Flaring tensions and bruised egos
I don't own any copyrighted material, except my own OC's: anyone else's OC's will be acknowledged in their introduction chapter
The now party of four had a good few days of travel. The sun shone, the costal breeze blew cool air, and no problems were put in their way to slow them down. Despite all this tensions were flaring between the two Ronin. Unfortunately, Ruby and Velvet couldn't do much to dissuade their sword carrying compatriots. Thankfully no insults upon the two's honor were spoken, or blades crossing in a fitful rage. What the party was running into was a complete impasse of beliefs and motivations.
"Get off the roof of the wagon Testuo!" Cao yelled, turning away from the reins as he looked back
"I am checking for threats!" Testuo shot back, his teeth showing from the growl like gesture
"We haven't had any attack us in days! We are fine!" Cao yelled
"Oh boy here we go again." Ruby sighed from the shotgun seat
"Are they at it again?" Velvet asked from inside the wagon
"Unfortunately." Ruby sighed out
As they began to work together, Cao and Testuo's personality differences quickly became the leading cause of fights. Testuo, though not a talker, strove to protect the innocent and the group with the utmost vigor, and at all costs. Cao however was concerned only with getting them to the Daidoji lands as fast as humanly possible. The longer they took the more likely something would happen to his cargo. While Testuo's protective behavior was good for keeping them and the cargo safe, Cao still saw it to potentially slow them down.
"Get off the roof and stop putting drag on this thing!" Cao said to him sternly
"You may have beat me earlier, but that does not mean your higher rank! Why do you care about drag on the wagon?" Testuo asked
"One its my wagon, and two I'm in a hurry!" Cao yelled
The stoic Ronin merely scoffed at his peer as he defiantly sat onto of the wagons rafters. Cao gritted his teeth at his defiance but knew he couldn't do much about it. The two girls shook their heads at this childish display between the two. The day dragged itself to sundown when they finally stopped at a roadside in. The 4 sat down for a dinner, but the two Ronin grew to the point of not acknowledging each other.
"Seriously? Your going to do this now?" Ruby asked the two Ronin
"I don't know what your talking about Ruby." Cao said as he sipped a bit of sake
"You're not going to talk or even acknowledge each other?" Ruby asked
"He knows what he did." The two said in perfect unison, but the act snapped the two out of their funk temporarily
"Testuo your better than this. Surely talking this out is more beneficial than fighting all the time." Velvet said
"It's not that I don't want to talk, its that talking would not solve anything in this situation. Cao has made up his mind on some far-flung goal that will only benefit himself." Testuo answered
"At least I have a goal. All you ever do is try to deal with other people's problems when you're not wanted." Cao said without looking at him
"And how can you stand to see innocent people harmed by bandits, monsters and Grimm? Its your obligation as a samurai to help these people. All you care about is yourself." Testuo replied, venom practically dripping from his mouth at the final part
"We are Ronin! We have no masters! We have no obligations but to ourselves and our survival! If you stopped living in a fantasy world and realized that, you'd have turned your life around already!" Cao roared, slamming the sake glass onto the table with force
"We are Samurai. We still follow the Code of Bushido! You stoop so low as to do commerce! Do you have no shame?" Testuo yelled out the question
"Shame? You speak to me of shame? I can at least talk to Ruby whenever I want. You can't hardly speak to the people you save, let alone Velvet. I at least can keep myself busy and alive. I have a job. I help people by providing them resources they can use to survive!" Cao shot back, the two soon standing
Miraculously the two decided against another fight, and both stormed off to their rooms instead. A relieved sigh from the two girls became audible, but a nervous tension creeped into their bones. They may have stayed their blades this time, but odds are the next time things could get bad. Iajutsu duels were a very ordered and serious affairs. No armor was allowed and typically the first one to strike was the victor. It was very rare in a contest of honor for the loser to survive. The idea of the woman seeing one of them cut down the other in cold blood was horrifying, and they needed to act.
After the two women at their dinner, they each took their partners meals with them back to their rooms. For convenience they got rooms that were across the hall from each other. Ruby opened and say Cao counting coin and writing things in his record books. He was so focused he didn't even hear her or notice her entering the room. Only when she put the plates on his desk did he look up from his books. However, he then went back to writing and counting with a casual indifference.
"Cao you need to eat." Ruby said bluntly
"I'm not hungry." Cao simply replied
"You haven't eaten hardly anything all day." Ruby answered to him
"So?" Cao said bluntly
"So? You never miss a meal. You complain if you don't get food. Now you're not hungry? You and your honor." Ruby said with a shake of the head
"Do not speak like that to me." He said, standing up instantly
"You could have told Testuo to leave when he offered, you have no one to blame but yourself. So, don't act like that!" Ruby yelled
"How about you stay out of this!" Cao yelled back
"Its hard when I'm with you guys 24/7! I cannot stay out of this any longer. Grow up already and either kick him out or deal with him!" Ruby said, and Cao stayed silent
Ruby then in a huff turned around and walked out the door, slamming it hard behind her. Cao sighed and ran his fingers through his thick hair, wondering what to do next. Would he have to swallow his pride and take his peers behavior on the face? It was a hard pill to swallow, but of the three options it might prove the best. He sighed and sat down back at the desk, going back to his work. The plate of food sat there, for now after the fight Cao didn't have an appetite anymore.
As Ruby stormed out to the main hall, Velvet entered her room. Testuo was meditating in the middle of the room as she entered. Seeing this made her not want to confront him. However, she knew she had to and stepped towards him. Though her footsteps were naturally very quiet, the trained samurai was able to pick up on her movements. His body slowly moved out of its meditation stance, and he then opened his eyes.
"Hello Velvet. I'm sorry for my sudden departure. I had to go and clear my mind." Testuo said calmly, though he still held his body tense
"Testuo-san, is it really worth fighting Cao at this moment? We are all on the same side." Velvet said as she sat next to him on the floor
"The only side that man is on is his own side." Testuo said, looking away from Velvet to avoid looking into her eyes
"He simply wants to reach the Daidoji lands as fast as possible. Ruby told me that is his motivation." Velvet replied, trying to look around to see his face
"Have you ever stopped to wonder why he wants that so badly. He is a merchant, an unclean and dishonorable profession for a samurai. He has bad intention's Velvet; I just know it." He replied, unable to look at her in this argument
"How do you know so certainly? He clearly has some humility. He spared you in your duel. Also, he has done everything possible to keep Ruby safe. She's told me of the times he's come to save her for no gain for himself. No one is perfect, but Cao does have his good points." Velvet told him
"I will not impugn the honor of Ms. Rose, but I still don't trust that man. But I thank you for telling me this information. I… I need time to think about it." He said, his voice hitching a bit as if it hurt him to have to speak like this to her
"Of course, Testuo-san." She said with a bow and then left the room
Testuo looked up to see his food left in front of him. He sighed and looked down, not liking that he spoke like that to Velvet. He didn't want to believe what she said, but he also didn't want to dishonor her or Ruby. They didn't do anything wrong here, it was Cao he had the problem with. At that he let out a long deep sigh and tried to return to meditating. The two women returned to their table after their conversations and sighed In their eyes getting nowhere.
"This is hopeless." Ruby said mournfully
"They are samurai. Honor to them is everything, and to give ground on anything is sign of weakness. Though I will concede the 7 fortunes are not in our favor." She replied
This melancholy mood was broken up by the sound of fighting and chaos outside. Soon however the reason for this commotion was found out. Soon several masked individuals wearing jet black armor burst into the tavern. Several people questioned them and tried to kick them out, but they were easily thrown to the ground by the powerful men. They then looked at Ruby and Velvet, and then jumped upon them like a tiger upon a deer. They bound their hands and foot before gagging them. Before they could try to struggle away bags were put on their heads and the strangers rushed out. By the time Cao and Testuo came down they were already gone.
"What happened?" Testuo asked the bartender
"Several masked samurai walked in and kidnapped two women…" the Bartender replied in fear
"Which women?" Cao asked, fearful of the answer
"A female rabbit faunus and a black- and red-haired woman…" He answered
"Ruby and Velvet…" The two men said in unison, and looked at each other
"If we didn't fight then this never would have happened." Testuo said
"Agreed. But now is not the time for us to argue." Cao said in agreement
"Now is the time to act. We have to hunt them down." Testuo replied with a nod
"First time you've had a good idea all trip." Cao said with a smirk
"First time I've see you care about other people." Testuo replied with a smirk of his own
"Under the right circumstances yes. Now let's go kill us some masked samurai." Cao said, gripping his katana at his side
"For our honor, and the safety of our companions." Testuo replied with a nod as he gripped his katana
The two asked witness's what way the men went, and they pointed to a direction towards some hills west of town. The two men steeled themselves and ran off into the wood after them. Each had a determined face, and a will to fight to save those they cared about. Even as what looked like certain death stared them in the face. For that is the Code of the Bushido, and the way of the samurai.
I am not going to keep doing two part events like this, but if I did one for Azura and Yang, then I had to do it for our group of four. Next time we see who these mysterious masked individuals are, and why do they want Velvet and Ruby so badly? Stay tuned and find out next time. I can't thank enough for all of you reading, and I hope you have a good day.