Chapter 2

Jin had donned his battle gear once the alarm was sounded. Just as soon as he had been made aware of intrusion, he had quickly assembled the troops on post. The soldiers followed him into the forest—each one perfectly aligned. While closing the distance, one of the men had alerted him.

“Jin, there is something here.” the warrior said, prodding Rei’s abandoned mail.

Jin circled back around to examine the armor as it lay inside the tall grass. At once, he could tell who it belonged to. A chill had run through his veins.

“We need to spread out, Rei could be much farther ahead than we planned. If we don’t find her, it’s important we at least get those scrolls back!” Jin yelled at them.

The platoon broke off into the trees ahead, scattering about as Jin began to move forward alone. Despite having a somewhat privileged upbringing, he was thought to be invincible by the others under his command. The warriors and elders alike pictured him as an unstoppable force as there had yet to be a battle he had lost. After making it further in, he began to tap into his energy and further into the Deep. The ground beneath him suddenly began to lose its hold. His energy surged, sending him upwards towards the branches overhead with a single leap.

◆◆◆

Tetsu had already moved far from sight—at least he hoped; he would need to find a spot to lay low until everything was clear. Not too far behind was Kona, still galloping along.

“Good girl,” Tetsu said to her. The animal playfully began to shuffle back and forth in excitement. He gave her coat a quick stroke before reaching into his pockets for some twine. “Hold still.”

As he finished tying the threads into a knot, he slid the twine around for the scrolls before getting ready to try and fasten them to Kona’s neck. The dog remained steady while Tetsu began to twist the strings tight. Before tying the final knots, Kona became alarmed and began to growl towards the tree nearby. Tetsu reached for the ninjatō to his side and drew it from its sheath just as Rei descended from above.

She’s fast, he thought, lucky enough to parry her attack in time. The blades struck with a loud clang, alarming Kona, causing her to flee from the scene.

“Where are they?” Rei asked angrily.

Tetsu was silent. He had to think quickly on how to safely take her down, for he knew that that there would be others following soon. Rei lunged towards him with her sword behind her, swinging as fast as she could. Tetsu managed to deflect the attack just as easily as before. The clash of the metallic blades smashed together, finally shattering the tranquility of the forest around them. As the two had lowered their weapons, Rei had spotted an opening. Again, she tried to go for a kill shot. Her sword had gone straight through in what appeared to be a beautiful confirmation, however, Tetsu’s body on reaction seemed to phase into a black mist. In the moment of impact, he had managed to revert to his stealth mode, travelling under her. Rei stumbled through the mass before spinning around to the defense. Beneath her feet, she could see a massive shadow starting to envelope her.

In anticipation of an overhead attack, she lifted her weapon up to the sky, unaware of the trickery. Before she could realize the error, Tetsu rose from the ground. This technique was not something she could have predicted easily. The very instant she could brace for the sneak attack, she was struck. Tetsu delivered one well-placed strike to the side of her neck with a chop of his hand, taking her down. Rei felt as if her head had separated from existence. Now, losing all sense of coordination, she buckled under her own weight. The collapse had left her barely conscious after her body smacked into the forest floor.

Tetsu returned his blade to its sheath. He was certain that Rei would not be getting back up just yet, which was all he needed to complete the mission. He was not a killer—there is not honor in attacking a downed opponent. As he prepared to call out to Kona, he was taken off guard himself. Shugo had gotten within striking distance, delivering a quick jab with Rei’s helmet in hand. The shiny metal piece had struck so hard and so fast that Tetsu had gone black for a moment. He stumbled backwards, tripping over his feet, but barely managing to keep standing.

“Hand it over!” Shugo screamed as he lifted his leg to deliver a step kick.

The heel of his foot had collided with Tetsu’s kidney, sending another shock through him. His head rang, his body began to curl—it was too much to take. Rei began to slowly gain control while her opponent had begun to lose his balance. Seeing that Tetsu was stunned, Shugo rushed in and grabbed hold of him, finally pressing a knee into his back.

“Shugo, wait,” Rei groaned whilst trying to gain her footing. Shugo felt his grip starting to slip while she continued, “Let him go, he’s just a kid.”

“Just hand over the scrolls already!” Shugo followed up.

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Tetsu did not hesitate to reach into his pouch to pull out the scrolls which had miraculously remained unscathed during the fight. The humiliation settled in, being the only reward for his defeat.

“That’s all we wanted. You better get moving before the rest get here,” Rei said to Tetsu. The merciful gesture shocked both the men. “After all of that?” Shugo asked.

“Yes.”

Shugo looked down at his opponent beginning to hobble away with what little strength had remained. As Tetsu started to continue out of sight with Kona, Shugo finally took a moment to catch his breath.

“You’re really fast, you know that?” Shugo said as he took a seat on the grass. The exhaustion had gotten to them both. Rei nodded back.

“Yeah,” she gave her feet a well-deserved rest and sat across from him. “I’ve been told that.”

Shugo for once had nothing to say to her. She started to seem less mysterious to him. The two sat in silence while the rest of the troops approached with Jin.

“They’re over here!” a voice shouted in the distance.

“Well, I guess this is it,” Shugo said before laughing. He reached over to her to help pull himself up as the company of warriors closed in.

Jin stepped away from the front of the pack, shouting, “The both of you have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I saw an outsider had snuck into the shine and alerted the rest. Rei,” Shugo cut himself short, conscious as to try and shift the blame away from her; he continued, “She helped me find him and we got the scrolls back.”

“I don’t want to hear a word from you,” Jin replied, trying to keep his senses. He turned to face Rei while pointing to her chest. “I see you rushed headfirst into battle with no armor. Not very wise, what was going on here?”

“I warned her of the outsider,” Shugo began to speak before Rei immediately cut in.

“He alerted me, and I dropped my equipment. I wasn’t going to let him escape,” Rei said as she stepped in between Jin and Shugo. Each foot forward became slightly less difficult. The shock from Tetsu’s attack had since left, but the pain was still present. Again, she cleared her head and spoke, “If I didn’t do it, he would’ve gotten away.”

“And it looks like he did get away.” One of the men behind Jin had called out.

“We got everything back. It’s over.” Rei said quickly.

“Quick thinking, too; next time, maybe try leaving your weapon?” Jin snapped back, causing a few of the soldiers to chuckle. Rei had realized it was beyond trying to keep explaining this—they were most likely going to be disciplined. Shugo felt somebody grab onto his arm from behind. Next, he noticed another one of the troops pull the scrolls from his grip. Jin turned back towards the village before speaking again, “That’s enough of them. Return the scrolls and send these two back to the monastery. The elders will decide what’s next.”

“So much for doing the right thing.” Shugo said finally. He received a quick shove from behind.

“Get moving,” another one of the soldiers ordered. As one reached out to grab Rei’s arm, she pulled back and turned to face him.

“I can walk myself.” she stated while trying to gain some distance. The two marched silently back to the village, leaving Shugo alone in his thoughts to handle the guilt. There was a possibility that he could have stopped Tetsu without confrontation. Then again, this may have been the best outcome. His only regret now was getting Rei involved.

◆◆◆

The village was starting to awake as the sunlight began to descend upon it. Rei tried to keep her head level as they both soon found themselves in the center of the monastery. Shugo sat across from her, this time unable to make eye contact. Rei found herself shifting focus to the morning foot traffic. As the moments passed, she continuously found herself looking towards Shugo. His sad demeanor was oddly enough starting to bother her. Maybe this is the time?

“I’m taking the blame.” Rei said softly.

“What?” He replied, surprised at the gesture.

“I know you snuck in, but that guy might have escaped if you weren’t there.”

“Come on,” Shugo quickly looked to make sure nobody was listening. “I can deal with this.”

“No, it’s ok. I’m going to take the fall. They’re not gonna do much,” Rei continued to run her fingers through the ground beneath them. Shugo took notice of the fact she was trying to write something. She then brushed the dirt against her leg. “They might be angry with you.”

“Do you write much?” Shugo asked. It came from out of nowhere. Rei pulled her fingers from the dirt, feeling intrigued at the thought.

“Yeah, sometimes,” Rei had never had somebody take notice of her odd habits. “I always think of how the scribes would write stories or poems.”

“Yeah, it really is something.” Shugo smiled as he had finally found out something about her.

“I’ve just never really got to practice it. Nobody teaches people like me this,” She dragged her hands across the ground nervously and through her previous scribblings. “I don’t know where to even begin.”

Shugo nodded, aware of her desire to improve. He began to drum on the ground nervously before suggesting, “Maybe I can teach you?”

Rei looked up at him, finally feeling the tension starting to ease and asked, “Can you?”

“Yeah, I can read and write. In the meantime,” Shugo tapped the sod and continued, “How about you teach me a bit about fighting?”

He extended the offer, only to silence. Rei stared back with a determined look.

“Alright,” she nodded again. “You have a deal.”