by Jake Taylor
“Just remember you said that when I start acting smug around other people because I’m closer to you.”
Haruka chuckled. “They’d care?”
Isabella shrugged. “I dunno, it doesn’t really matter if they’d care. I just think I’ll get smug about it because I care.”
Haruka's reply died on her lips as she noticed two figures in the crowd. More importantly they were two figures she recognized. She grabbed Isabella’s wrist, beginning to push her way through the crowd. “Ow! Haruka, what are you… Is something wrong?” Isabella looked around and soon spotted the two – in similar dress to Haruka – heading towards them.
It was really something, Haruka thought, as she watched all traces of childishness vanish from Isabella’s face to be replaced by a much harder, even intimidating look. One minute you wouldn’t think she could hurt a fly; the next minute you wouldn’t be surprised if she was a danger to the entire city. She wasn’t wearing her armor at the moment so Haruka was worried (she would be anyway), but at least she had her sword on her hip.
They and the two other Black Sun Monks broke into a run at the same instant. Fortunately they had reached the edge of the crowd so they darted into an alleyway and kept running. Haruka found that she was faster than Isabella, but the other woman had a natural grace that helped her keep up. It wasn’t like she was slow; she was far faster than the average person. But Haruka got the feeling that Bella paced her running due to her condition. Long-term, all-out sprinting probably wasn’t good for her.
Several streets down, once they were away from all the crowds, Isabella stopped and turned around as she pulled her sword from her belt (still tied into its scabbard, always tied into its scabbard). “We’ll never outrun them at this pace. You could do it yourself…” She looked at Haruka, smiling at the look she received. “I figured you wouldn’t. Looks like we’re making a stand, then.”
Haruka moved up beside her. The two monks came running out to the street in front of them, stopping upon seeing them waiting. One of the monks was the blonde Sarya, Haruka’s former partner. Neither of the two women was surprised by this. The other monk was a man with crimson hair swept to one side of his face and a sharp appearance. Unlike the other two he wore black; Haruka was a bit nervous about him.
Sarya’s blue eyes narrowed at Haruka. “So you’re siding with her now? Against your own people? Your home?”
Isabella looked at Haruka, who just shrugged. “Choice,” she stated. “Right one.”
The crimson-haired man sighed. “I still believe you are jumping to conclusions, Sarya.” He brought one arm across his stomach, resting the other elbow on it and curling his hand before his mouth in thought as his brown eyes focused on the brunette monk. “This is very disappointing, if true, Haruka. You had a lot of promise. The Masters will not like this.”
Haruka shook her head. “Tough.”
Sarya was getting angrier by the moment and directed it at the man now. “Why are you just talking, Kyne? Can’t you see she’s a traitor?”
“Until this point it didn’t seem like she had a choice,” Kyne responded. “She was injured – by your careless aim, I might add –“
“She could’ve dodged it if she didn’t save that-“
“By YOUR careless aim,” he continued, “and you just left her. This woman…” He looked at Isabella as if awaiting an introduction.
“Oh! Isabella,” she said, a little friendlier than Haruka thought was appropriate in this situation, but whatever.
“Isabella,” he continued with a smile, “took her and healed her. So of course Haruka has been with her for this time. That is not a crime. As for the lovely knight here, she got in the way of the job, but we have no personal quarrel with her. Neither deserves death.” He looked at Haruka. “You can still come back with us. Leave with us now, and you will have no further trouble. Isabella shall be left alone.”
Alone. When describing Isabella, that word was a lot more negative than Kyne had meant it. Haruka didn’t plan to leave the woman alone at all. She looked Kyne in the eyes, shaking her head apologetically. “Sorry.”
“So you truly are choosing a stranger over the Black Sun?”
“Not stranger,” Haruka corrected. “Bella.” Isabella smiled in amusement at that.
“You’ve only known her for two days. How much do you even know about her?”
Haruka didn’t seem bothered in the least. “Enough.”
“Enough for a decision like this? This is extremely rash and irresponsible. I had more faith in you.”
“Be silent,” Isabella interrupted, directing a hard gaze at the man. “She doesn’t have to suffer your judgment. She made a decision to change her life, to live a new one. What makes you think it’s even about me? Maybe she just wants more freedom.”
Kyne smirked, looking from her to Haruka. “Oh, it’s about you.” He lowered his hands. “It looks like we really only have one choice, then.”
“Fight?” Haruka asked. Upon seeing his nod she scoffed, cracking her knuckles against her palm and tilting her head to crack her neck. “Unfair.”
Isabella smiled. “You think they should get some help?”
“Some? Much.”
Kyne narrowed his eyes. “Your overconfidence is surprising as well as disappointing. You know you can’t take someone on my level.”
Haruka studied him. “Six.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Six what?”
“Five,” Isabella added with a smile at her.
Sarya frowned. “Is this some sort of code?”
“Four,” Haruka continued, rolling her shoulders.
“How could they have a code already?”
“Three,” said Isabella, shifting one foot.
“Two,” responded Haruka, clenching her hands into fists.
“Honestly,” Kyne said in irritation, “What are you-“
“One,” Isabella finished, exploding into movement so fast that Kyne barely managed to jerk his head to the side, avoiding the thrusting sword that shot past his face. Isabella redirected her movement, spinning clockwise and bringing her sword around, forcing him to duck. He then leapt back and she leapt after him.
Sarya wasn’t so lucky. The speed of Bella’s sudden movement had put her off-guard for just a moment. Unfortunately for her, Haruka had moved at the same time as Isabella, so the brunette’s fist collided with the blonde’s face and sent her spinning. Haruka went after her but she caught her balance, managing to parry the other monk’s attack. She deflected three more punches before skipping backwards, attempting to gain a little distance.
Meanwhile, Kyne, no longer off-balance, fought fiercely with Isabella. The woman was something else, he could admit that; he had no idea how much experience she had, but it was a lot, more than even he had. It had to be because, somehow, she deflected or avoided attacks that she shouldn’t have been able to see, as if she knew what he was going to do. Hoping to throw her off, he performed a fake left punch towards her stomach before a lightning-fast right punch at her face.
Isabella completely ignored the first punch and already had her hand moving to intercept the second one. She caught his right wrist in her left hand, sidestepping and yanking him past her. At the same time she brought her sword up in her right hand, slamming the scabbard into his stomach; it would’ve been a kill had her blade been drawn, and both fighters clearly recognized that. Experience was Isabella’s strongest weapon. Her life had been spent being used as a weapon, endlessly fighting. She had fought crowds, armies, barbarians, berserkers, monks, assassins, monsters, spirits, mages, blademasters, knights, and, once, even a dragon.
She may have had regrets about almost all of it, but it did give her a certain advantage these days as she fought to protect what she cared for. She saw Haruka out of the corner of her eye and watched her a moment too long, making sure she was alright. She may have had more experience and even more skill, but Kyne wasn’t one to be underestimated. His punch connected with her jaw and sent her reeling. Sh
e stumbled back several steps and refocused on the man, knowing that was going to be a bruise later.
Damn it, I’m not used to this, she thought, trying to ignore Haruka’s presence. She’d never fought alongside someone she cared about before, someone she wanted (needed) to live. Her head knew that Haruka could take care of herself quite well; for all she knew, Haruka was better than her. But her heart refused to simply believe her head. Her heart wanted her to keep looking over at Haruka and make sure she was okay. This is not good, she thought worriedly. Not good at all. If I don’t get used to this I’ll get us both killed.
You know, I could handle this for you…
Shut up, Bale! Isabella jerked her concentration back out of her mind as something shot towards her. She leapt into the air and watched a spear of Shadow magic dart under her. Her eyes moved to Kyne’s extended hand and she grimaced. Good job, Bella, you nearly got yourself killed while talking to the voices in your head. Focus, damn it!
Haruka heard the tearing sound of Kyne’s Shadowlance attack and couldn’t help but look over her shoulder to check. She noticed with relief that Isabella had avoided the attack, but of course, Sarya took advantage of this momentary distraction to activate her own attack, creating two shurikens made of flame in her hands. Haruka just managed to look back in time to slap aside the strike aimed at her heart, a hit she definitely wouldn’t have survived.
Haruka frowned. This would not do, not at all. She found herself worrying about Isabella, about her sickness and how long she’d be able to keep up. Even more so she worried because she knew Bella would not draw her sword and kill Kyne. He could take a lot of damage, she knew that firsthand, so Bella’s hits would take a long time to bring him down. Too long. Surely her condition would take its toll before then, and then she would be at Kyne’s mercy, and he would simply-
The flame shuriken glanced off her porcelain mask as she jerked her head to the side and she realized Isabella must have put more enchantments on the mask than the one to make it stay on. She had to remember to ask about that, and thank her for it, considering that stab would have split her face in half without it. She really needed to get her thoughts back on the fight. She’d never had trouble focusing in combat before…
She caught one of Sarya’s strikes on one of her bracers and threw her arm aside to create an opening, striking her in the stomach with an open palm before darting a few steps back. Sarya’s widening eyes showed she understood as Haruka’s Death Mark appeared on her stomach. A second later it exploded, sending the blonde woman several feet backwards. Now Haru had the opportunity to risk a glance at Isabella.
The blue-haired woman was caught in a dance with Kyne. He was taking her seriously now, darting in different directions and striking at openings he could find. Isabella was spinning, leaning and bending gracefully, her sword flowing through the air to intercept attacks in smooth motions, a stark contrast to Kyne’s darting strikes. He managed to get inside her guard and shoved his hand up towards the underside of her chin, but her empty hand hit his and knocked the strike to the side. He instead took a step forward and brought his knee up into her stomach.
Haruka intended to dash over but a flying shuriken caught her attention instead, forcing her to dodge. Sarya then charged her but Haruka sidestepped, turning the fight so she could see Isabella. As the blue-haired woman was doubled over from the strike to her gut Kyne brought his hand over her back, intending to impale her with the Shadowlance. His eyes went wide, though, as her sword slipped between his legs and leveraged one out from under him. Isabella continued the move by rising into a standing position under him, flipping him over her shoulder.
He continued the flip in the air and spun, landing on his feet and unleashing his Shadowlance at her anyway. Isabella threw herself to the side, but it was clear that she was tiring; her movements were no longer as fluid or quick. This renewed Haruka’s focus and her eyes centered on Sarya. The blonde fought her with increasing rage, obviously taking her ‘betrayal’ personally. “This… is… OVER, HARUKA!” She yelled as she leapt backwards into the air, flinging three explosive shurikens at her.
“Agreed,” Haruka stated as her eyes narrowed and she flickered out of sight, moving too fast for the eye to see. The shurikens embedded harmlessly in the ground and Sarya’s eyes widened as Haruka appeared in the air directly before her, a dark shine in her eyes.
“What…?” One word was the only reaction Sarya could manage before she felt three rapid strikes on her torso. Haruka then vanished again and Sarya landed back on the ground, looking down at the three Death Marks that appeared on her. “No…”
Haruka heard the explosions behind her but she paid them no attention, rushing towards Isabella and Kyne with all her speed. They had somehow moved further away when she wasn’t looking, but it would only take her a few seconds to cross the gap.
Isabella was stupid; she fully admitted this to herself. She had taken far more hits in this fight than she should have. Kyne was good, he was, but in truth he wasn’t on Bella’s level. The gulf between their experience and their skill was just too wide. But try all she might she just couldn’t keep Haruka out of her mind and keep her thoughts on the fight. On top of that, Bale and Bai were fighting in her head, demanding she let one of them take over so she didn’t die.
It was a good argument, she admitted. And, in retrospect, she really should have taken their advice. She spotted Haruka coming towards them and smiled, happy to see the woman was fine. And then the lance of Shadow magic pierced her skin. She twisted to the side so it didn’t impale her but it still tore through her side and sent a spray of blood in a horizontal arc. Isabella cried out in pain, hitting the ground as she was unable to catch herself.
That was foolish, Bai said to her. Your stubbornness has bitten you once again.
We could have ended this ages ago without taking a scratch, but no, you keep stubbornly refusing to kill. Refuse to kill but don’t refuse to die, that’s your motto, isn’t it?
Sure, Isabella thought to herself, might as well get in some more insults and guilt before I die. Why not?
Kyne sighed, glad he had finally beaten the woman. His hand swirled with Shadow as he charged up another one to finish it, but a yell kind of distracted him. What was that, rage? Not from the knight, then… He turned in time for Haruka’s fist to connect with his face. He stumbled back a step, gritting his teeth and intending to say something, but the hit to his stomach cut him off this time.
As Haruka landed before him he felt a third hit, then fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh… He lost count as her blurring hands struck all over his body, even seeming to speed up as it went on. Dozens of hits connected within several seconds and only ended with a final kick that sent him back into the side of a building.
He grunted from the impact, but none of the hits had been very hard. Haruka stood there panting heavily, her arms hanging limply at her sides. She’d overdone it, apparently. Kyne looked down, his expression growing darker as he watched Death Mark after Death Mark appear on his body. One, three, seven, twelve… No point in counting, really. He looked up at Haruka, managing a smirk. “Seems like I was the overconfident one,” he said, sighing in resignation. “Ah, well… At least it’s a good one.”
He looked up into the sky and Haruka crossed her arms in front of her face as he disappeared in a violent explosion. It demolished the wall of the building beside him and the force blew Haruka back, but she managed to avoid any injuries. As wood and stone shrapnel rained down she moved quickly to Isabella, kneeling beside her to check the wound. “Bella?”
“Here… I’m here.” Isabella coughed, squinting against the falling ashes. She had her arm pressed against her side with her robe bunched up against the wound, both her arm and robe now covered in blood. “It’s… not fatal,” she assured Haruka. “Just… not fun, either.” She looked at Haruka. “Are you okay…?”
Haruka gently picked her up, cradling her in her arms as she started walking. “Fine,” she answered. “Not hurt.
”
“Good…” Isabella sighed, laying her head on Haruka’s shoulder. “Good.”’
Haruka stopped, looking back as a thought crossed her mind. She frowned as she realized she was right; Sarya was nowhere to be seen. No body, and that attack wasn’t enough to incinerate it like Kyne’s. She’d certainly see her again, then. And she’d no doubt report everything Haruka had done to the Black Suns. They were going to be hunted for a long time, and by people stronger than Sarya and Kyne.
Haruka made her way through the town with Isabella in her arms, away from the site of the explosion. How much joy were they really going to be able to have, having to run all the time? Still, as she looked at Isabella, she still believed it was worth it. She’d make it work. They would make it work.
Chapter 3: Moving Forward Slowly
“Even if it shouldn’t be a habit, it is. It’s just one of the many, many things you’ll have to accept if you want me as a friend.”
“I do,” the monk replied with a nod. “But not accept.” She tilted her head. “Fix.”
IXH
Haruka was a little worried as she moved through the town as quickly as she dared, carrying the bleeding Isabella in her arms. While some types of monks had the ability to channel their Chakra into another person to heal them, Haruka could only do so to poison, damage or kill. This meant that the only thing she could do for Isabella was to find her a healer or doctor. On a festival day, she was worried that might be difficult. She had her hand pressed against Bella’s side, pressing a bunched-up part of her robe into it, but it was a tear so the bleeding was only slowed. Already, her hands were covered in blood.
Isabella had stopped attempting to reassure her a few minutes ago and was now simply focusing on keeping her eyes open. Haruka didn’t know it but the voices were helping her there, speaking to her to keep her mind active. You remember that incident it Myunn, Bella? Bale said in a slightly wistful tone.
