If at first you don't succeed, fail and fail again
I don't own any copyrighted material, except my own OC's: anyone else's OC's will be acknowledged in their introduction chapter
5 miles north of the Fuga Family lands
After staying for a few more days, the two had to leave the company of the Fuga family to prevent them loosing too much ground to Cao and Ruby. Despite this, Azura had yet to heal fully and would as a result have to move at a slower pace. Lord Fuga-sama, in a act of hospitality and charity gave them a large and strong horse to carry them and their things. After saddling up, Yang controlling the reigns while Azura held her waist, they were off. The ever happy and chipper Zwei bounced and waddled alongside them as they went.
"It never ceases to amaze me that despite all the shit we've been through, Zwei can still be so happy." Azura said as he looked down at the corgi
"It's nice though. No matter how bad things get, we always have Zwei." Yang said with a smile
"Very true. Very true." Azura said with a chuckle
The two continued all day, making good progress due to the endurance of their horse. Recognizing their needs, Fuga-sama provided them with a draft horse. They needed to cover as much ground as possible, and a warhorse would not have the endurance. This due to the fact that their breeding had to compromise endurance for speed. By the time they stopped, the horse was fairly tired, but not exhausted. The same couldn't be said for Zwei, who collapsed and went to a deep sleep as soon as they stopped.
"He might always happy, but I don't think that translates to unlimited energy." Azura said with a sigh
"He has tiny legs. What do you expect? Its not all bad though. He can ride on the horse tomorrow till he's better." Yang said as she got off the horse
"Let's hope he can eat. He'll need it." Azura said as he slowly got off the horse as well
Soon the two began to collect wood for a fire. Due to his injuries, Azura slowly helped out Yang to the best of his ability. After that Azura picked up Zwei and held him in his arms, rubbing the corgi's belly. Despite sleeping, Zwei wagged his tail happily from that. Yang and Azura smiled as Yang got out of the cooking equipment. Then she began to work on the fire. As they waited for their fire to start in the fading light, they didn't notice someone in black unmarked armor watching them. Then the mysterious stranger left as soon as they came, satisfied on what they saw.
"I'm going to use the last bit of food we had before went into the rotten vale. We can't let it get spoiled." Yang said as she took out the cloth wrapped containers
"What is it exactly?" Azura asked as he continue to cuddle with Zwei
"Some noodles, dried meat, and some dried herbs. Thankfully our new supplies are fresh and should last us longer than our initial supplies." Yang explained
"Fuga-sama's hospitality knows no limits it seems." Azura said with a smile
Meanwhile in the unknown cave
Zuri sat on a tatami mat sipping when the black clad spy entered his chamber and bowed before him. The old man looked up from his tea and set the cup down gently. After a bit of silence, the old master finally spoke.
"Report." Was all he said
"I had found Azura Sotora and his traveling companion north of the Fuga Family lands. What is your orders master?" The spy asked
"Take a party and capture them. Avoid injury if all possible." Zuri replied, putting his hands on his knees
"Yes Zuri-sama." The spy bowed respectfully, and went off to arrange the required group
"Azolum, your days as a thorn in my side are soon at a end. Either this day, or the near future." Zuri muttered to himself as silence surrounded him in his chamber
Later that night at Azura and Yang's Location
The two sat by the fire, basking in its cozy glow slowly eating. Zwei after a while finally woke up and eat his food equally slowly, too tired from the day to go much faster. Neither companion spoke much, not finding it necessary. A cool breeze blew through, both chilling their bones and making enough noise to mask any soft sounds the forest could make. This gave the spy's group a advantage, and to further their stealthy endeavors they came from the downwind side of the camp.
"Alright. Flank them and get the girl. And her little dog too. That way we can make Azura give up without a fight. He would never risk harm to his companion." The spy said softly to the other 4 members of his group
"Are you sure that's going to work? I've heard that he gets quite angry when someone…" One of the party tried to say, but was cut off
"He's injured. He can't fight as well as normal. Now shut up and follow my orders. Or you can explain to Zuri-sama why you chickened out." The spy threatened, causing the meek member to nod and proceed as planned
Soon the other 4 broke into two groups of two and began to flank the party. Due to being down wind, it prevented Zwei from smelling them, and the wind prevented him from hearing them well. The leader stayed in place to keep an eye on things. Once the two groups were in position, the spy gave the signal to jump. The two closest to Yang and in a flash of motion and black blur's in the orange light of the setting sun, Yang was violently pulled back in a quick motion.
"Yang!" Azura yelled as he stood up, Zwei snapping to attention and charged after his master
"Get him now!" The other two yelled as they jumped out
"Wait you fools!" the spy yelled but it was too late
The two charged out at Azura with Katana's readied. Azura turned around and brandished his own sword. What resulted is a two versus one sword fight that put Azura on the defensive. However, he quickly realized he had to end this quickly and activated his semblance. This was despite the fact he knew it would put a unnecessary strain on his body. Soon a visible aura of energy surrounded, and he swung horizontally, knocking the two's swords out of their hands. This surprised the two immensely.
"They didn't tell us he could do that!" One of them yelled
"Fuck this!" The other said before Azura cut through his armor with ease due to his enhanced strength
The remaining one tried to use Jijutsu against his opponent, but when he threw the first punch Azura cut his arm off the elbow, followed by a swift decapitating strike. Their unmarked armor however prevented Azura from realizing who they were with, and he simply thought they were Ronin turned bandits. He then turned as he heard Zwei's barks and growls in the distance. Using his enhanced speed, he rushed off to help his girlfriend and her dog.
"Yang can you hear me!" Azura yelled, but Yang gave him no response, causing him great worry and concern
When he finally caught up to them, he saw why she didn't answer. Yang was bound and gagged in chain's, while one of the samurai was fending off the angry corgi. Zwei had his jaws around the sword of the samurai and was trying to pull it out of the samurai's hands. The black clad samurai put everything he had into this fight to try and hold Zwei off. Before Azura could rush him, the other one jumped in front of him.
"Out of the fucking way!" Azura roared
"Not going to happen. Stand down or she gets hurt." The man replied
"You're the only one that's going to get hurt!" Azura yelled and charged
Azura through an enhanced strength punch at the samurai, buckling the chest armor and sending him flying into a tree. This allowed him to turn his attention to the one on Zwei. He moved swiftly forward, and while he was distracted get a clean decapitating strike. Azura began to pant as the strain was quickly catching up with him due to his use of his semblance. Undaunted he gripped the lock on Yang's chains and broke it.
"Behind you!" Yang yelled as soon as the gag was off, and the other samurai got Azura in a chokehold
"Got you!" The samurai said as he put every ounce of strength into his arm to choke him
Azura slams his elbow hard into his chest, forcing the samurai off him. He then grabs him and slams him over his shoulder into the dirt. Grabbing his sword, he thrust his sword into the attackers head as hard as he cut, piercing his weakened aura, mempo mask, and skull. The blow killed him instantly. He then deactivated his semblance and collapsed onto the ground. Sweat poured off him and veins bulged across his body, trying to pump oxygen throughout his exhausted body desperately. Yang rushed over to him and held him in her arms.
"Azura you shouldn't have done that. You're not fully healed. You've probably delayed your recover…" Yang said in a concerned tone, Zwei waddling up to them equally concerned
"I can't let you get hurt or kidnapped. I'd rather die than have that happen." Azura said quietly as he panted
"Come on, lets get you back to the camp. You need to rest." Yang said with a sigh and picked him up bridal style
"Thank you Yang." Azura muttered before drifting to sleep
Later at the unknown cave
The spy slowly and dreadfully walked through the cave. He left as soon as he saw Azura kill the two sent to capture him. He was underequipped to deal with his semblance and knew it was a failure. However, despite his organizations shady nature and lack of honor, they still have some standards. He slowly opened the door to Zuri's chamber. Again, like last time he was sitting on a tatami mat sipping tea.
"You have failed." Zuri said calmly and bluntly
"Yes master." The spy said, bowing his head in respect to his master, and acknowledgement of his failure
"Then you know what you must do to absolve yourself of said failure." Zuri answered
"Yes master." He said solemnly, and deactivated his aura
Slowly he gripped the hilt of his wakizashi. Then with some trepidation he pulled the small curved blade out of its sheath. The spy took off his chest armor and dropped it to the ground, with a level of disdain for its presence. Gripping it with two hands he held the blade out in front of him. With one finally breath he plunged the blade hard into his stomach and as far as it would go. Part of the blade stuck out from behind him as he slumped to the ground and bleed out. All in the uncaring and calm presence of Zuri, who hardly payed attention to the grisly act in front of him.
"I guess we will have to try again with different tactics." Zuri said calmly, setting his tea down, "This time regardless of the cost."
Well if you knew anything about samurai, you knew I had to have an act of seppuku in there at some point. Anyways, next time we are back with our group of 4 having to deal with some Oni. And both Cao and Ruby are going to have to deal with something that will change their relationship to each other forever.