Rei, Asuka and Shinji left the underground room and walked out of the town. During their time there the weather had taken a turn for the worst. A large ice storm had come trough and everything was frozen over. The skies were dark and it looked as though another storm was on its way.
"I hope the next town is close," Shinji said, "because it may be our last stop for the winter. If the weather keeps doing that I wont be traveling anymore."
"Well if it's that bad then lets get moving." said Asuka bluntly.
They walked toward their destination, a large town a little further to the north. According to Kenji's map the town was called Sendai and it was to be their last stop on their trip north. After that they would work their way back south and then west toward Kenji's temple. Unfortunately if Shinji was right they would have to wait until spring for that to happen.
The day saw slow due to all the snow, ice and debris from the recent storms. The distance covered was only about half that it could have been. Even though they looked all day there was no sign of food anywhere. Normally this would have been fine, but after the steady supply of food their bodies expected it. The hunger pangs made it that much harder to travel.
That night when they set up camp and started a fire Asuka slumped down on the ground and moaned.
"Man this sucks. I want food. Isn't there a single animal that will actually walk around out here besides us?"
"There should be." replied Rei. "We may just have to wait a little longer than we wanted to eat."
"Yeah I know, but I really liked that food we were eating from Hikari."
"Yeah it was good."
"Hey Rei." interjected Shinji.
"Yes?"
"About how long do you think it will take to reach Sendai?"
"Well, based on the distance and the terrain that the map shows it should take about a week, but with all the trouble we're having it might take twice that."
"Twice that huh?" Shinji pondered for a moment. "How well can you two balance?"
"Um, just fine, what are you getting at?" replied Rei.
"It will be a little tricky, but I think I can speed up our travel time."
"Stop with the riddles already." said Asuka. "Just tell us your damn plan."
"Why with anger and glare and yelling?" Shinji said strangely. "Alright it is something I used to do in my training, we would jump between things like sign poles and roof tops, so I was thinking what if we jump from tree to tree?"
"What like monkeys?" responded Asuka.
"Basically. That way we wouldn't have to worry about all the crap on the ground. I mean there's stuff on the trees, but not as much."
"It's not a bad plan." agreed Rei. "We'd also be able to spot something to eat from up there."
"Well if it will help us get food I'm all for it." said Asuka. "Since we agreed I'm going to sleep." Asuka said rolling over on to her side.
"Yeah I should sleep too." said Shinji laying on his back.
Rei walked over to a spot on the tarp. Asuka and Shinji were sleeping on opposite sides, presumably started by Asuka as a way to stay away from him without being to obvious about it. Rei lay down between them and looked up at the sky. With only about a half a foot of space on either side of Rei between her and the others she rolled over onto her left shoulder, bringing her that much closer to Shinji.
The next morning Rei and Asuka woke up to find Shinji already awake holding something above a newly started fire.
"What you got there Shinji?" asked Asuka.
"I heard a small sound early this morning and realized that it was a snow rabbit. It isn't much, but at least we wont be empty."
"That hearing of yours sure is useful." replied Rei.
After eating their very meager portions the camp was cleaned up and the trace of their fire erased. Shinji stood in front of the group with a bigger smile that normal. His arms were held out to his sides and he looked as though he was about to present something amazing.
"Good morning everyone to your first day of tree-based travel. There are a few basics we need to go over before we can begin. First, this can be hazardous so be careful. The trees probably have some ice on the so watch your footing. Two, in order to do that we need to jump differently than normal. When we jump we must stretch our legs out in front of us like so," Shinji demonstrated his jump and land, "So we can see the branch we are landing on and if there is something we need to correct for. Three, the branch will bend due to your weight so land as softly as possible and absorb your force. Lastly, used the rebound from the branch and your own muscles to jump further and increase our rate of travel. Any questions?"
"Yeah," replied Asuka, "why did you have to do that? You could have told us normally."
"That would have lacked any and all humor." replied Shinji. "Ok lets go." Shinji jumped up into a tree.
"Lacked humor, what a pain he is." Asuka said jumping up, following Shinji.
"Come on Asuka you thought it was funny." said Rei and followed them into the trees.
After a while of tree jumping everyone was used to it. It slowly turned into a contest of who could jump further. Asuka's jumps were shorter than the rests but still quite good. Her best was about ten meters. Rei and Shinji were neck and neck for a while jumping gaps of twenty or so meters. After a while they had to stop and wait for Asuka to catch up. When she finally did they readied themselves for one last competition jump.
"So Shinji you ready to settle this?"
"You bet."
Rei and Shinji stood ready to jump and Asuka stood off to the side. She held her right hand straight up in the air.
"Ready. Set. GO!" she yelled swinging her hand down. The instant her hand fell Shinji and Rei disappeared.
About thirty or so meters ahead Shinji landed on a branch. His landing was silent and perfect. Standing straight up he looked around for Rei. A few meters a head of him Rei landed of a branch. Her landing was almost as good as Shinji's but it made more sound. The tree branch swayed and creaked from the force of her landing on it.
"Looks like I won." said Rei happily.
"That it does." Shinji replied.
Asuka jumped up to see who had won the contest. "Ha so Rei won I see. So she bested you at your own skill. Too bad."
"Yeah she jumped further, but my landing was better."
"We weren't competing on landings we were competing on distance."
"True, but the point of these is to travel covertly which requires silence. That tree made enough noise to wake up a village."
"Semantics I still won."
"Oh I'm not arguing that point, I'm just pointing something out."
"Ok you two, Rei won Shinji lost, can we keep moving?"
"Yeah lets go." said Rei.
The day passed and they covered a lot of round making up for what they lost the day before. When they finally stopped for the night Asuka again fell down onto the tarp.
"Man I'm tired. That took a lot more energy than I thought. Do we have anything else to eat?"
"Not right now." replied Shinji. "There aren't any creatures within catching distance."
"Damn I could really use some food right now."
"I know what you mean." replied Rei. "At least this way we should reach Sendai faster than I thought."
"That would be nice, then we can stay somewhere warm instead of on this crappy tarp."
"Asuka aren't you used to something like this you lived in a cave?"
"My bedding was more comfortable than this and after sleeping in Oshu for all that time I miss those beds."
"I think we're getting soft." said Rei.
"Maybe." said Shinji jokingly. "Anyhow, lets sleep so we can keep up this pace tomorrow."
"I'm all for that." Asuka said with a yawn, already curled up attempting to sleep.
Shinji and Rei laid down to sleep in the same pattern as the night before. Rei moved just a hair closer to Shinji hoping that it would go unnoticed by either of her friends. A small breath let out by Shinji told Rei that he was aware of what she was doing. She smiled lightly and drifted off to sleep.
It took two days but Rei, Asuka and Shinji were finally able to find food. It was a rather small deer that was also looking for food. Because of the snow it also was having no luck and was easy to catch. Asuka felt a little bad about killing a creature when it was unable to defend itself, but quickly got over it. They ended their day earlier than normal so they could enjoy their catch.
"I'm so glad we found food." said Rei as they were cooking the deer over a fire.
"Yes, two days using this much energy without any was a real drag." said Shinji in his usual happy tone.
"I still think it's weird that you always sound happy." said Asuka. "It wouldn't hurt to sound a little more human once in a while."
"Yes complaining can be useful, but it's also so annoying."
"I think that's what makes it useful." said Rei. "People get annoyed and do stuff to stop the whining."
"Yes encourage the annoying, that won't do anything except, I don't know, cause more annoying." Shinji said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Your perpetual happy can get annoying." said Asuka.
"Yes but the kicker here is you don't do things to stop it and then have it come back."
"No it stays, to be always annoying."
"Ok ok, now that the annoying argument is settled can we eat this, I'm hungry?"
"You bet."
Rei, Asuka and Shinji ate themselves full to the point where it hurt. As dumb of an idea as that was they felt it necessary to give themselves as much fuel as possible for the rest of the journey. They had no idea if they would be able to get food again. The next morning they still felt full from the night before, so the packed up and continued running through the trees.
Just before nightfall Shinji stopped and looked out ahead of the group. He was leaning forward slightly as if trying to extend his vision outward. He corrected his posture and looked at Rei and Asuka who were standing wondering why he stopped.
"We're almost there." he said. "We will make it before nightfall."
"Not if you don't get your ass moving." Asuka said with more joy than annoyance.
"Your right madam. Let us depart."
Ten minutes later they arrived at Sendai. There they saw a large wall around the city that would shield it from the mist. Unfortunately it looked as though the wall had recently been destroyed.
"Damn Sendai is covered in mist too." said Asuka.
"They did good with a wall though it must have worked quite well." replied Shinji.
"It worked for my village until Shinigami blew it up."
Rei, Asuka and Shinji walked up to the hole in the wall and saw that it was not blown away as Rei's villages wall was. This wall had a perfect piece taken out as if it was cut and the pushed over. Uncovering the fallen wall they inspected the cuts that were made.
"I don't think a sword made these." said Shinji.
"No. They look more like the windmills of Oshu that Shi cut down. The cuts are perfect and look like they offered no resistance to the cut. I think it was one of them that did it."
"You inspected the windmills after they were destroyed? Wow."
"Well all that guy did was swing his hand and they fell. It was odd. I didn't like the fact that he was able to cause such destruction without me being able to see it. I still don't."
"Makes sense. Well, shall we make are way in and save yet another village?"
"Yeah."
Inside the town the villagers were all controlled by demons of the mist. Rei, Asuka and Shinji stayed alert to stop them if they attacked, but they didn't. The controlled citizens were all sluggish and seemed to lack an desire to attack. This made it easier to search the town.
"I wonder why they don't want to attack." said Asuka.
"I'm not sure. I really don't know much about what happens when people are controlled like this." replied Rei.
"Well since we don't have to worry about it we are able to focus entirely on finding demons to clear the town with."
"That's good and all but I don't see or sense any demons anywhere." replied Rei.
"Your right." said Asuka. "In fact, I haven't seen any since we left the library."
"That is a little odd." said Shinji. "We usually fight like crazy."
"I don't like this at all." said Rei. "Lets spread out and search for anything in this town. If you find any demons or anything else that could be important make some noise."
"Alright." said Asuka.
"Sounds good." said Shinji.
Rei, Asuka and Shinji all ran off in different directions. For the entire night they searched and when morning came Rei called the others by summoning her fire demon and causing a minor explosion as her signal. Asuka and Shinji ran over to Rei hoping to hear some good news.
"This town is empty." said Rei. "The only demons in this town are the ones attached to the people. There are no signs of a battle or a struggle. Nothing showing that anyone resisted. It looks like when the wall came down no one reacted and they were just, taken over by the demons."
"Well that makes sense." replied Asuka. "As if you could miss a wall falling on your head."
"She's right though, there are no signs of anything else happening here. It appears as though they excepted this change."
They decided that standing out in the cold thinking about this was not beneficial so Shinji opened one of the houses and they went inside. They started a fire in the fire place and sat around it still thinking. After about an hour Shinji broke the silence.
"Maybe we're thinking about this backwards."
"What do you mean?" asked Asuka.
"Well wait long enough for me to get a thought out." he replied jokingly.
Asuka stuck her tongue out at him.
"There is a definite pattern to the mist, it is stronger at night than during the day. So during the day you are able to travel small distances for food or supplies right?"
"That's what my village did." said Rei.
"So maybe the fallen wall did happen after. If one of those people that work for Shinigami brought in the mist when the gate was open, and did it without demons or an attack then the people would not have run or been killed."
"That's a grand idea but then why destroy the wall?" asked Asuka.
"Because we would obviously come here and see it." said Rei.
"It may just be a demonstration of what they are capable of. To show us that they don't need to destroy anything to win. Bringing down the wall was probably just to make us use time and ponder this."
"What an annoying day." said Asuka.
"That still doesn't explain the lack of demons." said Rei.
"I don't yet have an explanation for that."
"What about a trap?" said Asuka. "Make us falsely secure and then attack us. They're evil they'll do anything."
"That's a good tactic." said Shinji. "Sounds like something I would do."
"So if that's it what do we do?" asked Rei. "If you were them what would you do Shinji."
"I personally would have either attacked when you stopped searching, so you would be mildly sleep deprived or." Shinji stopped.
"Or?" asked Asuka sounding concerned.
"Attack within the next few days."
"Well that's not so bad."
"Actually it's worse. They'll either attack while we're searching around for provisions or while we are sleeping. With both we will be off guard and possibly separated. They'd attack while we were as weak as possible."
"So what do we do!?" exclaimed Asuka.
"We sleep smart." replied Rei. "We sleep in shifts, two sleep while one stands guard. This way if they attack only one of us will be off."
"That's a good idea Rei, I was about to suggest it."
"I'm go glad you can still keep your humor in this."
"You seem fine as well."
"Am I the only one who's actually worried about this?" interjected Asuka.
"On that level, I think so." replied Shinji.
"There is either something wrong with the two of you or something wrong with me. I vote on you two."
"Sounds good." said Rei. "I'll take the first watch. We don't need food right away since we just ate so much yesterday. We'll have to wait it out."
"What makes us so sure they won't just let us starve?"
"We wont starve." said Shinji. "If they wait that long we'll find food as a group. Also I don't think they'd throw away the chance to kill us."
"Good point. Since Rei's watching I'm taking the sleep. Goodnight." Asuka said laying down using her hands as pillows.
"Something tells me this isn't as simple as we think." said Rei.
"No. they are probably going to wait until we have all had sleep. I'm not looking forward to this."
"Get some sleep and don't worry about anything. I wont let us get attacked while you sleep."
"Good to hear. Goodnight."
High above Sendai Shi and Nana stood in the air as if it were a floor looking down at the house Rei, Asuka and Shinji occupied.
"I think they figured out your plan Shi," Nana said smugly, "what are you going to do now?"
"The same thing that I planed." he replied with his usual lack of emotion. "Attack in twelve hours. Everything is still going according to plan. I did not miscalculate."
"Whatever you say. As long as I get to kill them this time I don't care what you do."
"You still need to think things through. If you attack as you did last time you will be defeated."
"If you didn't stop me last time I could have killed them." Nana replied angrily.
"Do not attempt to defy Shinigami's orders as last time. I did not report it out of respect for his plans, but if you do so again then I will do as I was instructed."
"Shi. Don't interfere with my fight."
"Nana, follow orders."
The shifts changed and Rei was allowed to rest. This time Shinji took watch letting Asuka get as much sleep as possible. Without a sound Rei lay down for sleep and Shinji sat up to be on guard. Rei went to sleep surprisingly well despite the possibility of attack. She was somehow able to calm herself down and sleep on the thought that it would be better for combat.
Eventually it was Asuka's tern to watch and Shinji woke her up. Asuka was happy for the sleep she had gotten and was ready to stand watch. Just when Shinji had changed places with Asuka they heard something from outside. Rei woke up from the noise and was instantly alert. All three jumped out of the house right as Nana crashed into it destroying the entire building.
"I'm surprised you were able to avoid that." he said confidently. "You wont be so lucky with anything else."
"You again." said Shinji. "What a pain. Are you aware that we already killed Go and Roku. I'm guessing that they are stronger than you are."
"You think so huh?"
Nana rushed at Asuka and attempted to punch her. Asuka avoided by dodging to the left. He instantly turned around and through a back fit at Asuka. Unable to avoid she braced for the hit, but it was stopped by Shinji. He had appeared between her and Nana and kicked his hand to stop it. From there he moved toward him and swung his knives for vital areas. The knives hit but caused no damage to Nana's body. He then kicked Shinji back and he landed on the ground.
"You thought that would work boy? There is no way a weak attack like that would cut me. I am Nana. My skin is as strong as iron, with my full power not even that Shinpishugisha girl can cut me."
"Man what a pain." said Shinji. "I'll just have to swing harder."
Asuka ran toward Nana and swung her spear at him. He let it connect to further show his strength and tried to kick Asuka. She jumped to avoid it and swung her spear down at his head. Nana blocked the attack and Rei sped past swinging her sword across his back. Nana reacted as if he had been cut, loosing his balance for a moment. Shinji then leapt in and cut for his neck. A cut appeared, not one that would cause death, but enough for pain.
Shinji stood behind Nana, Rei to his left and Asuka in front, landing from the air after Nana was cut. Nana's eyes were full of rage at what had just transpired.
"I see your iron skin is so effective." said Asuka in a taunting manner.
"Yes apparently iron is something Shinji can cut, who knew."
"Even worse Rei has enough strength to break your focus and cause you defensive power to falter. How pointless an ability if it isn't independent of you will." said Shinji.
"Why you brats, I'll kill you!"
Nana flashed and appeared in front of Asuka. When he appeared Asuka thrust her spear at him and it connected with his stomach. It did not cut and Asuka was hit in the head by Nana's fist.
"Asuka!" Rei yelled and flashed toward Nana. She appeared in the air to the right of Nana's head. He turned to attack, but Rei disappeared again and was behind him. She thrust her sword into his back aiming for his kidney. It made a shallow wound and Nana gasped in pain. Shinji appeared in front of him as he gasped and made three cuts to his chest by spinning. His spin was as fast as his step and blood sprayed from his cuts.
Shinji and Rei vanished again and appeared some ten feet away with Asuka. Asuka stood on her own and looked at Nana.
"Ok," she said confidently, "I've figured out how hard his skin is. I think I can cut it this time."
"Good." said Rei. "I figure you had to get one cut in before we killed him."
"Thank you."
"YOU BITCH! DON'T TAKE ME SO LIGHTLY!" Nana put his fists together in front of him and focused is energy. His body glowed and his wounds closed up. When he finished he looked up at his opponents. "Now for my full power. My skin is ten times stronger than it was there is no way you can cut it know."
"You want to give it a try Asuka?" asked Shinji.
"Why not."
Asuka ran at Nana as fast as she could. He laughed at her due to her lack of flash ability. As she came within range Nana coiled back to punch her and suddenly Shinji appeared and stepped on his face. Nana bent back from the force and Shinji casually jumped off his face. Asuka then stabbed Nana in the stomach. The blade did not cut.
"Hehe." Nana laughed and snapped forward swinging at Asuka. She barely avoided by ducking and rolling out of the way.
"Damn he really is strong now."
"I told you there is no way you can cut me."
"That has yet to be proven." said Shinji.
Shinji then disappeared and reappeared next to Nana. Nana swung at him but he vanished again. Shinji continued this pattern, disappearing and reappearing all around Nana. Every time he reappeared he was standing neutrally, his arms at his sides. The speed at which he moved was just sub that of Rei's. There were many images of Shinji around Nana and it was difficult to tell which one was the real Shinji.
"Now we can test to see if you skin really is impenetrable by my blade." Attacking similarly as before, using high speed rotation Shinji attacked Nana six times. Nana reacted to the force of the hits but no cuts formed. When Shinji landed he was kicked my Nana. He flew in an arch backwards and landed on the ground.
"Shinji!" Asuka yelled.
"I told you, you will all die here. There is nothing you can do to me."
"Again your wrong." said Rei. She stood a distance away from Nana in an attack stance. He sword was held in her left hand, parallel with the ground, blade up. He right hand was open near the tip of the sword out in front of her. "There is nothing my blade cannot cut."
Saying that she flashed toward Nana. He was unable to react to her speed and Rei thrust her sword into Nana. The sword pierced his sternum and traveled through his body. Still with the blade facing up it went straight through the center of his spine. The force of the strike caused a huge gust of wind behind Nana and it blew up debris from the destroyed house.
Nana swung at Rei's head and she flashed behind him to avoid it, leaving her sword in Nana's chest.
"YOU BITCH!" Nana yelled. "HOW COULD YOU CUT ME LIKE THIS!? AT THE VERY LEAST NOW I CAN KILL YOU WITH YOUR OWN SWORD!" Nana went to grab the sword but found only air, the sword was no longer in his chest.
"You can't just be abandoning your sword like that Rei." said Shinji who was standing to the back right of Nana holding Rei's sword.
"Shinji!" Rei said happily.
"Catch." he said throwing Rei her sword. She caught it with her right hand and stood up to attack again.
"DAMN YOU! Fine! I'll just have to use everything I have on you." Nana went to grab his sword from its sheath with his right hand. As his hand was about to grab the hilt it was severed half was up the forearm. Shi stood to Nana's right, his back facing him.
"I told you not to disobey orders."
Rei, Asuka and Shinji stood amazed at what had just happened. Shi, a comrade of Nana, had appeared and cut off his arm.
"DAMN YOU SHI!" Nana yelled thriving in pain, only his rage keeping him standing. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!? SHINIGAIMI SAID TO KILL THEM!"
"His current orders do not override your past mandate. Remember only those of rank four and above my unsheathe their weapons. Despite what you rank was it is now only seven. In disobeying your orders, your arm was cut as a punishment."
"Damn you Shi!" Nana yelled turning to him and swinging his left hand.
In and instant Shi pointed his right hand behind him and did, what appeared to be, place two fingers on Nana's forehead. Nana grunted and toppled backwards, a hole in his head made by Shi's attack. Nana's body crumbled into dust and his demon armor fell apart.
"Those who disobey orders shall be eliminated, no exceptions." Shi said blankly as if being asked for a reason. He looked at Rei. "That attack of your's was impressive. I will make a note of it for if we face each other in combat." he said as he turned to leave.
"Your not running away!" yelled Asuka.
"No Asuka!" Rei yelled trying to stop her, but it was too late. Asuka had jumped toward Shi and swung at his head.
Without turning around Shi grabbed the blade of the spear with his right hand. He pulled his hand over his head and threw it to his right. Asuka flew through the air and crashed against another building.
"I am not permitted to kill you here. If Nana failed I am simply to report to Shinigami. My only other order was to tell you these people are controlled by demons that can be used to clear the mist. If you want you can take the power from one and use the rest to free Sendai." Shi said and then silently disappeared into a shadow.
"What the hell was that about?" asked Shinji."
"Asuka!" Rei yelled and flashed over to where she had landed. "Asuka are you alright?"
"Surprisingly yeah." she replied. "He really didn't throw me that hard. It seemed like just enough to make me cover this distance."
"That Shi, is amazingly strong." said Rei.
"And driven." said Shinji. "It appears that he is one of the more important of Shinigami's underlings. He carries out orders without a second thought."
"Yeah, but why would they want us to know how to save this town?"
"Your right, that makes no sense." Asuka said standing up. "This will hurt tomorrow." she said holding her ribs.
"Well since we can we should free the town." said Rei.
Rei walked over to the closest villager and placed her hand on his forehead. Closing her eyes she spoke with the demon that occupied his body. "I wish for you to lend me your power." she said.
"And why should I do such a thing?"
"It was the reason for your creation. Because deep down you don't want to hurt humans. And because I am a Shinpishugisha, a demon whisperer."
"With reasons like that I cannot refuse. If you promise to liberate my brethren from this hell than I will help."
"I promise."
The possessed man glowed and the demon receded from his body. Rei felt the power of the new demon serge through her. The released villager looked around very confused.
"W - what's going on?"
"Just watch." replied Rei. Held her hand up in the air and channeled the energy of the newly acquired demon. The rest of the villagers stopped moving and stood up straight. Arching their heads back they looked up at the sky. The demons that controlled the released themselves and used their power to destroy the mist around the town.
The villager that had been freed first looked at Rei with utter fear on his face. "What the hell are you?"
"Do not worry, I am a Shinpishugisha, I have freed this town of the mist forever with the help of the demons."
"A Shinpishugisha!?" the villager said horrified. He fell over from fear and slowly tried to crawl away. He then turned around, stood up and started to run.
"Well that was odd." responded Shinji to the reaction of the villager.
"Yeah, haven't seen that one yet." said Asuka.
"Well it was bound to happen eventually. The stories do say that my people caused the mist. It's only natural that people would be afraid of me."
"Your taking it well." said Shinji.
"Once your own village disowns you for your heritage than everything else related to that is nothing."
"Good point."
Several minutes later the villager came back with many more villagers. He pointed at Rei and they all walked cautiously toward her. When they were about ten feet away the stopped. An old man came out from the group and spoke.
"I hear that you are a Shinpishugisha." said the old man.
"That is correct." replied Rei.
"I am the elder of Sendai and I humbly ask you to leave this place at once."
At the elders words half of the crowd started to yell as if in disgust. Another man stepped forward from the crowd he was much younger.
"Elder are you serious? He said that she saved us from the mist and you want to expel her? Would that bring more wrath? We should respect our savoir and let them lodge."
"No the Shinpishugisha cannot be trusted. Even if one has shown us kindness it does not undo the terrible atrocity that they committed. Remember who made the mist in the first place."
"Are you saying she is evil by default? You think this is true?"
"I am saying she cannot be trusted. Who knows what trickery she could be planning."
By this time the entire town was present. The town was split into a group that wanted nothing to do with Rei and one that wanted to be nice to her. After much arguing Shinji stepped forward.
"Be quiet." He said keeping his smile, but load enough to get everyone's attention. "My god that was annoying."
"Who are you boy?" asked the elder.
"I am Shinji from Oshu. I have some information that might sway your decision. This Shinpishugisha does not have free will. She is in fact my pet. From birth she was raised to follow orders and will only do as I say. She poses no danger to you. Myself and the red head are human. The weather makes it impossible for us to travel. Would you send a fellow human to die outside when you clearly have the ability to accommodate us?"
"If that Shinpishugisha only does as ordered than why did she speak to me?" yelled the man that Rei first freed.
"She has been given permission to answer questions when asked them. If you notice, she has not offered any input to you argument. She has no opinion to express and understands nothing other than following my orders. Please take this into account during your considerations."
The elder stepped forward. "Given the situation you are correct. We cannot let fellow humans out to die in the wilderness. All the same we collectively do not trust that Shinpishugisha. Since you can control her we will allow you to stay, but under some restrictions. This is my village if she disobeys anything I saw you will have to leave. If someone says you may not enter their store then leave that instant. Understand?"
"But of course sir." Shinji said bowing. "We would never go against the wishes of our hosts. Please treat us with kindness while we stay here."
The elder turned to the man who was arguing with him. "Since you desired her to stay you may decide where they are to live. It must be in a house who agreed with you."
"Yes elder of course." the man turned to Shinji. "Please follow me."
Shinji and Asuka walked side by side and Rei followed. Rei made no sounds and walked with perfect posture. Her face had no emotion, she acted the part of a tool.
"How could you say that about Rei?" asked Asuka quietly to Shinji.
"Look it was the only way to convince them to let us stay. They would have started to riot soon. It was the only thing I could come up with."
"You could have told them the truth."
"Truth often falls upon deaf ears when speaking to the ignorant."
"What?"
"Stupid people don't listen. It was easier to just make that up. Dumb people will believe it easier."
"Well here we are." said the man leading Shinji and the others. "This is where you will be staying for the time being. It is easier for me if I just put you all in one large room instead of separate ones. Is that ok?"
"That will be fine." replied Shinji.
"Ok the room is unfurnished so my wife will be back up with bedding shortly."
"Thank you very much for your generosity." Shinji and Asuka said at the same time. Rei stayed standing. "Rei thank the man." said Shinji as if he was ordering.
"Thank you." she said dryly.
"Ok well, I have to go." and the man left.
Shinji, Asuka and Rei walked into the room and sat down. Asuka was still upset at what Shinji did and Rei sat perfectly still. The mans wife came up and handed the bedding to Asuka. She thanked her and brought it inside. After they were sure no one was close enough to hear them they began talking.
"That was quite the plan you came up with Shinji." said Rei. "It's going to be hard to keep the act up for a long period of time."
"A good plan!" exclaimed Asuka. "he's basically put you down to the same level of a well trained dog. How is that great?"
"You want to go back outside in that weather and last the winter? I don't. This was the only way to get us to stay."
"Whatever. As long as you drop the act when we're in here. I don't want to spend the rest of the winter talking to a doll."
"She will don't worry." said Shinji. "We just have to keep it up while the villagers are around. You basically getting my training Rei. Only you have no practice before you put it into practical use. Don't blow it."
"Of course not Shinji, I'll do just fine."
"I can't stand how this turned out." whined Asuka.
Several days past and the ruse was kept up. Reluctantly the villagers allowed Shinji, Asuka and Rei to assist with repairing the village wall. Instead of building it anew the old wall was picked up and carefully put back into place. Lifting it off the ground too a great amount of ingenuity and manpower. When it was finally stood up, and secured so it would not fall over, several masons wet to work sealing the cuts. Shinji, Asuka and Rei left the work to the villagers after that.
That night the group was walking back to their inn, and, due to the sheared, Asuka and Shinji walked several steps in head of Rei. From behind them a man crouched in the shadows. He silently walked up behind Rei and when he was only a few feet away he charged her, thrusting a knife toward her back. Rei turned just enough to grab his hand with her left. The man stood motionless, stopped by Rei's grasp, and before he realized what had happened Rei turned and threw a punch toward the mans face.
"Stop!" Shinji barked.
Rei stopped her punch only a hairs width away from the man nose. He stood in shock as Rei stood there with a blank face, the face of her disguise, of only to follow orders.
Shinji walked over to the would be attacker and Rei stood where she was, holding onto the mans hand with the knife and her punch almost at his face. "Did you really think that would work?" asked Shinji. "Of course someone like this is trained to counter an attack on herself, but did you think I would allow that to happen?"
The man stood silent frozen by fear of not only Rei but Shinji as well.
"Let's see, you planned to attack this Shinpishugisha, get beaten up quiet badly, and then tell the town that you were attacked without provocation. Did you want us just to leave or did you want the town to kill her? Answer sir."
"Answer you idiot." said Asuka who was still facing the way they were walking.
"This monster needs to leave." said the man his voice rattling with fear. "If I had to die to make that happen I would. Someone who's ancestors almost destroyed this would cannot be allowed to walk this earth."
"My god you're an idiot."
"Now now Asuka that's not nice." said Shinji. "She's right though." Shinji put his hand on the man's shoulder. "So…. Are you going to tell anyone what happened here tonight?"
"N-no." the man stammered.
"I didn't think so." Shinji said. The man then fell in a weak lump to the ground. Rei still stood as she was only letting go of the man's hand. "Come on Rei, we're leaving."
"Yes sir." she responded blankly.
Back at the inn Shinji, Asuka and Rei sat alone in their room drinking tea. Rei was glad to be out of the "trance state" as they called it.
"I must say we are getting pretty good at this whole thing." said Asuka. "how was that added effect of me just standing there?"
"I liked it." replied Shinji. "Very manipulative bitch. And Rei, great job on the emotionless order following. And staying in one spot until I said so, just perfect."
"Thanks, I can learn new skill really fast. What did you do to that guy anyway?"
"Oh just a little trick to make him pass out and make his memory foggy. He wont be sure if what happened was real or a dream."
"Is that one of you shadow warrior trick?" Asuka asked making hand gestures.
"Why yes it is."
"This whole situation is doing wonders for your friendship."
"Well since I can't talk to you I have to talk to somebody."
"I'm glad I can be the convenient substitute for your daily speaking requirement."
"Hey don't say it like that, I'm being nice to you aren't I."
"Your right."
"So anyway, how much longer are we just going to waste time like this?"
"What do you mean Rei?"
"Well since we're here we should use the space and free time to train. Things are only going to get harder now that we've killed off the four weakest of those guys."
"Yeah your right. Do they collectively have a name, because it's kind of annoying just saying those guys like that?" said Shinji.
"Well I suppose we could arbitrarily assign them a name." said Asuka.
"Ok, like what?"
"I don't know I've come up with my ideas for the day."
Shinji and Rei laughed. "I didn't realize you had a limit on those." said Shinji.
"I just don't feel like thinking anymore. I want to go to sleep."
"Then good night." said Rei. "I really think we should start training tomorrow so we aren't wasting time."
"Sure, but I'm sleeping first."
In the remainder of their stay they received no trouble from other villagers. Apparently only one was stupid enough to try and invoke an attack. Shinji, Asuka and Rei spent much time training to improve their skills. Asuka spared with Shinji most of the time and Rei stood off to the side, being careful not to allow the villagers to see how she really was. Rei did fight but before hand Shinji gave an order to do so. It wasn't necessary as the villagers mostly stayed way from them and they trained in a part of town not visited much. Everyone's skills vastly improved over their stay in Sendai. After a few months winter was coming to an end and the storms had ceased, now they were able to leave Sendai and continue their journey.
"I'm so glad we can finally get going again." said Asuka. "I was getting so bored with that town."
"Yes it did get old, but at least we got some training in." said Shinji. "If we hadn't done that this stay would have been a waste."
"True, but now we have to go." said Rei. "We have to get to Kenji's temple."
"And why is that exactly?" asked Shinji.
"My master came from there so it has a significance to me. Also the Abbot there new about me and sent Kenji to train me. Someone there must be able to help us out with our mission."
"So sentimentality and assistance. I can live with that."
"Good." said Asuka. "Now can we go?"
"Right!" said Shinji, still acting as the leader. "Of to our next destination."
Shinji, Asuka and Rei left Sendai glad to be able to drop the act they had been holding for so long. No one, not even the villagers that liked them, were there to see them off. They left as silently as they had came and the town continued on as if they were never there and the mist had never been a problem.
After the fight with Nana Shi vanished into the shadows and came into Shinigami's castle. The remaining three warriors were standing around with little to do and Shinigami sat in his throne. The room was lit with blue light being emitted from seemingly nowhere. Shi took a few steps forward and spoke to Shinigami.
"Due to Nana's failure the information has been delivered to the Shinpishugisha and her friends. Sendai is out of our control."
"GOOD, THE PLAN IS PROCEEDING AS EXCEPTED."
"If I may ask Shinigami-sama why did we let that town go? I mean we only just took that wall down a few years ago." said San in his soft, intelligent voice.
"THE REASON IS GOOD I ASSURE YOU. THOSE DEMONS THERE WILL DO SOMETHING MOST INTERESTING TO ARE LITTLE ANNOYENCE."
"Well that's good." San replied. "Now there are only four of us though. I'm not sure if I can take another team members demise. It's so horrible." he said sarcastically.
"Your ramblings are trying." said Ni.
"Man do women get annoyed easily."
"Quiet you!"
"Enough," said Ichi with his hand on his forehead, "the four of us are more than Shinigami needs. We just actually need to kill them next time."
"YES WHICH WILL PROVE EASY IF SHI COMPLETED HIS TASK. DID YOU DO AS INSTRUCTED SHI?"
"Of course Shinigami-sama. The details of their fighting style, attack patterns, strength, speed and attacks used during the last battle. I have it all for you."
"GOOD WITH THIS THEY WILL FALL WITHOUT FAIL. SAN, YOU WILL BE THE NEXT TO FIGHT THEM. HOW DOES THAT SOUND?"
"Nothing would make me happier. Unless of course you order me to completely destroy them, then I would be sad."
"AS LONG AS THEY DIE YOU ARE FREE TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH THEM."
"Thank you." San said bowing. "Is there a time when you would like me to attack?"
"WHENEVER SUITS YOU BEST IS FINE."
"Thank you sir."
Shi stepped forward and relayed the information that he gathered. The remaining warriors grinned in excitement over their next encounter with their enemies.
AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry it took so long to update, I didn't have time to write anything at school and they wont let me upload stuff to the sight while I'm there. I'll do my best to get more up as fast as I can, but no promises. With only four evil minions left the action is about to heat up. I hope you are looking forward to how the story plays out and are wondering what's up with the freeing the town thing.