The smell of oil, smoke and blood filled my nostrils as the wind swept across my battlefield, where a few minutes before I had slain the last few remaining nobuseri attacking Kanna. The others had gone for the ship, according to Kambei's 'genius' plan. I had been asked to stay behind and make sure the village was entirely safe.
My feet were numb and the blades felt heavier than ever in my bruised hands. I let them fall on the ground and bent down on my knees on the withered grass, gritting my teeth at the stabbing pain in my strained muscles. Keeping my eyes open was a considerable effort as well, so I closed them for a moment, allowing myself to wonder what Kyuzo was doing at the moment. Hm, probably slicing through one of the damned robots.
I could see the nobuseri's ship fumigating in the distance, over the tree tops. Behind me, Kanna was bleeding as well. A few houses had been burned to the ground and some people were in Kirara's care, with more or less severe injuries. Other than that, the walls were still holding and most of the villagers were well enough to be still pessimistic about everything, so I wasn't going to waste time worrying about them. As far as I was concerned, this battle was over.
"Samurai-samaaa! Samurai-samaaa!!"
I turned my head, barely refraining from making a face when I collected my katanas and got up from the ground, thrusting them back into their sheaths.
"What is it?" I asked coldly, gazing at the villager trembling in front of me.
"Nobuseri! In the village!"
I started at the sound of the dreaded 'n' word, but sprinted toward the village gates nonetheless. If I didn't hurry, there would be more than just a few casualties and I didn't want everyone to blame it on my inattention. The wind swept coolly through my hair, making the sweat on my forehead feel much better. I didn't know how I was still able to run with that speed after jumping around after nobuseri on the field all day, but I was looking forward to the end of this battle. I suppose that was the only thing I needed to increase my stamina; knowing that it would all be over in just a few hours.
I stopped in the center of the village, looking around for any sign of the troublemakers, but there was none and the villagers were nowhere to be seen either. I took a minute to catch my breath, then lay on the ground and put my ear against the earth, trying to decipher the various vibrations. I sneered.
Damn.
"Don't move a muscle, samurai."
Ten of them, in a circle around me. No way out. Well, it looked like I had to make one of my own, but the gun touching my temple was going to make it more difficult.
"How many of you are there?" the bandit asked in a rumbling voice.
"Eight." I replied sincerely.
He burst into an incredulous laughter and pushed the gun down, making my head throb with the sudden pain.
"Eight of you? You must be joking, little girl. Look at yourself. How can you even dare call yourself a samurai, idiot?"
"I never did call myself a samurai, IDIOT. You did!" I snapped, pushing the gun away with my hand and rolling on the ground to kick him.
He stopped me easily and knocked me down, while another bandit made sure I wouldn't try anything like that again by placing his sword over my neck. One move and I was going to be nothing more than a headless corpse. I knew immediately that my poor samurai skills would be of no help in that situation, so I ransacked my brain for a ninja solution.
There was no way I was going to use a bomb. Though efficient, it would have blowed me up as well; okay, maybe half of the village too. Other weapons were also useless right now since I wasn't allowed to move my hands. My last alternative was a deadly gas bomb. Since the nobuseri weren't expecting it, they would inhale the poison at least once before realizing that they're starting to choke, while I had the advantage of awareness. I had taught myself to hold my breath for almost 2 minutes, and in 2 minutes, the bandits would all be dead and the poison gone as if it never were. The odds were enticingly favorable.
I smirked, moving my finger almost imperceptibly to pull out the small bomb from a hidden pocket on my hip, made just for situations like this one.
"What should we do with her?" one of the bandits asked with a chuckle.
"Kill her, idiot, what el-"
He chocked with his own words. The one who had threatened me with the gun collapsed first, followed by two others until the rest of them realized they had been poisoned.
"You little-" one of them growled before making some guttural noises and falling on the ground.
Another one fell without a word to my left. The last one was already breathing heavily, unable to support himself anymore. The sword was trembling against my skin, grazing it lightly. I pushed against the ground to avoid any injury it may have caused if the dumb nobuseri dropped it, but it was futile, as the robot made one last effort to get revenge and knocked me unconscious with the hilt. I felt a slitting pain in my skull and my vision blurred, darkening completely eventually. It was then that I lost control over my breathing.