Hikari and the Soul Edge
Chapter 8: The Assassin
Hikari, Kenji, and Mog arrived in the port town of Tortga. They wanted to purchase tickets to a ship that would cross the sea. Unfortunately…
"What do you mean the ship's not sailing?!" Hikari shouted.
They were just informed by the ship's captain that the ship they wanted to take was not leaving port that evening.
"Last night's storm took out the hull of the ship," the captain said. "It'll take another couple of days to fix. But I can guarantee you two cheaper tickets for that night."
"But…" Hikari began.
"Let's take that deal, Hikari," Kenji said. "Saving as much money as possible is necessary."
"Fine," Hikari groaned.
Hikari and Kenji bought their tickets and found a cheap inn to stay in. They then sat down in a restaurant that was famous for being a relaxing place for adventurers. The whole restaurant was filled with seasoned adventurers with years of experience under their belts.
Hikari, Kenji, and Mog were gobbling down their food.
"The food's good," Hikari said. "But this place reeks. Some of these adventurers smell like they haven't had a bath in ages."
"Did ya hear?" one of the adventurers at a nearby table asked one of his allies.
"What?" the ally asked.
"I heard that the strongest of the strong tend to get attacked at night," the first adventurer answered.
At this point, Hikari and Kenji were completely paying attention.
"That's just a rumor," the second adventurer said.
"I'm not so sure," the first adventurer said. "Someone I know got attacked last night. He ended up at the hospital and told me all about it. The person was too fast to see and strong enough to take him down."
"Really?" the second adventurer asked.
Hikari and Kenji stopped listening at this point.
"Maybe its good that we didn't end up leaving today," Hikari said.
"I'm not sure that this has to do with Soul Edge," Kenji said.
"There's a good chance that it does," Hikari said. "Remember Kilik and Xianghua? They were extremely strong and knew about Soul Edge. Maybe this person does as well."
"No matter what I say, you'll still investigate, won't you?" Kenji asked.
"Of course," Hikari said.
That whole day, the two of them asked around about the mysterious night assassin. They then met up at the inn to discuss what they learned.
"All I learned was that the townsfolk gave him a nickname," Hikari said. "They call him 'Dusk'."
"I learned that he goes after only the strongest of the strong," Kenji said. "They boast about their many adventures and then go out at night. That's when they're attacked."
"Maybe, if I carry my sword with me at night, I'll get attacked by Dusk as well," Hikari said.
"It's too dangerous," Kenji said. "You aren't going out alone."
"Dusk only attacks people that are alone," Hikari said.
"Then I'll give you this," Kenji said as he pulled out a small communicator.
The communicator was in the form of an earpiece.
"It'll fit in your ear and I can hear everything you say," Kenji said.
Hikari placed the communicator into her ear. That night, Hikari stepped out into an alleyway.
"Hikari, can you hear me?" Kenji's voice said from the communicator.
"I can hear you, Kenji," Hikari said.
"Good," Kenji said. "Whenever you're in trouble, say the word and I'll head right over."
"Don't worry about me, Kenji," Hikari said. "Just take care of Mog."
Hikari began to walk around. On a roof above her, a suspicious person in the shadows was watching her. Hikari felt a presence above her. She turned around just as that person jumped down towards her. Hikari lifted up her sword into a guard as the person slashed down with a pair of katana. Hikari then led the person to a moonlit area. Hikari then got a good view of her attacker.
The assassin turned out to be a young woman about Hikari's age. She wore a black fighting gi. In her hands were two katana. Strapped to her leg was a pouch of some sort. Her face was completely covered except for her eyes, which were blue.
"You must be Dusk," Hikari said.
"Yes," the woman said. "You are the victor of a previous fighting tournament."
"That's me," Hikari said. "The name's Hikari Kamai! Remember it!"
"I will as I take you down," Dusk said.
Dusk charged forward and began to slash at Hikari with her swords. Hikari used her much larger sword to block all of Dusk's attacks. As they were fighting, dark clouds formed in the sky, and rain began to pour down. Hikari tried to slash Dusk, but Dusk ducked and kicked at Hikari's feet, knocking her down. Hikari rolled backwards and got up into a guard stance just as Dusk attacked again. Unfortunately, Hikari's communicator flew out of her ear.
"Hikari!" Kenji's voice shouted from the communicator. "What's happening?! Hikari!"
Hikari and Dusk kept fighting until they reached the docks. Dusk withdrew her swords. She then pulled a couple of shuriken from her pouch. She threw them and began to form hand-signs. Suddenly, the shuriken multiplied in several clouds of smoke. Hikari barely managed to dodge the attack, but she was left vulnerable. Dusk managed to get high above her and began to spin. Sparks of energy shot around her body as Dusk spun faster and faster and fell towards Hikari. Hikari brought her sword up for a block.
When Dusk hit the sword, she bounced off, but the metal blade conducted the sparks of energy straight into Hikari. Hikari was stunned for a couple of seconds because of this. Dusk's crash caused her to be stunned as well. Hikari got herself together and managed to get Dusk at the point of her sword before she could react.
"This match's mine," Hikari said.
Much to Dusk's surprise, Hikari withdrew her sword.
"Why don't you finish me?" Dusk asked.
"I merely wanted to ask you a question," Hikari answered. "Do you know anything about something called the 'Soul Edge'?"
"I do not know what you speak of," Dusk said.
Hikari sighed with disappointment.
"I guess my intuition was wrong," Hikari said. "I'll leave."
Hikari began to leave.
"Wait a moment!" Dusk shouted.
Hikari stopped and turned around.
"I have a question for you as well, Hikari Kamai," Dusk said.
"Go ahead," Hikari said.
"Why do you wield your blade?" Dusk asked. "The way you fight, you don't seem to seek power or glory. Then why?"
"Two reasons," Hikari said. "First, I want revenge against someone who destroyed my home. Second, I'm looking for my family."
Though her face wasn't visible, the look in Dusk's eyes proved that Hikari's answer wasn't one that she was expecting.
"Hikari!" Kenji shouted from afar.
"Kupo!" Mog squeaked.
Hikari and Dusk looked in the distance. Kenji was running towards them with Mog flying next to him. Dusk then formed a hand-sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kenji and Mog caught up with Hikari.
"What happened?" Kenji asked.
"I'll tell you in the morning," Hikari said. "Right now, I need some sleep."
Hikari then fell to her knees from exhaustion. Kenji lifted her up onto his shoulder.
"Let's get you to bed," Kenji said.
Kenji helped Hikari to the inn. After a couple of days, the ship was as good as new. Hikari, Kenji, and Mog gathered their stuff and prepared to board.
"Excuse me," someone said from behind them.
They turned around. Standing behind them was a young woman about Hikari's age. She had short, black hair and blue eyes. She wore a dark-blue gi and black shoes. On her back was a pair of katana.
"She's kinda cute," Kenji commented. "Do we know you?"
"Are you…Dusk?" Hikari asked.
The young woman chuckled a bit.
"My real name is Maria, Hikari Kamai," the young woman said.
Kenji looked extremely confused.
"She's Dusk?!" Kenji exclaimed.
"If you're here for a rematch, I'm afraid we have to leave," Hikari said.
"Nothing of the sort," Maria said. "I'm here to join your little team."
Hikari and Kenji looked confused.
"I'm on a similar quest," Maria said. "I too am looking for someone. I believed that becoming a well-known assassin would draw him to me, but I now think that traveling is the best solution. Not only that…"
"Let me guess…you'd rather travel with others than go it alone," Kenji interrupted.
"Exactly," Maria said. "So what do you say?"
"Having an assassin want to join us," Kenji said. "I didn't expect this to happen."
"Why not?" Hikari said. "Welcome to the team, Maria."
Hikari held out her hand. Maria gripped it and shook hands.
"Don't worry about my ticket," Maria said. "I've already paid for it."
Maria then stepped onto the ship.
"This day's just gotten weird," Kenji said.
"I don't know," Hikari said. "Seems kinda normal to me. C'mon, Mog."
Hikari stepped onto the ship with Mog following her. Kenji was the last one to get onto the ship.