As the evening chill permeated throughout the air, three travelers had taken up camp to rest their weary bodies. Their quest is fraught with difficulty and hardship, But for now, they relax.
"Did you lose the map"? Said the boy standing by the campfire, shifting a cast iron pan back and forth as the meat in it sizzles and cooks, brushing his light brown hair from his brow, his emerald green eyes panning towards a backpack by a tree stump filled with ingredients.
As he sifted through the pack, another boy appeared from the woods, carrying a bundle of timber with an Ax strapped to his back. His dark, messy, brown hair was held back by a white headband; his body was covered in a white jacket protecting him from the elements. "I told you already we don't need it! Your boy Ieyasu's got this!" He assured with a wide smile.
Unloading the wood onto the ground, Ieyasu sits down next to his friend. "Tatsumi, how much longer is this going to take?" He asks, "About another month at the rate we're going." Tatsumi answers, pulling out a bottle of spices from the bag and opening it.
"No...I meant until dinner's ready?"
"Oh, I'd say about another fifteen minutes,"
"Man, I can't wait that long! We've been walking all day, and you know how long it took to hunt those rabbits?" Ieyasu protested.
"If only you were as good at reading maps as you are at hunting." The green-eyed boy spoke as he shook the spices into the pan. It sizzled as they hit.
"Man, don't sweat the details! Worrying about little things like 'Directions' will just bog everything down, just focus on what matters...being awesome!" Ieyasu proclaimed.
Tatsumi returned a deadpanned glance at his friend, dumbfounded that he could be friends with such a twit, much less call him a childhood friend. "I don't care about that, I want to save the village. That's the main reason I'm doing this".
Tatsumi's eyes narrowed on the roaring campfire. The flames danced as they consumed the logs beneath it like a gluttonous beast. As he looked up towards the night sky, he counted the many numerous stars spread throughout it.
The various patterns and clouds mixing formed almost like a painting. The boy felt dwarfed by their grandeur in such a harsh world; can he make a difference? In the grand scheme of things, he, his friends, and their quest are insignificant.
As he reached into his jacket, he pulled out the gift the village elder gave to him before he departed, 'Hold onto this, it will grant you the Lord's protection". Recalling his words, Tatsumi glanced over the idol. "Lord's protection? Would a god even have time to watch over something so trivial?"
As he returned the idol to his jacket, he looked once more towards the sky," How can something so beautiful, yet so cold and indifferent"? The boy mused as he watched a star streak through the night sky; it left a full trail as it cut through the skyline.
As he stared into the endless twilight, a single star caught his notice from the north; it appeared to be slowly getting brighter as if it were struggling to grow. Slowly its illumination grew, "I've never seen a star do that before," The boy said to himself.
"Do what?" Ieyasu asked.
"Oh...it's nothing," Tatsumi replied.
"Where the hell is Sayo?
"She's still preparing the fruit we found."
"Still? I swear that's the only thing she's good at aside from bossing us around-," Just as he was about to finish, a dull thud rang out through the camp as a log collided with the back of Ieyasu's head.
"Oh? What was that Mr 'We don't need any maps'?" As Ieyasu grasped his head in discomfort, the two heard a soft yet stern voice from behind; turning around, a young girl walked into view; her skin as pale as the moonlight that shone from above. Her black, straight hair, cascaded over her shoulders, her white flower hair ornament contrasting it.
"Gah! Sayo that hurt!" Why did you do that? Ieyasu yelled. The girl shouted with annoyance, walking towards him, with a perturbed look marked upon her face, "Why? You lost the map! We've been wandering for days with no clue where we are, and you act like it's no big deal!" She shouts.
Rubbing her eyes, Tatsumi could sense her frustration, here they were miles from home and more than likely lost, every moment away was only lengthening the village's suffering. "While you're acting like this is no big deal, the villagers go hungry!" Sayo scolded like she was lecturing a six-year-old who forgot to clean up after himself.
"Can you two stop fighting?" Tatsumi implored, " We can't do anything about it; let's just relax for the moment." He returned to cooking the meal, "Besides, dinner is almost ready." The three sat around the campfire as they passed around their plates, waiting to feast.
"Mmmm. Smells good as usual, Tatsumi." Ieyasu grinned.
"Thank god you got so good at cooking; if not for you, we'd have to depend on this idiot over here!" Said Sayo pointing at Ieyasu.
"He, he, it's nothing...I heard they got all kinds of fancy foods in the capital; I'd like to try them out, but if we get in the military, we'll probably be eating nothing but potatoes and gruel!" Tatsumi Joked.
As they ate, the trio reminisced about days long past. Their hopes and dreams for the future, the village they must save. Their resolve is strong, their bond unbreakable. They are more than friends. They are family.
They playfully joshed with each other trying to outdo each other's insults as they bantered; Sayo struck Ieyasu when his jabs became too personal, causing Tatsumi to laugh.
"Don't make jokes about shit you don't know Ieyasu!" Sayo warned.
"Ouch! Must be that time of the month again, huh Tatsumi?" He said, poking his friend in the rib.
"I swear if your lack of common sense does not get you, killed it will be your horrible comedic timing." Tatsumi mused. The three shared a hearty laugh.
The night continued, as the trio lost themselves in conversation. The crisp, night breeze bearly registered to Tatsumi this cold was nothing compared to his home's unmerciful winters.
As Tatsumi returned to his meal, he detected a rustle from the nearby brush. He arose from his seat, "Tatsumi?" Sayo asked. He drew his blade and approached the undergrowth with caution. The three fell silent as only the crackling of the campfire and the gentle whispers of the winds.
"What's wrong?" Ieyasu grabbed his ax as he panned around the camp. The three could feel something was watching them, waiting for the right moment to strike, "What is it? A danger beast?" Ieyasu shouted.
"Quite!" Tatsumi barked. His eyes narrowed on the bushes waiting for the moment to strike. In a flash, chaos erupted.
"AH HA HA HA! Where's our share, huh? You make enough for all of us?!" A shape stalked from the brush, covered in the hides of various dangers beast; his face masked in the hood of a hollowed-out gifnora dog.
The three looked about as more shapes emerged from the blackness as if they were born from the womb of darkness itself. Ready to terrorize any who stand in their way.
Beset on all sides; no chance of escape. "What are we going to do?!" Ieyasu yelped, his cry laden with panic. "Fight!" Sayo yelled back.
As the men drew closer, they brandished their blades, bearing their metaphorical claws at their prey. They laughed, whooped, and hollered, beating their chests as they worked themselves into a frenzy.
Without warning, they attacked the three. The combination of the twisting fire and the pitch blackness of the night gave them an otherworldly movement, jumping from place to place, appearing and disappearing at their whim. The trio was unsure how large their numbers were.
They smashed and thrashed about with reckless abandon tearing the camp apart. "Everyone! RUN!" Tatsumi screamed, the three engaged in battle as blades clashed, and wood smashed to pieces, their food trampled.
Crimson splattered as steel cut through flesh, and the anguished screams of one of the bandits rang out as Tatsumi cut down a bandit through his shoulder as his body fell apart lengthwise.
Arrows rained through the air as the three tried to make their escape, "they outnumber us!" Ieyasu screamed, "Calm down, you idiot!" Sayo hissed, as the two argued, they heard whistling from the sky.
"Everyone! Run to the forest! We'll be-" As Tatsumi yelled towards his friends, a blast cut him off, scattering the trio.
Sayo reached out towards her friend as the blast sent Tatsumi flying into the darkness; her eyes widened as she was unable to save him.
"TATSUMIIIIII!"
In another time and another place, a different trio walked a winding path, this one's resolve while strong but perhaps not so much as the man currently leading it, but not many could hope to match the fortitude of this man.
"Would it kill this guy to slow down?" The auburn-haired girl thought to herself. "At this rate, my blisters are going to have blisters!" She muttered, glaring daggers at Ken's back.
As Kenshiro, Chelsea, and Taki walked along the road towards Joyou. Ken pondered to himself about his current situation. One second he was in his world drawn to a cave and fell asleep, and the next, he was in an entirely new one.
It had everything he would ever want, trees, clean air, and water in abundance. More food than he had ever seen in years, and yet it was just as cruel and vicious as his homeworld. Wondering gangs of thugs dominated and killed with impunity.
The local government appears to abuse its power even more so. So much so that a rebellion had sprung up to oppose it. The idea that this world untouched by thermonuclear destruction could still descend into unwarranted cruelty was complete madness.
There was also the matter of the violent woman whom Ken took the life of the previous night. Never before, he had taken a woman's life. It went against his code, but he could not forgive her for her actions.
He felt no remorse for ending the girl's life, and yet he could not shake the feeling of what could have made such a person act in that manner. She was as dishonorable and evil as any mohawked, full leather-wearing scumbag he had dispatched by the thousands, and yet in her mind, she felt entirely justified in her actions.
What unnerved Ken more was that the entire time he was fighting her, he could still sense no malice from within her heart. Was her mind so twisted that she had convinced herself that her cause was a righteous one? Ken decided there was no more reason to reflect on scum no matter how deluded as her.
As Ken looked on towards the sky, he wondered, "Is there a reason I am here? There has to be a reason. But is this part of my destiny? I still cannot feel the north star's presence; I cannot rely on its guidance for what purpose was I brought to this land?"
Ken was lost in thought to such a degree that he did not notice he had walked ahead of Chelsea and Taki, leaving them behind. "Hey, Ken! Wait up!" Chelsea shouted, "Ugh, how can he keep walking at this pace? We've been going nonstop for nearly eight hours, and he's barely broken a sweat." The headphone-bedecked girl cried as she tried to catch up with him.
Ken stopped as he turned back towards the two and they caught up. "You got to slow down. We're having a hard time keeping up. Can you dial it down a bit?" Chelsea pleaded.
"Aunt Chelsea, I'm hungry," Said Taki, "Great, and the kid's hungry now," Chelsea moaned. "I've got some jerky in my purse...yeah, I eat jerky, sometimes I don't feel like eating candy all the time, you got a problem with that?" She said with annoyance.
"Aunt Chelsea? Who are you talking to?" Taki asked the girl as she was gazing at a tree. Chelsea snapped out of her daze and walked towards a nearby tree stump. "I think I may have been walking for too long...I'm going to sit down now." She hunches down and bites off a piece of jerky, as she stares off into space.
She hands off the stick of jerky to Taki as she proceeds to chew. Ken leans back on a nearby tree as the pair rest, Chelsea finishing her snack shifts her eyes towards him, noticing something rather...odd, "Hey, Ken, where did that jacket come from?" She asks.
Ken returned her a bewildered look, "It's just that...you completely disintegrated it during that fight. I didn't see you bring anything with you, when did you have time to find an identical one?" The girl inquired.
Ken stood there with his arms crossed, looking at the auburn-haired girl, and then turned away as a squirrel darted past his line of vision. "Umm...hello? You did not answer, you kind of looked around and got distracted by a squirrel." But it was not the squirrel that caught his attention. As he looked towards a nearby forest, he saw a figure cloaked in shadows.
It appeared to be hunched over, the dark gray robe obscuring the figure's face entirely. Ken approached the shape cautiously, unsure of its intentions. "Ken? Where are you going?" Chelsea asked.
"Aunt Chelsea, what's wrong with Ken?" Taki asked.
"I don't even know anymore...KEN! What the hell are you doing?"
Ken ignored her as he walked towards the figure as it stood by the mouth of the forest. It turned towards the man with seven scars, with great strain."
"Ahh...I see you have finally arrived, Savior of Century's End." The figure spoke in a harsh tone.
Ken's eyes widened as the figure greeted him. "You...how do you know who I am? Do you know why I am here?" Ken asked.
"All in good time, but know this, the road you walk will be fraught with peril and hardship, you will face adversity, unlike anything you have encountered. I see you have already forsaken your one rule. You would have to abandon it eventually to complete your trial.
"Trial?"
"It has already begun, that girl... she hides her anguish behind a wall of callousness, concealing untold sorrow. But now the cracks are starting to form. Hope has ignited within her due to your actions.
Ken stood by as he attempted to understand the figure's meaning. "You are lost now, but look towards the sky when night falls, and the path will become clear to you." The figure walked away into the brush.
Ken watched as the figure vanished into the thicket. "Know that others shall need the light of Hokuto, become their beacon of hope." The parting words of the figure reverberated throughout the forest.
Ken stood in silence as the wind blew past him. He watched as the sprawling field swayed to and fro as the sky overhead became cloudy. It blotted out the sun, its ominous presence enveloping the sky.
"Ken...what happened?" Chelsea and Taki had finally caught up with him out of breath, she kneels. "You can't run away like that, what if there was a trap?" she panted. "Jeez...the five-year-old is better behaved than you are." She said with a worried grimace.
"It's nothing," Ken said.
"You're not leaving us, are you, Mr. Kenshiro?" The small boy looked up at Ken with a sad look in his eyes.
"No." Ken smiled at the child as he rubbed his head affectionately. Taki had lost everything he had known in the span of a night. Ken could never forgive himself if he left him now.
"Well, at least he's good with kids..." Chelsea remarked.
As the three turned away from the woods, Ken caught the faint sound of yelling coming from inside the forest; Ken gazed into the twisting thicket of trees and bushes.
"Ken?" Chelsea turned back only to realize he was no longer there. "God damn it! Again?" She shouted in frustration.
As Ken navigated the forest, he pushed away branches as old leaves and twigs ground under his boot; the snapping and shifting of the undergrowth, repeating through the woods. He could hear the sounds of various creatures chattering and squeaking.
The angered shouting grew louder the closer he drew. Finding a spot hidden by various rocks and bushes, he pushes them away only to see a familiar scene. "Come on, just hand over the girl, and we'll let you go!" A gruff voice shouted as Ken watched two teenagers surrounded by about a dozen men.
"Not a chance, asshole!" The dark-haired boy yelled back in return
"Oh, this one's got some spirit in him, like his friend...too bad he's just a spirit after we caved his skull in!" One of the thugs bellowed.
"Ta-Tatsumi?" The raven-haired girl's voice trembled.
"You're lying!" shouted the dark-haired boy.
The thugs aimed their crossbows at the pair as a man in the back who appeared to be the leader leaned back against a tree with a smug look on his face, a slightly annoyed-looking man in a suit with a fur cloak hung on his shoulders, his black hair slicked back. He appeared to be writing on a clipboard.
"Rijad, the farm girl better be worth all this, we sell her and we might be able to cover our expenses for the month and make up for the lost men, equipment, and time wasted." The man said as he checked off various paperwork.
Rijad groaned as he pushed himself from the tree, with a groggy yawn. "Franklin, I appreciate all the work you've done. You've been a godsend, but let me handle the down and dirty, and you just make the numbers work". Rijad remarked as he stroked his beard.
"I understand, Rijad. But wasting two days tracking these two bumpkins when we could have hit a caravan or something...all I'm saying is this girl better be worth it".
"Oh, she will...people will pay top dollar for a fresh little thing with skin that smooth; they'll be falling over one another trying to outbid her." Rijad licked his lips as he grabbed a nearby sawed-off. "Hell, I know of a brothel in the capital, specifically looking for these backwoods hicks. Always need new girls cause they don't last that long.
As Ken observed the scene, he felt a rustle from the bush next to him, "Slave traders..." Chelsea muttered as she poked her head out of the shrubbery, a hint of disgust in her voice. "They abduct people from all around or collect family members from those who owe debts; They sell them off as sex slaves, forced labor, and...other things I don't want to remember." She paused as if she recalled something she had left buried in her mind.
"Human garbage...all of them." She sneers. Ken looked down at the group as he rose to his feet. "You're going down there?" Chelsea asked.
As he moved down the hill, he looked back to Chelsea, "Human or not, garbage is garbage and should be disposed of properly.
The cocksure leader strode towards the pair, "Look here, cut your losses and give us the girl. You'll be saving yourself a lot of pain in the long run". Rijad politely asked the dark-haired boy.
The boy considered his options, looking around, he knew he had no chance of escape. "I-I would never give up Sayo. She's more than a friend! She's like a sister to me!" The boy proclaimed.
"Ieyasu..." Sayo said, a look of astonishment on her face.
The thugs started to laugh at the boy bearing his soul, making light of his chivalry. "Oh, isn't that sweet..." Rijad remarked as he grabbed a few shells from his bandolier, "I don't give a fuck..."His grin fades as he loads shells into his sawed-off.
Ieyasu and Sayo stepped back as the men approached, beads of sweat forming on their brows. Nothing they could do now would stop these men. Two of the men charged toward them.
Sayo spoke to her friend, "I...Ieyasu...I'm sorry." the girl said.
Without looking back, he grabs his ax and prepares for his final battle, "Don't worry, Sayo, at least we'll go out awesomely!" He beamed, looking back at her with a wide grin.
Surprised even in their last moment, he still acts like a Buffon. "Ieyasu...you-" She gasps as she sees a man jump towards the front line of attackers.
"AHTA!" The sounds of fist colliding with jawbone rang out through the forest as one of the slavers crashed to the ground, as quick as he appeared, the man vanished in an instant. The other slaver stepped back, unwilling to approach. Unsure as to what took out his buddy.
"What happened? What did you do!?" The thug screams at the pair as he shakes his sword. They shook their heads just as confused as he was.
The thug turned his head as a shadow engulfed him. Looking up, he saw a massive, over-six-foot-tall man towering over him. "HOLY CRA-" He had no time as the figure struck him in the solar plexus, "WAHTA!" The thug doubled over in pain as Ken placed his hand on the side of the thug's head and lightly pushed him over.
"Eh? Who's this asshole?" The slavers gathered around Kenshiro as he stood in their path, blocking their way toward the pair.
"Sayo, are you seeing this?!" Ieyasu yelled, his eyes wide with amazement.
"Who is he?!" She stammers out, unsure of what to make of the man who had just saved their skin. Out of the corner of Sayo's eye, she notices a woman wearing headphones with a small child in the bushes. The girl beckoned them over with a wave of her hand, she did not say anything, but her face read, "Get over here, you idiots!"
The pair clambered to the nearby bushes on Ken's left towards Chelsea, "Where do you think you're going?" A thug with a crossbow smirked as he let loose one of his bolts.
It sailed through the air towards Ieyasu. His eyes went wide as the bolt traveled toward his head. "Ahhhhh..." He sputtered as it drew closer only for it to stop mere inches from his forehead. He gasped as he looked at the massive hand that seemingly plucked it from the air.
"Whoa..." The couple were in awe. The man who stood in front of them held the bolt in his hand as he stared down the thugs, discarding it like trash.
As Ken looked around the group, he directed his gaze toward their leader. "Leave...none of you are worth the effort to kill." He said in a stern tone. The men stood there slackjawed; they began to laugh and cackle as what Ken stated finally set in.
"You got to be fucking kidding me!" One of the men yelled.
"Who the fuck does he think he is?" Another shouted from the back.
"Just a fluke he caught that arrow!" Yet another snickered.
The men taunted and screamed at Ken, daring him to attack. In their entire career, they have never encountered anyone who dared to stand up to them, Most receive a beat down or worse for such heroism.
As Sayo and Ieyasu ran towards the brush huddling behind it, they watched as Kenshiro stood like a pillar in direct defiance of the slavers. Unmoved by their provoking antics.
Sayo turns to the headphone-bedecked girl, "Thanks for saving us and all but is your friend like a crazy person?"
Chelsea turned to her with a grin sucking on a lollipop. "Heh...you could say that."
The four watched as Rijad pushed his way through his men, his sawed-off resting on his shoulder as he ignited a cigar. "Well, I must say I have never seen quite a performance, but you must be seven kinds of fucking stupid to challenge us!"
The forest erupted with loud cheering, the men screamed at the top of their lungs, beat their chests, and pelted Ken with various half-empty cans of beer, rocks, and branches. He ignored the trash thrown at him. The tree lining scattered as birds fled the raucous noise.
Rijad raised his hand, motioning his men to quiet down. "Boy, you ever hear the old saying 'Don't bring a knife to a gunfight'? Well, you just took it one step further. You came to the fight, but you didn't even bring the goddamn knife!" He pointed the sawed-off at Ken.
"What business do you have with those two?" Ken asked.
Rijad smirked as he cocked the hammer, "Well, not that it's any of your concern. But we were just offering the little lady an employment opportunity she declined the offer, we implored."
Chelsea felt a tug on her arm, "Aunt Chelsea, Mr. Ken's going to beat them up, right?" Taki asks.
"Oh yeah." She replies.
Sayo and Ieyasu gawked at the pair, somewhat off-put that they seemed so unconcerned that their friend was currently facing certain death. He might have been able to take out two men, but now he was exposed with nowhere to go.
Ken raised his hand, pointing it at Rijad; his eyes focusing on the man, "Hokuto Shinken exists to eradicate trash like you...trash who steal the freedom of the innocent and cast them into despair for your gain!"
"I-is, he monologuing?" Sayo asks.
Chelsea chuckled, "Well...Ken loves his speeches."
"Huh...well, that's weird." Sayo scuffed only to jolt in surpise as Ieyasu burst from beside her.
"NO! IT'S FREAKING BADASS!" He beamed with wonder in his eyes. "He's so goddamn cool! I've never seen anything so amazing in my entire life! He's a man..., THIS IS WHAT A MAN IS SUPPOSED TO BE!" He shouts with jubilation.
"Ken's so cool!" Taki yells in confirmation.
"Damn, straight he is!" Ieyasu replies, high-fiving the small boy he just met.
"Alright, alright, calm down," Chelsea said. "You ain't seen nothing yet!" Chelsea let out a smirk of self-assurance.
Rijad looked confused. His eye cocked as he was trying to understand the absurd situation he found himself in, "Hokuto Shinken? Sounds like a lot of fucking claptrap and nonsense to me," The man mocked. "Boy, do you not see the boomstick about to paint the nearby trees with your brain matter?" The man yelled.
"Go ahead-," Ken dared, "-you won't even have the chance to pull the trigger punk!" The man with seven scars exclaimed while cracking his knuckles.
Rijad scoffed as he lowered his gun, unable to stop laughing, "Punk? Anyone ever tells you to respect your elders...YOU LITTLE BI-," As he aimed his weapon Ken was upon him in a moment, the tips of his fingers lightly touching his hand.
"W...what the hell? You must be one dumb son of a bitch to get right in front of my boomstick!" Rijad mocked as he squeezed the trigger, "What the?" Ken remained stone-faced as Rijad tried to move his hand.
His hand started to boil and twitch, "Aghhhh!" He felt indescribable pain as his fingers bent and cracked awkwardly; they twisted in odd directions as his hand bloated and burst apart like an overripe tomato, "AGUHHHHHHHHH!" He shouted in complete mind-searing pain as he fell to his knees clutching his mutilated hand.
"AHHHHH! YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAND?!" Rijad shouted.
With his back to Rijad, Ken turned his head slightly. "(Goshi Retsu Dan)!" He paused as he let out an exhale, "Life and respect...you deserve neither." He walked away from the fallen slaver.
"OH, MY GOD! HE'S SO GODDAMN COOL!" Ieyasu shouted in jubilation.
The slavers encircled Ken, helping Rijad up to his feet. "BOSS!" One of the thugs shouted, "FUCKING RUSH THAT BASTARD!" Another one screamed.
The slavers charged him, ten men could easily take him down, or so they assumed. "WATA!" Ken leaped into the air, rotating his body, and delivered a brutal, slicing kick beheading four men in one stroke.
The slavers were stained in crimson as their friend's heads rolled and bounced down hills, trees, and rocks. "(Enkan Zanshu Kyaku)!" Ken uttered as he landed on his feet.
One of the heads rolled towards the four, hiding in the bushes. the head finally stopped rolling as it gazed at the group. "Huh...what do you know? Their eyes do move around a bit before they die." Chelsea muttered.
"AHHHHHH!" Sayo screamed, her eyes wide with horror.
"Get it all out...you'll be surprised how quickly you'll get used to it," Chelsea remarked with an oddly cheerful tone.
"She's loud," Taki said, covering his ears.
"Well, that's why I wear headphones!" Chelsea replied with a wink as Sayo continued to scream in abject horror.
The other slavers quickly lost their will to fight as Ken stared them down. "Oh...you son of a bitch. I'm going to get you for this. I'm not even going to sell you, oh no. I'm going to fucking break that fighting spirit of yours!" Rijad threatened as he staggered to his feet.
"I've taken your hand...continue, and I will take your life next. 'Cut your losses and leave while you still can." Ken replied coldly.
"HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AMAZING!" Ieyasu yelled again.
Rijad stumbled back as his men scattered like cockroaches into the forest in panic, "Just you wait...I won't let you off that easily!" The slaver slinks off into the thicket, branches snapping as he pushes them away in frustration.
The four stood up from the undergrowth, brushing off the debris from their clothing as they approached Kenshiro. "That was amazing!" Ieyasu yelled as he stared at Ken with childlike wonderment.
"But was it ok to let them go like that?" Chelsea asked.
"All more the reason we should leave before they come back," Ken replied.
"Well, we should get out of here while we have the chance, right, Sayo? Uh, Sayo?" Ieyasu looked towards his friend only to find her staring slack-jawed at the carnage wrought by Kenshiro's fist.
"Oh...what? Yeah, um, thanks for saving us." She sputters out as she stirs from her daze.
"Name's Ieyasu and the catatonic girl is Sayo."
"Is that any way to thank your rescuer, little girl?" Chelsea facetiously remarks.
The biting barb roused Sayo from her daze; she glanced toward the auburn-haired girl with a glare that could kill twenty men. "Oh, I'm indebted to the girl who saved my life. So what is a 20-year-old girl doing walking around the forest with her father anyway?" Sayo sarcastically asks, shrugging her shoulders,
"Fa-father? HE'S NOT MY DAD, YOU STUPID BUMPKIN!" Chelsea roared.
"Bumpkin? You wanna go, you dumb bitch?! I'll beat your ass so hard you won't have enough makeup to cover up the damage!" Sayo returned in kind, flipping Chelsea the bird.
"Oooooh, don't tempt me. I'll torture you to death; By the time I'm done; you'll be begging me to end you!" Chelsea screamed back.
"Uhh...girls, can you two stop fighting?" Ieyasu sheepishly said.
"Keep talking. I'll shove your head on a pike!" Sayo proclaimed, aiming her bow at Chelsea.
"Girls...?" Ieyasu urged only for the bickering pair to turn their attention toward him. "Never mind." He said as he hid behind Ken.
As Ken watched the spectacle unfold in front of him, he started to question if fighting the slavers would have been preferable to this.