by Ryan Kirk
He came to two decisions through the long hours of the dawn. The first was that if he was ever given the chance he would visit the same terror on those who sought to harm him. Orochi was teaching him how to hunt man, a skill Shigeru had never taught him. Shigeru was a man of honor and principle. He fought in a straightforward manner, always attacking his opponents and challenges head on. But now Ryuu knew a different way. A man could survive and thrive based on his ability to hide, to blend, and to be non-existent.
He also vowed that he would continue to train, study, and be diligent. He needed to seek out all kinds of warriors to become a complete fighter. He felt like Orochi was better equipped, better trained and more dangerous than him. He needed to learn more so he could fight Orochi on equal terms, to never be caught off-guard again, to understand everything about the world.
They traveled and they trained. Despite their best efforts they made slow time. Takako was weak and Ryuu was all too happy to plead her case. When they rested Shigeru healed. Those were good days. They hiked while the sun was up. Ryuu pestered Shigeru with hundreds of questions, trying to dig out every last piece of knowledge Shigeru held. At night he learned how to prepare food from Takako. Shigeru had taught him, but Takako’s skills surpassed both of the men she was traveling with. They would sit around the fire and tell stories.
For a while it felt like they might make it out alive. But Orochi found them again.
Ryuu had been sitting watch all night. It had been his practice as Shigeru continued to recover from his injuries. He couldn’t do it every night, but he could and did more often than he should. As the dawn began to brighten the sky Ryuu knew. He couldn’t sense anything, but he knew.
Shigeru awoke and saw the look on Ryuu’s face. There wasn’t any need for words to explain Ryuu’s expression.
"You could have woken me."
Ryuu stood up, stretching his stiff legs. "I wouldn't have slept anyway. You needed the rest to recover."
Shigeru didn't deny the truth of the statement. "Did you sense anything?"
"No."
Shigeru arched an eyebrow. He knew there was more.
"I know he is on his way here. I can’t explain how I know, but I’m certain.” He glanced over at Takako, “I'm afraid we can't outrun him."
Shigeru nodded. It seemed to Ryuu that Shigeru had already made a decision and was just waiting for the right time to tell him.
"We aren't going to run from him. He's got our scent. We might evade him for a day or two or experience another narrow escape, but he will never stop. There is no point in trying to prolong the inevitable. We’ll wait here and take turns on watch. With his retainers dead, I suspect he will have collected reinforcements, and is on his way back. Fighting him is our only way out of this."
Ryuu wanted to protest, to claim there had to be a better way, but deep down he knew Shigeru was right. This close to his target, a man like Orochi would never stop, would never give up pursuit. Ryuu wished he had never rescued Takako, that he hadn’t brought this upon all of them.
Shigeru, as always, seemed to be looking right into him. "Don't blame yourself. It’s true these are the consequences of the actions you took. But it’s more important that what you did was right. You stood up for someone who needed help. It’s more than I can say I’ve done. If we die, it’s as proud warriors. There is no dishonor in that."
Ryuu wanted to scream at Shigeru for talking that way. All he wanted was to go back to the old cabin, to run in the woods and spar with Shigeru. He imagined the spring breeze on his face and the freezing beauty of the nearby waterfall. It felt like he would never go back again.
"What if I'm wrong? What if Orochi isn’t on his way and we’re just sitting here instead of being on the move?"
"You're not wrong. I've trained you well, and honestly, you are and will be a much stronger nightblade than me. I've known for a while now. I can only teach you two more lessons. The first is to trust your instincts. Your mastery of the sense is superb, and if your instincts are telling you something, believe them, because I can guarantee they are right. Second, don’t let consequences deter you from what you feel must be done. Saving Takako was the right thing. I won't sit here and lie to you and tell you life will be better for doing the right thing, but you will be a better person, and that's all I've ever wanted."
Ryuu was flooded with questions and things he wanted to say. There was so much that he wanted to let Shigeru know, how important he was and how much he meant, but there was just nothing that would come out. He nodded and stared into Shigeru’s eyes. He knew. It was enough.
Shigeru embraced Ryuu tightly, completely catching him off-guard. Ryuu felt like he was losing his father all over again.
After a few beats of silence, the two separated and got on with the daily chores of living. They went through their morning exercises together and spent some time sparring, both to warm up and for Shigeru to test his recovery. He wasn't quite at his best, but he was strong.
Takako woke up refreshed and Ryuu was delighted to watch her as she set about cooking them a lunch from the food she could scrounge together. The three of them sat around, sharing stories of their lives and laughing. Takako welcomed the rest day. They didn’t have the heart to tell her the real reason for the rest.
Ryuu realized Shigeru thought of this as the end. He saw the way Shigeru was trying to squeeze all the enjoyment, all the memories he could out of these last few moments of life, the same way you would twist a rag to get the last few drops of water out of it.
Ryuu couldn't bring himself to accept it. Through all his training, Shigeru had pounded it into his head that warriors needed to embrace death, to be ready for it every day. But Ryuu wasn't. He wanted to live and spend every moment with Takako and Shigeru. He knew Shigeru was right, but it didn’t change his feelings. He wasn’t ready to die, and couldn’t picture a future where he would be.
The sun was setting when Ryuu sensed them. They were on horseback moving fast. Ryuu tracked them with great interest. They were on the edge of his sense, as far as he could push it out, and had not been heading straight for them. They had been following a meandering course. It was only when their course brought them a little closer that all the horses and men turned to come to them.
It was valuable information. Ryuu’s sense extended further than Orochi’s. He noted the distances. If they lived through this day it may come in handy.
They came directly for the hut without slowing down. It was another five men plus Orochi. Ryuu turned to Shigeru.
“Why does he only bring five?”
Shigeru shrugged. “He may not have access to more. I suspect though he doesn’t intend to overpower us with the other men he brings along. He knows he can only kill us himself. The other men are a distraction so he doesn’t have to fight both of us at the same time. He may or may not be stronger than either of us individually, but he isn’t stronger than the two of us attacking together.”
Ryuu nodded. He supposed the why wasn’t really important. A lecture from Shigeru sprang to his mind about not worrying too much about how events had come to be or how they would play out. Both were unknowable and not worth wasting time over.
They directed Takako behind the cabin. Ryuu had to give her credit. She took the news with a surprising calm. The cabin was large enough that no one could sneak behind it without notice, but also left her room to start running if she needed. The two of them stood out in front of the farmhouse, waiting patiently.
They didn’t have to wait long, and it was clear from the outset their attackers weren’t interested in a fair fight. A small flurry of arrows came at them as soon as they were in range. Ryuu and Shigeru could sense them coming and sidestepped the dangerous ones without a challenge.
Then the battle was joined in earnest. As the approaching men became more visible Ryuu saw they had the same armor and insignia as the soldiers they had fought and killed earlier. The observation passed through his mind like water as he moved to defend against the hors
es bearing down on him.
The men were well trained and their intent was clear. The five soldiers who accompanied Orochi were all heading for Ryuu, and Orochi was going after Shigeru. It was the first time Ryuu had seen Orochi and the sight of him was enough for Ryuu to lose his composure for a heartbeat. He had never seen anyone so intimidating. The man was huge and muscled. It was just a glance, but enough to make Ryuu’s heart sink down to his stomach which was tied up in knots.
The soldiers had no interest in fighting one-to-one duels. They kept to their horses and charged at Ryuu. Fear ran through him. He had never had to fight men on horseback. Shigeru had trained him and he was familiar with the theory, but theory wasn’t combat.
With just moments to go before they reached him his training took over. His mind went blank. He expanded his sense and drew his sword. As he settled into his stance he had a sensation he had never felt before. Everything seemed to come together in his mind. He saw the strikes and his responses and moved smoothly into combat.
The sensation was a powerful drug. A sense of control flowed through him, and while he didn’t feel invincible, he knew he could beat his opponents. He was cut, not deep, but he had known the cuts were coming and knew taking a small cut prevented an opening in his defense later. He didn’t feel the blade as it sliced through his skin. He kept pushing forward, always moving, always cutting and blocking.
As he made his final cut, he snapped out of the flow. As he gathered his senses, the first information he processed was that Orochi and Shigeru hadn’t begun their fight. He had traveled some distance and was a good twenty paces away from them. They had been observing him, maintaining a safe three-pace distance between themselves. Both seemed somewhat taken aback, but Ryuu didn’t know why.
Before he could figure it out, they turned to each other and bowed. Ryuu frowned. After his fight, he didn’t expect to see a duel between the two. He flicked his blade, flinging the fresh blood off, and debated moving towards the battle. Fear and curiosity rooted him in place. But Shigeru needed his help. His attitude had been that he couldn’t beat Orochi, not alone.
Ryuu tried to attain the same state, the same sense of peace and calm he held when he had fought against the five warriors. He could feel it on the edges of his ability, but the more he tried to grasp it, the more it slipped away from him.
Ryuu was torn, unable to decide whether or not to help. He desperately wanted to, but he was so afraid. There wasn’t enough time to think. He had never shied away from Shigeru's blade or the blades of the opponents he had fought thus far. In previous fights he had been confident, and the confidence gave him strength. He didn't know with Orochi.
Ripped apart by his fear, he couldn’t move even as he sensed their duel was about to begin. He couldn't tell what was going to happen. He knew Shigeru was about to strike, could read it in everything from the tension in his muscles to the way his stance subtly shifted.
Ryuu didn't know a thing about Orochi. He couldn’t tell if he was about to strike or defend. He seemed empty. Ryuu couldn't tell if his stance had shifted. His stance was neutral and relaxed, poised in a manner that could mean anything. He tried to read Orochi with his sense but couldn’t get any information.
His doubts slipped away as they sprang into motion. Ryuu had never seen a battle between two nightblades before. There was no way of seeing his fights with Shigeru from an outsider's perspective. They both moved with incredible speed, but the aspect of the fight that first caught Ryuu's attention was that Shigeru wasn't moving any faster than Ryuu had seen before. Just for a flash, for a moment, he was proud he had seen Shigeru's best.
But Orochi was faster. It wasn't obvious at first. The difference was by less than a hair, but it would be enough. Eventually Orochi would create an opening Shigeru could not block.
The knowledge moved Ryuu forward by one step before he hesitated, unable to move further. His heart and mind screamed at him to move, to save the man who had been his father, but from somewhere deep within, he knew, knew like the sun would rise tomorrow, that it was wrong to step into the fray. No words could describe it, but he felt his soul rebel against the right thing to do.
When the moment came, it came so fast Ryuu barely noticed it, a flicker of the blade in the waning twilight, but then it was over. The two combatants stood in the shadows of the tree, frozen like a painting. As his vision cleared, Ryuu saw the blades, one in Shigeru's chest, one in Orochi's. Then he saw more clearly and saw that Shigeru's wound was fatal, Orochi's wasn't.
Ryuu felt the ground shake underneath his feet, and he fell to his knees. He thought he was crying, but his vision was clear. While his heart broke his mind calmly raced through the facts. He wanted to cry, to break down and weep and curl under a blanket and never show his face to the world again. The world had taken everyone he cared about, everyone he had loved, and had killed them, brutally, in front of him, time and time again.
Shigeru's last act was to turn his head towards Ryuu, and Ryuu saw, or thought he saw, a hint of a grin, the characteristic upturned lip that signified happiness for Shigeru. Ryuu immediately saw his mother, dying, smiling, crystal clear like he hadn't seen her in his dreams for almost ten cycles. He still remembered her, and he knew he would remember Shigeru just as well.
It wasn't what Ryuu saw, but what Ryuu felt that he didn't believe. Although Orochi had won, Shigeru was at peace. His sense was clear, and he had no regrets, no sorrow, no hesitation. It was as if he had been trying to achieve death this entire time and had finally reached his goal. Orochi, who would see the sun rise tomorrow, was filled with terror, anger, hatred, and jealousy.
Ryuu couldn't process it fast enough. As half his mind worked at processing the scene in front of him, the other half was planning ahead. Orochi was wounded, but still strong. Shigeru was dying, dead, and Takako was hiding behind the house, unaware of what had just taken place, scared out of her wits as the silence after the battle descended on the field. She would be waiting for him. He thought he could beat Orochi, maybe, if he attacked now.
Shigeru gestured with his head. He wanted Ryuu to leave. Ryuu shook himself. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. But Shigeru repeated the gesture, that damn grin on his face.
The light went out in Shigeru's eyes and Ryuu's decision was made. Shigeru had always been right. He should listen. He stood up and took a long look at Orochi and then turned his back. Orochi's time was not today. Somehow, he knew this. He knew he needed to protect Takako more than he needed to kill Orochi.
Ryuu didn't run, but walked behind the farm, pleasant memories invading the darkness of his heart. He let Orochi watch him take Takako's hand, mount a couple of their would-be assassins’ horses and ride away as the darkness fell over the field. He did not know what Orochi would do, but the choice was now in his hands.
Orochi did not pursue.
The pain of the sword was worse than anything he had experienced before, but he was able to push it down and away from his mind. It could be dealt with later. Right now there was the problem of the boy. He, like Shigeru, had felt the boy's powers expand during the fight. The five should have occupied him at least until he could have arrived. But they were dead before he even drew his sword.
The boy was stronger than Shigeru, but it seemed like even Shigeru hadn't known by how much. Perhaps even stronger than him. How had he learned the technique? Shigeru hadn't known it, had never learned it. Or had he, somehow in his cycles of isolation, managed to figure it out?
Orochi weighed his options. He was wounded and not at full strength. If the boy summoned the power again, Orochi would not stand a chance. He had killed Shigeru, and that was enough for him today. Summoning his strength, he cut Shigeru's head from its body. He would present it to Akira as a token of his progress.
The boy's day was another day.
20
In the midst of the darkness Takako clung to her horse. Like most girls born and raised in her village she had ridden ponies at fairs. But they had been well-tamed and old an
d wouldn't have galloped no matter the incentive.
The horse she was on now was as different to those ponies as fire was to water. This horse was large and strong and didn't seem to know any speed other than gallop. But Ryuu had rushed her straight to the horse, and she had gotten on without question. Something in the urgency and tone of his voice conveyed how important it was she got on the horse. She was saved by the fact the horse seemed to be well-trained, bearing its unskilled rider with ease.
As branches whipped past her face, her memory returned to the events at the farmhouse. Ryuu’s demeanor had done nothing to ease the terror that had been crawling through her mind since the sun had set. Although she couldn’t understand Shigeru as well as Ryuu could, it was obvious he was a man on edge. Given his particular skill set, this meant Orochi was a dangerous man indeed.
Hiding behind the house in silence had terrified her. These people could tell where she was without seeing her. What was the point of being behind a house? Ryuu had just had time to tell her it was for her protection. But she didn’t understand. How could the house protect her if Shigeru and Ryuu lost? Her life was forfeit.
For just a moment she flashed back to her time in Akio’s tent. She had been scared then, but not for her life like she was now. Perhaps it was better to be back there, to never have allowed Ryuu to come and rescue her. She didn't know much of what was happening around her, but she wasn’t sure she was any better off today.
The sharp clang of steel on steel brought her attention crashing back to the present. There was no point in worrying about the future until this moment was dealt with. Her urge to peek around the corner of the cabin was unbearable, but Ryuu had cautioned against it. He explained that Orochi would be the only one who could sense her. Even if they failed but killed Orochi, she might be safe from the others with him. If she was out of sight of the battle there would be no way for an arrow to find her either. Takako accepted the logic. Her desire for safety overpowered her desire to see the outcome of the battle.
