask one of the vendors for help when a pretty young woman approached her. She was wearing a blue kimono, with flowers embordered on it. Her striking orange-brown hair was tied back in a ponytail.
"Do you need some help?" She asked, "Forgive me, but I haven't seen you before and you seem lost."
"Yes, thank you," Momiji said gratefully. "I'm trying to find a woman named Omitsu, she's arrived here from the Hayabusa village a few days ago."
The girl considered for a moment, "I think I remember seeing her at the training ground awhile ago, Would you like me to take you there?"
"Yes, please," Momiji said, smiling at the girl.
She began walking back in the direction of the temple, Momiji following behind.
"Thank you for the help, my name is Momiji."
The girl gave her a warm smile. "My name is Kasumi, Welcome to the Mugen Tenshin clan."
Momiji knew who Kasumi was of course, but she didn't expect to meet her here. The last she had known she had been on the run from her former clan. But that didn't seem to be the case anymore.
Kasumi lead her through the market, weaving easily through the crowd. When they reached the inn and the road connecting the main streets, they took a left and headed along the residential area. The road lead up to the large city wall. There was an arch in the wall when a guard standing nearby. The guard bowed respectfully as they walked past.
The path lead back into the forest for a short way.
"It's right up here," Kasumi said.
The forest gave way to a large open field, with a small single-story dojo in front. The door was open and Momiji could see there was someone already inside. Kasumi took her inside the small building.
There was a girl with short purple hair, dressed in all black ninja gear beating on a wooden dummy. When she noticed the two, she stopped what she was doing and whipped the sweat from her face.
"Who is this?" the girl asked Kasumi.
"This is Momiji, she came here with Master Ryu," Kasumi said. "Momiji, this is Ayane."
"It's nice to meet you," Momiji said. So she met Kasumi and Ayane as well as Hayate. The Mugen Tenshin's three of the most prominent ninja.
"We're looking for Omitsu, have you seen her?" Kasumi said, "I thought I saw her over here earlier this morning."
"You just missed her," Ayane said. She turned to Momiji.
"So you came here with Master Ryu, huh?"
"Yes," Momiji replied.
"You're his apprentice right?"
"Yes"
"You're the only person he's ever personally trained right?"
"Yes"
"He's been training you since the dark dragon blade incident right? Would you care to spar?"
"Ayane! Don't interrogate her, there's no need to bring up such topics." Kasumi snapped.
"I'm sorry for her," She said. "She has a great deal of respect for Master Ryu."
"It's alright," Momiji said, "Actually I have a question for you both as well."
"What is it?"
Momiji was a little bit abashed, "I'm sorry but the last thing I heard you were on the run from your clan and you were ordered to assassinate her," She said pointing at the half-sisters. "How is it that you are in the Mugen Tenshin clan?"
Kasumi smiled, "I've only just recently been forgiven for abandoning my clan, It helps when your brother is the clan leader."
Ayane went back to beating on the training dummy. Apparently getting bored with the conversation.
"Since Omitsu isn't here right now, I would like to take you up on your offer," Momiji said to her.
She had only spared against Ryu, this could be a good opportunity to test her skills against someone from another clan. Plus she was still irritated and was itching for a good fight.
Ayane's eyes lit up and she smirked. "Excellent, now this is getting interesting."
The two kunoichi bowed to each other and began to spar.
- Ryu -
"You'll have to tell her eventually," Hayate said, watching Momiji as she walked out of the temple.
Ryu did not reply. "Is there somewhere we can talk"
"Follow me,"
Hayate lead Ryu down the hall and into a room on the side. It was a modest-sized room with a window in back looking out into the center courtyard. The walls were decorated with paintings of various landscapes. There was a desk sitting in the middle of the room, a bookshelf and padded bench sat against the wall.
Hayate crossed the room and sat down behind the desk, he gestured for Ryu to have a seat. And he did, in a chair opposite Hayate.
"We need..." Ryu began.
"Your apprentice is right. You should pay more attention to your health." Hayate said, giving Ryu a serious look.
"There's nothing to be done about it. You know as well as I do there's no way to cure this curse."
"You could still prolonge it, exerting yourself only weakens your soul faster,"
"Nyx needs to be dealt with immediately, we cannot allow her to get any stronger."
"How long would you say you have?" Hayate said, disregarding his statement. "You're strong and your lineage will certainly help,"
Ryu had no answer.
"If you had been treated immediately and not unnecessarily exerted yourself like I'm sure you did, you could probably have been able to live another couple years." Hayate continued,
"So how long do you think you have now? A few months? A few weeks? A few days?"
Ryu still didn't reply. Hayate was getting increasingly more irritated with his friend.
"And when the curse eventually burns your soul away completely, then what? How do you think your apprentice will feel? How about your father and the village? Hell, what about me?"
"What's done is done," Ryu said quietly.
"How did this even happen? I can't believe you would let your guard down against anything with a weapon like that."
"They were going for Momiji."
Hayate sighed, all his momentary anger draining away "At least take some health elixir."
"I will, thank you for the concern and sorry for the trouble."
Hayate grumbled something. "So what was it that you didn't want to say in front of your apprentice?"
"I have a theory on what Nyx could be after and why she targeted the village,"
"I'm listening"
"First, how much do you know about her?"
"Not a lot I'm afraid, I just know she was the deity before Gurdu and she aided Vazduh."
"That's the gist of the story," Ryu said. "When the thirteen dragons defeated Vazduh, they threw her into the deepest part of the underworld."
"When the youngest of the thirteen dragons became corrupt by envy towards his brethren, he waged war against and defeated his siblings." Ryu continued. "The remaining twelve dragons crafted the Dragon Sword and the Eye of the Dragon from their essence and spiritual power, bestowing it on a human warrior so that he could have the power to defeat the Dark Dragon."
"So what? Do you think she's after the Dragon Sword?" Hayate asked.
"More likely the Eye of the Dragon, without the eye the Dragon Sword is just a sword," Ryu said. "The twelve dragons descended from Gurdu, she could still be holding onto a grudge."
"Where is the eye? What can she even use it for?"
"That I do not know. As for where it is, Momiji has it," Ryu said. "Nyx will have to get to Momiji if she wants the Eye."
"Which brings me to the main point. First, can I count on the Mugen Tenshin clan for aid?"
"Of course," Hayate said nodding.
"Good, then we need to prepare. Also, when the time comes to deal with Nyx, Momiji will not be joining us."
Hayate sighed, "I expected you to say something like that, you know she's not going to like that."
"It's for the best," Ryu said stubbornly. Hayate knew there was no arguing.
"Kasumi is back in the village, and Ayane is always raring for a fight," He said. "I notified Rachel that we might need her assistance, she's currently on standby..."
Suddenly the door slid open. A tall woman dressed in black battle gear walked in. her long blond hair was wrapped in a ponytail, her beautiful features didn't match her devilish appearance.
"Actually she's present," Rachel said
Hayate jumped to his feet to greet his guest. "Rachel! it's good to see you."
Ryu also got up to greet his friend. "I assume you are already aware of Nyx?" She was a fiend hunter after all.
Rachel surveyed him. "I could sense the power of a greater fiend getting stronger, yes. You look like shit, what happened?"
Hayate filled her in on Ryu's situation. Rachel rolled her eyes. "That sounds like something he would do."
They all sat down, Rachel taking Ryu's seat. She crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair. Hayate back around the desk and Ryu on the padded bench against the wall.
"So you said this fiend's name is Nyx?" Rachel asked.
"Yes," Ryu said. "Are you familiar with her?"
"I can't say that I am," Rachel said unconcerned, "She's a goddess or something right? I think I have run into a few cultists that mentioned something about awakening her."
Ryu gave Rachel the same story he had just told Hayate.
Rachel considered for a moment. "She could be trying to rid the world of humans, there has been reports of people going missing in Tokyo."
"A lot of the villagers seemingly disappeared too, at least we couldn't find any bodies."
"She could be trying to plunge the world into chaos," Rachel mused, she was checking her nails and had a supremely unconcerned air about her. "Frankly, I don't care what she's after."
Ryu grinned in spite of himself. He always found Rachel's blunt, unfiltered personality refreshing.
"We should begin planning as soon as possible," He said.
The door slid open for a second time. "Ryu!" Omitsu said, walking in. "I just heard you were at the clan."
"Omitsu, it's good to see you unharmed," Ryu said, getting up to greet his former teacher. "Did Momiji come find you?"
"No I haven't seen her, I'm so glad she is unharmed, I knew she must be with you when I didn't see her."
That wasn't like her, Ryu thought. When he asked her to do something she would do it, no matter how much she didn't want to.
"I got everyone out I could, a lot of the women and children." Omitsu continued.
"Omitsu, did you see my father."
"Jo? No, I thought he might've been with you,"
That had been bothering Ryu for awhile. He hadn't seen his father for a few days prior to the attack. It wasn't unusual for him to spend a few days in seclusion, so no one had questioned it. He thought his father might have found his way to the Mugen Tenshin clan when he found the village in ruins. But what if something had happened to him as well.
"You should get some rest, Ryu," Hayate said. "Rachel and I will start the panning, I'll see what else I can find out about Nyx and we can continue this conversation tomorrow. You and Momiji can stay in one of the guest rooms in this temple."
Ryu bowed and walked out of the room. "And remember to take health elixir," Hayate called after him.
"Health elixir?" Omitsu questioned.
"I'll tell you about it later," Ryu said.
"I'm going to go find Momiji, We'll both come by and check on you and the villagers later this evening."
He bid farewell to Omitsu and headed straight for the training ground. He had a feeling he knew where Momiji had gotten to.
As he approached the dojo, the door was open and he could see there were indeed people training inside. He had suspected as much, Momiji liked to train she was irritated.
Momiji was sparing with Ayane. The two kunoichi were evenly matched, while Ayane fought with a fury of quick jabs, Momiji maintained a reasonable distance, and attacked with strong solid blows.
Kasumi noticed him first, "Hello, Master Ryu, It's been a while."
"It has Kasumi, how have you been"
Their conversation had drawn the attention of the other two. "Master Ryu!" Ayane said in surprise.
"I'm great, Ryu, as you can see I'm back home," Kasumi said happily.
"It's good to see you again Master Ryu, I've gotten much stronger since the last time we fought," Ayane said, walking over.
Momiji leaned against a wall, not joining in the conversation. It was safe to assume she was still mad at him.
"I'm sure you have, I saw a bit of your sparring match with my apprentice, you've improved greatly"
"If you don't mind, would you care for a match? I would like to test my skills against you," Ayane said.
"I would like to as well actually," Kasumi said, "I can't remember the last time we sparred."
Ryu looked to the girl's expectant faces, then to Momiji who was watching the conversation in the corner. He knew he shouldn't be exerting himself, but a little sparring match shouldn't be a problem.
"I have an idea," Ayane said, "How about Kasumi and I vs you and Momiji, two vs two."