Chapter 7: Crescent Moon Blade
-
In the sea of Okhotsk of the coast from Abashiri was the island of Mutsu. Isolated and remote it had changed little in over six hundred years; its people still rural and suited to the ways that they had been comfortable with. They purposely let the rest of the country pass them by in terms of technological development. They had no need for it and so did not ask for any of it.
When the Junk came into dock, Ryoma took a deep breath of the salty sea air and stepped off the boat.
After that extended trip it was good to be home, even it was only for a brief time. From here he could see the low mountain peeks in the centre of the island and the pine forest that covered its slopes.
The refreshingly familiar surroundings sent a cool wave of calm following through the samurai and for once in a good long while he felt at peace.
The things he had been shown in the Walk of Dream had confused him to no end. They were images, visions of times and places he did not understand or recognise. Memories of events that even now he could not recall. Most of it by now was simply a jumbled mess but one thing stood out against all others.
He had been shown a woman with long flowing brown hair and deep black eyes. She reached out to him, calling his name for the first time in a long while Ryoma had felt a deep longing. He had wanted to go to her, to embrace her and have her embrace him in return.
It was not a vision that men supposedly devoted to their training were supposed to have.
Ryoma had devoted himself to mastering the sword. It was a vow of chastity that all Samurai took, a similar vow to that of the western priests. He had not so much as looked upon a woman since his fifteenth year.
Dealing with teenage urges through his puberty had given him an edge in his training and self control the likes of which stunned his teachers.
That vision however had shaken his defences down to their core.
She had just been so beautiful.
Beyond that however, the woman had represented more than just her physical state. Through her he had seen danger coming, danger beyond just that of Kraken.
These images and portents were, as stated, confusing and so here he was to speak with his Dojo master, the man who trained him in the art of swordsmanship; Serokudo Ganamon. He was a wise man whom Ryoma trusted and his advice was worth its weight in gold.
"Konnichiwa Ryoma-San." The woman who owned the rest shop where travellers and sailors were allowed to refresh themselves began to the samurai as he entered with a short bow. "You have been gone some time. I was beginning to think you weren't coming back." Ryoma bowed in reply with a short smile.
"Ohayou-gozaimasu. I am in need of some meditation and could think of no better place than home, Nakamura-San." He replied before taking a set near the window.
"Green tea?" She asked. He nodded once.
"The English seem not to know how to brew it correctly." He stated. The woman shrugged her shoulder absently.
"I'm surprised they brew it at all."
"They brew it. Just not very well." The tea was quickly brewed, poured into a clay cup and past to him. "Arigatou-gozaimasu."
"I'm sure you know this already but much has changed while you were away." Nakamura told him as he gently sipped the tea. The samurai just smiled.
"I'm sure they have. I was gone a while." He sipped the rest of his tea, feeling refreshed with it. The stuff the English tried to pass off as tea was a foul tasting bean mixture. "It doesn't really matter to me what changes here. This is always going to be my home." He stood up. "Now please excuse me. Thank you for the tea but I must return to my Dojo."
Nakamura just looked a little taken aback.
"You…. You mean you don't know?" She asked. Ryoma raised and eyebrow .The woman lowered her head. "Hontou-ni gomennasai." Sudden realization flooded into his eyes and without another word he bolted from the shop and made for the steps leading to the hilly inland of the island as fast as his legs would carry him.
He was out of breath by the time he had made to the top of the steps but he refused to slow down. He kept going, running on and one through the trees; ignoring the path to take the straight line to the Dojo.
Bursting out into the clearing where the hot spring the dojo was built around was located, Ryoma was greeted with a sight he never thought he would ever see.
"No…" He breathed, suddenly dropping to his knees.
The gate entrance to the samurai training ground was still there. But that was about it.
Everything else was a blackened ruin.
His true home, the place where he had spent many happy years training, had been burnt to the ground.
The wooden buildings lay before him a pile of dirt and ash. Katana blades broken and twisted were scattered around, half concealed by the resettling dust from battle. What really tore Ryoma's heart in two was the sight of burial mounds, several of them laid out in rows off to the side. A katana blade and headstone placed with each one.
One of the swords he recognised as belonging to a friend with whom Ryoma had shared his training. "Akimoto…. No!" He dropped to his hands, smashing a fist into the ground in despair and frustration.
"I'm sorry Ryoma." Nakamura began as she wandered up the path towards him with her head hung low. "Believe me I truly am." The samurai simply knelt there, forcing back tears with the unmistakable presence of anger growing stronger on his face.
"Who did this?" He demanded in a quiet by very firm voice.
"We don't know." She replied. "We simply spotted the fire from the port and by the time we arrived, the dojo was gone and the students were dead. There was nothing we could do but put out the fire." Ryoma hung his head low and spread out his arms. His finger touched something sticking out of the dirt.
He glanced at it. A sharp piece of metal sticking out of the ground with most of it concealed. He pulled it out and beheld a shuriken, a ninja throwing star.
"Ninjas…" He spat, eyes widening and then narrowing as seething hatred past over him. Slowly, he rose up and paused to collect him; then without a word to the woman he started off.
"Wait, where are you going?" She called out after him.
"To set loose a demon." He replied cryptically.
He wandered north of the dojo along a path half concealed by shrubs and undergrowth. What he was about to do he would never have even considered before now, but at the moment anger was overriding any objections rational thinking might have.
Overlooking the ruins of the dojo was a cave that from the outside appeared not to be there. One might easily overlook it if one had not been purposely looking for it.
His sensei had forbidden any of his students from even entering this cave. Those rules were no longer in effect.
Ryoma pushed his way inside past the tall weeds and grass and stood before the large rock that stood out before him. A rope was tied around the top half and a strip of paper hung down its front. Several ancient kanji were scribed on the piece of paper. It was a binding parchment, meant to seal evil spirits.
With a swift motion, Ryoma drew his katana and drew the tip across the paper slicing it horizontally in half.
"Come forth moon blade!" He called out. "Be bound no longer!"
For a moment nothing happened. Then, cracks began spreading up the stone like a spider's web. Ryoma shuddered as he felt the sword in his grasp twist around. It tore itself out of his hand and sank into the ground, the blade shattering in dozens of metallic shards on impact.
With a sudden force the rock exploded and Ryoma stood back, covering his eyes with his arms.
When he lowered them, waiting for him as his new weapon.
A legendary blade; forced from moonlight and endowed with the power of the demon it was used to slay. Sealed way so that the evil it may have contracted might not seep out into the land.
The steel was gleaming white and the hilt dark as the deepest shadow. The katana perfectly curved and when Ryoma seized it, he felt its perfect balance and heard the song of the metal as it moved through the air.
"Tosa Arashi." He breathed out and the song the sword sang changed pitch at the sound of its name.
-
While Wang-Tang never set foot in Japan before, he immediately began immersing himself in the culture. To some outsider observers, the cultures and rural histories of Japan and China were identical. This of course was not the case. The two countries, while having similar themes, were completely different just below the surface.
Unfortunately the 'immersing' had been limited to the sampling of foods and food costs money. By the end of the week whatever Yen Ayame had scrapped together was gone.
"If I'd know you were capable of eating so much, I wouldn't have voiced the phrase 'all you can eat'." She remarked, calculating that all they had left was a measly five hundred yen. That wasn't even enough for Turbine ship tickets to Oedo. Wang-Tang just smiled nervously.
He wasn't smiling for long, as the ninja girl quickly set up a roadside performance act where Wang-Tang would balance on top of a chair while juggling several empty sake bottles.
"Why do I have to do this?" He asked, wobbling on the end of it trying not to drop any of the bottles for the amusement of the small crowd.
"Because you're the one who spent all our money. It's only fair you work off your own debt." Ayame replied with an emotionless expression before tossing up several more bottles for him to catch. He floundered, nearly lost his balance trying to incorporate the extra juggling items.
At the end of the day however the performance had only been able to accumulate another thousand yen.
Ok, we'll have to do this again tomorrow." Ayame remarked, flipping through the notes. Wang-Tang lay on the ground physically exhausted.
"Ok fine, but next time it's your turn to do the juggling." The town they were passing through was unusually busy. There were a lot of people out of doors at all once and the women were all dressed in their best kimonos.
"Must be a festival of some kind." Wang-Tang sighed when she mentioned it. Ayame didn't think so. She didn't know of any festivals being held at this time of year. She stood up and wandered to the top of the grassy hill Wang-Tang was using as a shield from the light of the setting sun. On the far side of town an area was being set up for something. Ayame couldn't really see what from this far away.
"We don't have the money to spend at a festival." Wang-Tang complained as she dragged him down so they could get a better look. "I didn't spend all day doing back flips for this!"
"Well I didn't scrap together may own funds so you could pig out." She reminded him sourly. "You don't any legs to stand on in this argument so zip it and come on." Wang-Tang shut his mouth with a grim look on his face.
Throughout town were posters stuck on walls, dozens of them all displaying a large tent and various acrobats doing tricks before it. One of them, a woman dressed in a loose fitting kimono with fans in both hands, was performing magic tricks that conjured fountains of water from nowhere.
Written in Japanese were the words 'The Sorcerer of Water'.
"Oh a circus." Wang-Tang remarked as Ayame examined one of the posters closely, peering at the woman with some curiosity. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to look." The ninja girls face sudden ballooned out into an expression of unrivalled joy.
"No it wouldn't." She declared sounding almost deliriously happy. "We just found my family!" Ayame jabbed her finger on the woman doing magic tricks.
"Really?" Wang-Tang asked peering at the woman. "She sure is pretty. Is she your sister or something?" Ayame just shook her head, still maintaining that large grin.
"That's my brother Kikanojo." Wang-Tang was silent for a moment.
"Brother!" He nearly tore the poster off the wall and examined it at point blank range. "Are you telling me this is a guy?"
As the circus acts began the first to perform were the acrobats. Somersaulting over large obstacles before dodging swinging weights.
Following were acts performed by riding the backs of large vicious beasts such as lions, tigers and even an elephant.
The highlight of the evening was when a woman with almost pale white skin and long flowing black hair stepped out. Her lips were glowing with a bright red lips and her kimono was so long that it dragged. Slowly she raised her hands into the air. Silence fell as she clicked her slender fingers and fans spread out wide between them.
From out of nowhere two bellowing fountains of water shot into the air reaching skyward before arching and forming a doorway. The woman brought her fans back and forth and the water obeyed her, moving along with her own movements; the fountain changing shape and growing or striking at her behest.
To finish off, she sent the water flying upwards forming the image of a samurai warrior. The soldier drew his katana blade and held it high, before the illusion vanished and the water dropped to the floor.
The crowd cheered in approval, clapping their hands and calling out for more. The woman magician simply bowed now, ending her act and leaving the stage.
She said nothing to the other actors and performed behind the curtains, returning to the dressing room area. She paused at the curtain, drawing her hand back sharply from pulling it aside. A frown broke her face as she waited for a few seconds before then advancing inside.
The room seemed empty, but she could tell instantly that it was now. She moved to the centre of the room and waited; her eyes kept forward.
Silence endured for a single minute. Then she turned, her kimono flying off her shoulders and her Tanto short blade striking away a shuriken. The throwing star flew off to the side to embed itself in the floor.
With her kimono gone, her less than feminine figure was revealed. In fact, she lacked any features of the female gender completely. She had a broad well build chest with defined muscles.
"Glad to see you haven't lost your touch Kikanojo-chan." Ayame declared, sliding down from the rafter. The woman looked suddenly alarmed.
"Ayame?" She asked. "Ayame-Chan?" The ninja girl nodded.
"Loose the makeup brother, it may work on stage but it doesn't do you any favours in company." The woman relaxed her shoulders and reached up, tugging the wig that was her black hair off. The real hair was chestnut brown and short with two long curtains on either side of the face.
"He IS a guy!" Wang-Tang declared, dropping unceremoniously out of the rafters were Ayame had told him to wait. Kikanojo drew his blade up in alarm.
"No, he's ok." Ayame told him. "He's with me." Kikanojo's eyes darted from her to Wang-Tang before he slowly sheathed his short sword.
"Ayame-Chan, where have you been?" He asked, taking a cloth and whipping the white make up and lipstick from his face. "I've been trying to find you for months now." Kikanojo had a naturally high voice that could easily be altered to sound female. His slim body added to the illusion. "I thought they might have gotten you too."
The ninja girl suddenly looked puzzled.
"Who might have gotten me?" She asked. Kikanojo looked stunned, mouth hung open and eyes wide.
"You don't know do you?" He asked. Ayame's puzzled expression persisted. "Good god Ayame where we're you?"
"In England." She replied calmly. "Well, I went to America for a brief period." Kikanojo seized her by the shoulders taking her off guard.
"Then you have a way out of Japan? We have to get out of the country!" He looked panicky. To calm him down she placed her hands on his arms.
"Kikanojo-Chan, why don't you tell me just what's going on?" She sat her brother down in a chair. He looked weary and now that the makeup had been cleared away, rings resulting from lack of sleep were clear under his eyes. "Just why are you performing in this circus? Why aren't you at the clan headquarters?" Kikanojo hung his head low and slumped his shoulders.
"Because it isn't there anymore." He replied. "It was attacked." Now it was Ayame's turn to look alarmed. "I don't know who they were or how many of them there were, but they charged our stronghold without a word of warning. They took us by surprise."
"That's impossible." She retorted immediately.
"Why?" Wang-Tang asked with a raised eyebrow.
"An entire fortress of Ninja's, hundreds of those skilled in the art of stealth and observation being taken unawares?" Ayame began with cold but puzzled eyes. "That's impossible. Utterly impossible. The fortress of the Crescent Blade is completely impregnable."
"It happened Ayame." Kikanojo stated looking down at the floor. "It was if they came out of the darkness itself."
The three of them retreated to a back room so as not to be overhead by any of the other performers coming in after performing their acts. Kikanojo was a tangle of nerves. He'd appeared confident enough on stage but now he was in the presence of trusted people he let his true anxiety showed
Ayame prepared her brother some tea. He held the cup in his trembling hands.
"I've been on the run for days. Hardly had a chance to sleep." He said, trying to steady himself.
"Alright, tell me exactly what happened. "Ayame told him in a stern voice. Kikanojo took a moment to collect himself. His hair was greasy and hung together in jagged clumps showing he hadn't bathed in a while either.
"It was about half a month ago." He began, relaxing his tight shoulders. "The Sensei was concerned about your disappearance and ordered me to track you down.
I was only just starting when it happened. I tracked you to the harbour from where you left when…" He paused to swallow a lump in his throat. "I don't know who or what they were, but they attacked from within the stronghold walls. I can't remember any details, it was too chaotic.
I remember coming out of my dormitory and… the bodies were lying on the floor. The corridor… it was ankle deep in…" He took a very long sip of his tea. "I saw them; those that weren't cutting up the students with katana blades were setting fire to the buildings."
"Katana blades!" Ayame hissed. "The samurai did this." Kikanojo shook his head vigorously.
"Even the Samurai couldn't possibly do what I those…those things do!" He told her with haunted eyes glaring. "They were warriors the likes of which I'd never seen. With the blade skill of the swiftest samurai, the stealth of a master Ninja and the disposition of the hordes of hell." They let him drink about half his cup in one go before he continued. "I couldn't fight them. There were just so many and… I was scared. I ran.
I supposed that the only reason I'm still alive.
I ran all night until I was clear out of sight of Oedo. Next morning when I reached the next village I heard about the fortress' destruction. Also, I heard that men were asking around various places about our clan.
I supposed they were hunting down survivors so I guess I'm not the only one who got away."
He went on to explain how he'd been able to conceal himself in the travelling circus was a magic act. Using skills he acquired during his training he disguised himself as a woman. Even so he hadn't had the nerve to go to sleep, for fear of assassins creeping in his rooms.
"I've been hearing stories of similar attacks on both samurai and ninja clans." He mentioned almost in passing. "I don't know who they are but they're out to wipe out both the samurai's and the ninjas.
By now they've almost driven us out of northern Japan." Ayame had stood there listening to the story with an expression on her face that hinted at a mixture of confusion, fear and anger.
Her clan had been a family. The crescent blade fortress a home she could return to at any point. All the friendly faces there… All gone?
Could she have made a difference had she been there?
"You'd have only been killed alongside the teachers." Kikanojo told her as if reading her mind. "I think the only ones who survived are those who ran. Their eyes were the worst thing of all. They were like fire, burning like coals. I still see those eyes in my nightmares." She clenched her teeth together and threw control over her emotions, desperately trying not to cry.
"So what should we do?" Wang-Tang asked after a long period of silence had endured. Ayame took a deep breath, groaned and put a hand to her head.
"I don't know." She sighed. "We can't go to Oedo. I know that now."
"I have to get out of the country." Kikanojo told her. "We all have to. They'll kill us unless we run." Ayame stared him down.
"What's gotten into you big brother? What happened to that motto of yours? 'No Nakamura runs?'." Kikanojo managed a very grim smile that boarded on psychotic.
"It got thrown away when I saw my teachers head come flying off his shoulders."
"I agree with your brother." Wang-Tang remarked. "It's too dangerous here. We should take him and head back to England. Falcon's estate seems as safe a place as any."
Without warning, a man came rushing into the room. He was a circus manager, a short man in his forties who was clearly overweight.
"Kikanojo, out the back; now!" He was out of breath and covered in fear induced sweat. The boy suddenly looked horror stricken. "There are men out front asking about you. I'm not sure but I think they're the people who've been searching for you." Kikanojo stood up sharply, looking horrified.
"You have been followed!" He hissed in panic.
Ayame put a hand on his arm.
"We'll leave out the back." She told him. "We go quietly and without a sound. Just like our sensei's taught us." Her brother swallowed hard and nodded. The ninja girl gave the manager a hard stare. "We were gone by the time you got here and one of your performers saw us head out the side entrance going heading east. Understand?" The fat man nodded enthusiastically and left.
Kikanojo did not have many belongings and it did not take him long to scrap them together into a sack.
Wang-Tang covered their retreat as they silently moved to the back of the circus tent and slipped out the back.
Immediately they turned west and moved through the shadows until they reached the towns buildings.
As soon as they were within the alley, sudden loud screams of dying men came from the circus. All three of them glanced back as people began running from the tent, all screaming and crying. Sword blades slashed open the tent and men ion armour came marching out.
Kikanojo gagged, eyes dilating in utter terror.
"It's them…" He said horsy. "It's them!"
Whoever these people where, they were neither Ninja nor samurai. Their armour was black as night and western in style, the chest plates smooth like a dome and the helms adorned with horns that lanced up from the forehead.
"Find them." Their leader shouted, brandishing a katana blade as dark as night; red eyes glowing from within the helmet's visor. "Burn this settlement to the ground if you have to just finish off those ninjas!"
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Wang-Tang declared. Ayame grabbed her near comatose brother by the arm and dragged him with them as they made a run for it. Moving as fast as they could they darted through the streets and the sound of men in heavy armour kept growing closer.
"Damn it!" Ayame declared, finding that they had run into a dead end. Wang-Tang about faced just in time to see dozens of men come running out of the alleyways to bar their way. Every one of them was clad in black spiked armour.
Quickly the three of them were cornered.
Now they were closer Wang-Tang could make out more details on these strange soldiers.
Their armour was made of a metal he had never seen before, as dark as night itself. That dark colour wasn't painted on. Along the tops of their helmets through the horns were plumes of dark blue hair neatly cut along the top and long at the back. Through the visors of their helmets were eyes glowing like fiery coals.
"Just who are you people?" Wang-Tang demanded.
Kikanojo staggered back against the wall, eyes wide and pupils dilating in utter and unrestrained terror.
"We are the Acolytes of Atlantis." The leader replied. His armour had more spikes adorning the shoulder pads and his eyes were those that burned like hell fire, the flames spreading up to lick the top of his helmet. "Now step away man from China. For the moment our only concern is the destruction of the Ninja clans. The last of them stand there behind you so move aside." Ayame suddenly looked horribly distraught.
"The last of them…" She repeated. "You mean that's it… we're all that's left?"
"They're all dead..." Kikanojo cried in despair. "They're all dead." Wang-Tang put himself between the armed men and the last of the ninjas.
"If you want them, you're going to have to go through me!" Without a word the armoured man reached to the scabbard at his side with a loud hiss of metal against metal and escaping hot air, he drew his sword. The blades appeared as if it were forged out of fire, the metal as red as blood and burning with flames along its razor edge.
Wang-Tang reached into his pocket.
The blade came swinging down and Wang-Tang blocked it at the hilt. The head from the sword was nearly unbearable and breaking off, Wang-Tang swung a kick forward trying to go for more room. The leader grabbed his foot as it swung around, lifted Wang-Tang up into the air with ease before slamming him down on the ground.
Wang-Tang vision blurred, but not enough to prevent him from seeing the fiery sword readied over him.
"Power Fusion!" The Power Stone of wind came to life glowing in his grasp an intense emerald green before it leapt up into the air. It hovered only momentarily before slamming into Wang-Tang's chest. The Acolyte leader staggered back in exclamation.
With a deafening roar a golden dragon emerged from the ether and binding itself around the young man, transformed his skin into scales of bronze and gold. His hair became jagged and blond and his clothes warped, morphing into jade and silver armour.
"A Power Stone!" The Acolyte leader declared in exclamation. "Kill him, kill him now!" Without argument the archers in their group raised their bows up and the men with swords charged, their blades held at the ready.
"Dragon Typhoon!" Wang-Tang clapped his hands together and started spinning around on one foot, invoking the elemental power of wind within his stone. A cyclone came in existence around him just as the arrows came flying at him, diverting them through the wind currents to slam directly into the foreheads of the soldiers with swords.
They staggered back, swords dropping from their armoured hands. As they crashed to the ground their bodies became as insubstantial as smoke, spreading out until they faded away completely. Ayame stared at the spot where they had been in mute horror and awe.
"You aren't even human." She breathed.
"We don't need to be." One of them snarled drawing his own sword and rushing at Wang-Tang. The boy dodged the slashes with enhanced speed, parrying away any that came to close.
"Dragon Fang Bomb!" Throwing a hand forward, Wang-Tang attack emerged as a deadly discharge of golden energy. Three of the acolytes were caught in its path and upon impact they burst into black smoke and vanished.
The others backed off but their leader, still with his fiery sword in his grasp stood his ground. Wang-Tang confronted him, descending into a fighting stance. His hand trailed off to a side and a small discharge of energy burst forth, collapsing the wall leaving a door to the street beyond.
"Go, I'll keep them here!" He called and Ayame was already tugging her brother towards what could be their only chance at escape.
"You stand before the inevitable." The acolyte leader told him coldly as his friends disappeared, running for their lives. "Kill us one by one if you wish but it will be to no avail. Your stone will not save you." Wang-Tang remained steadfast. "Our general shall strike you and all those who claim a stone down before the master and at the height of his power the lost empire shall be revived!" He and his remaining forces charged forward with a harsh battle cry, sword held aloft.
"Dragon Dance!" Wang-Tang rushed forward with the speed of the swiftest wind.
-
"Come on run!" Ayame called back to her brother, pulling him by the arm as a pillar of golden light lanced up into the sky behind them. Without warning, two acolytes charged out of an alleyway nearby trying to cut them off. Ayame tore two shuriken out of her robes and sent them flying at them. The warriors slashed as the air with their blades knocking the projectiles harmlessly away from them.
The diversion gave Kikanojo and his sister enough time to slip past and continue running.
Another acolyte leapt out of the shadows brandishing a long chain with a weight on the end. He swirled it over his head before casting it forward. Like a rope it wrapped itself around Ayame's legs, pinning them together, forcing her down onto the ground.
"Ayame!" Her brother called out, going back for her.
Unable to break the chains with his tanto he desperately tried to help her undo the binding as the three acolytes charged at them.
Undoing it as the last second the brother and sister made a run for it.
Hearing the whistling of arrows passing through the air, Ayame pushed her brother out of the way as shafts lanced down from the roofs of the buildings on either side. Acolyte archers were there as well, bombarding them with projectiles.
"In here!" Kikanojo called out shoving open the door of a nearby building and darting inside. Ayame followed quickly, the two of them running through a shop and into the backrooms. The backdoor was smashed open as well and darting out the back they fled into the back alleys, trying desperately to escape as the Acolytes followed close behind.
Eventually however their luck ran out.
Five men in black armour blocked their pay into the street and before they could retreat, those who had been pursuing them caught up; leaving them trapped.
Ayame stood in defence of her terrified brother, her shuriken held at the ready as the half dozens warriors slowly closed in.
"Vanish, last of the ninja!" One of them hissed spitefully, lifting his blade to strike. Ayame hand darted to the Power Stone she had concealed in her robes.
"Raijinken!" A voice declared like the trumpet of god. The heavens themselves opened up and a bolt of light came screaming down out of the sky, the light over powering. Ayame and Kikanojo had to cover their eyes from its blinding light. The lightning struck the acolytes who exploded all at once in vapor before vanishing completely.
Glancing up Ayame watched as a warrior with silver armor marched out of the light.
"Finally, I found you." Ryoma stated coldly, wrapped in the protective armor of his Power Fusion form. In the grasp of his left gauntlet was the hilt of a katana sword, the blade glowing like the strongest moonlight. He stood in the smoldering remains of the acolytes, hot angry eyes on them both. "And now you Ninja filth are going to pay for what you've done!"
"Ryoma stop!" Wang-Tang carried out, rushing out into the street still in his own Fusion form.
"The ninja's destroyed my Dojo, massacred my friends." The samurai snapped in reply.
"It wasn't them Ryoma!" Wang-Tang shouted back. "They've been hit as badly as the samurai have." Ryoma did not listen, he grasp the hilt of Tosa Arashi with both hands and advanced towards the two ninja. Up and down the blade, elemental lightning from his stone sparked wildly as if in anticipation. "Ryoma, that's Ayame! She's your friend!" The Chinese boy cried out rushing forward.
Ryoma swung Tosa Arashi around in an arch, its tip coming dangerously close to slicing open Wang-Tang's throat.
"My friends, my sensei, my home; all gone!" He hissed. "I can NOT let it go!" He about faced and charged at the two ninja, a holding the moon blade high in the air He had barley taken a footstep however when a short blast of fire erupted out of the ground in front of him. The samurai was forced back by its sudden appearance.
"You should listen to your comrade man of sword." A feminine voice stated. Ryoma glanced to the side and standing there a short distance away was a woman. Most of her was concealed by a long canvas cowl. All they could see of her was faint brown skin and almost cheery lips.
In her hands before her she carried a crystal ball, one hand used to hold it underneath; another held with its fingers arched over the top. The sphere of glass was emitting a very soft blue glow. "They are not to blame for the crimes of which you accuse them. They are victims of the same true criminal. The sword you hold is tainted samurai; despite its inner light it also has an inner darkness." Silence endured for a moment, the clouds overhead gathering up and then crying; heavy droplets of rain falling over the ground.
"I don't need words of warning from a stranger." The samurai snapped. "I will avenge my fallen brothers and no one is going to stop me."
"And avenge them you shall. But on the right people, not those easiest to blame." She told him calmly. Suddenly emotional conflict passed through the samurai and the sword in his grasp increased its glow as if trying to solidify its grip on its wielder. "What would your sensei say if he saw you now; a slave a mere sword?" Ryoma's attention went down to the sword he held in his grasp.
He could feel it trying to reassert is hold over him.
Screaming he drew Tosa Arashi up before stabbing it into the ground, driving it down as far as it would go. Then he backed off quickly letting go of the hilt, breathing hard as if physically exhausted. His Fusion form liquefied and vanished leaving him back the way he was.
"Once it was in my hands, I couldn't control my anger." He gasped. The cloaked woman smiled grimly. "Was that the demon?"
"Only it's lingering anger at its slaying." She replied. "Only those with will imputable can hold it at bay." Wang-Tang blinked, suddenly recognising the voice.
"Hey, don't I know you?" He asked, his own Fusion form vanishing. The woman reached up and pushed her hood back.
Ryoma glanced up in wonder at the face of the woman he had seen in the Walk of Dreams. A woman with flawless skin and long chestnut brown hair, tied back by a white silk headdress with a jewel in the centre. Her eyes were dark but at the same time captivating. She was beautiful beyond comprehension.
For the first time in his life he was breath taken.
"I am Rouge." She announced, puling her crystal ball back inside her cloak. "I had hoped to find Edward Falcon here but I was pressed for time." She wandered forward and looked all four of them straight in the eyes. "I am in need of your help."