Chapter 3

Dan stood with his bow drawn in place as his eyes locked in on a deer less than a hundred yards away. The beast had yet to notice the hunter on the foothill above while it continued to graze on the vegetation. While trying to remain quiet, Dan reached towards the quiver on his back, grabbing the first arrow he could feel and rustling the bunch. The buck lifted its head. Dan froze up as a chilling sense of dread began to loom over him. Eat, just eat, he continued in his head. He hoped that Sara—his partner—was in a position nearby to track the beast.

The animal took a step forward and towards another patch of grass. A breath of air creeped into Dan’s lungs, remaining steady as the deer bent down to get another bite. He began to lift one of the arrows calmly into the string, nestling it on the rest of the bow, and finally pulling back on the weapon.

All or nothing. There was a quick whoosh as the bolt of the projectile ripped through the air. As fast as it had left the bow it had struck directly through the heart of the buck. The impact startled the animal, causing it to flail wildly as it dashed ahead. After a few moments of thrashing about, the beast crashed into the grass. Dan rushed across the field to snatch up his kill—it was a clean one. He yelled for Sara, ecstatic as he confirmed his catch.

“Nice shot!” Sara exclaimed as she emerged from the vegetation. As the two circled around the animal, she had drawn her knife before saying, “I was about to take the shot, you beat me to it.”

“You would have missed it anyways.” Dan said back as he fumbled through his pouch for some rope.

“I’m surprised we managed to get one so fast.”

“I,” Dan spoke loudly, “managed to get one fast.”

“Alright,” Sara grew tired of the teasing. “I’m certain Jin could’ve done it faster.”

“You wish,” He finished tying the limbs of the deer together for the trip back. “Go ahead and clean this bit of the rope up.”

“You can say ‘please’!” Dan stared at her, only for her to nervously laugh before muttering, “That horrid stare works too.”

◆◆◆

Hiro and his gang of scavengers—five in total—had been wandering the valley for the past few days picking soft targets. While watching Dan and Sara in the open below, the group had started to plan their routes to get the jump on the two. There were no other patrols or troops nearby from what they had found with an initial search. The four had stood by, waiting in anticipation for the order to be sounded. Hiro turned his focus down to the knife in his hands as he ran the edge under his nails, skewering the grime built up under them across the weapon. Once he raised it to his face, he gave the blade a flick with his finger, signaling them to move.

◆◆◆

“I've always hated this part.” Sara groaned as she continued to drag the catch. Dan sighed while readjusting the rope once more.

“Getting one of these is a lot easier.” Dan sighed.

“Is it?”

“Yes, because it’s more meat.”

“I wouldn’t know, this is my first time on this shift.”

“I can tell,” Dan found himself growing slightly annoyed. He was never this social.

“Really? How so?”

“Ok,” Dan sighed once more as he continued ahead. Finally, the short distance had caught up to him. “I don’t know, you talk a lot. I was hoping to get the other girl if I couldn’t get another experienced hunter.”

“Oh, you mean Rei? I switched with her!” Sara exclaimed before letting out a small chuckle. As much as her pestering had slowly begun to bother him, her laugh was calming. He shook it off.

“Yeah, her. I had a patrol with her once and she was quiet.”

“You shouldn’t be so uptight, you know. I just wanted to see you smile.”

“I am smiling.” Dan said with a frown.

“Can I see?”

“No.”

The two were quiet as they continued onward; both were unaware they were being watched. Sara began to trail off again. As they made their way around a small foothill, there was a woosh, then a pop as a small gust followed. Her hair flopped over her eyes and before she could even process what had happened, Dan froze in place. As she looked forward, she watched the upper half of Dan’s torso droop from his body as a fountain of blood erupted from his corpse. She had turned pale, this had been the first time she had seen anybody die in front of her face, and her introduction to this type of horror. Her heart began to race as she noticed a few men from Hiro’s gang had started to approach.

“We got a live one!” A loud and raspy voice rang out. Sara quickly did a double take, only to notice a scraggy man closing in. The only thing she could think of was escaping. As she turned back towards Dan, two more men had already blocked her off. The two—Kyo and Matsu—looked identical. Both had menacing grins on their faces and broad physiques. They lunged towards her. As she took a step away, the scraggly man—Orochi—dived into her shoulder first, pinning her on the ground.

“Don’t let her get away!” Hiro shouted from behind them. Sara tried her best to wiggle free but was overpowered. At last, a very large man—Yuuma—emerged from the woods to help get the upper hand. He had towered over the rest of the group with his massive size and bulky muscles.

“We have food and a little snack for later!” Yuuma exclaimed with his brassy sounding voice.

Sara was helpless now, letting out a scream as she found it increasingly difficult to escape. Hiro stepped over Dan’s bisected corpse to observe the results of his attack. There was no way Dan could have known what had hit him. Sara tried again to jerk free.

“Don’t struggle,” Hiro said softly to her. He stepped closer before scanning her with his eyes, reaching forward to say, “We didn’t mean to hurt your friend. All we ask is that you do what we say.”

Sara could feel Orochi’s weight on top of her starting to shift. She waited for the right moment to try and strike back. At this point, everything would have to be as quick and precise as possible.

“I don’t think she’s that type of girl.” Kyo said.

“Yeah, I don’t think this girl is that type.” Matsu followed up.

“Nonsense, you would be surprised by what people do when they are desperate. She’s just so,” Hiro waved his hand as he searched for the next word. His eyes twitched, “Desperate!”

Yuuma repeated “desperate” aloud to the group before chuckling along. Matsu and Kyo followed up immediately. As Orochi began to snicker, he could suddenly feel a throbbing sensation in his left eye as Sara had quickly dug her thumb into it. A stream of blood and other fluids exploded from the newly formed orifice, causing Orochi to release her.

“That fucking bitch!” Orochi shouted as he pulled away. Sara had only managed to turn to her side before the rest of the group pounced on her.

“Leave me alone, please!” Sara cried as they lifted her up. Hiro walked to the front to continue.

“Such a foul creature, so,” Hiro said once more, lost to find the words. “Foul!”

The men all began to cackle. Orochi pressed down on his left eye, desperately trying not to whimper despite being blinded. Hiro and the rest would not tolerate any weakness—he would have snatched the other eye.

“All of this could’ve been prevented if you had only listened,” Hiro hissed once more as he drew his knife from its holster, looking back towards his wounded comrade. “I certainly hope you’re keeping it together over there.”

“I’m ok, it’s ok!” Orochi said quickly as his hands shook. He rubbed his face, collecting the blood in his palm before saying, “I want a piece of her.”

“You will get yours.” Hiro felt her face once more. It had been so long since he had managed to catch a woman. Sara only wept as he leaned in with his dagger trailing up towards her neck. He gave the weapon a quick press, very lightly piercing her flesh before finally pulling away. Orochi looked back up to him through his only eye as Hiro ran his tongue across the knife. He turned back to Orochi, finally saying, “Get a fire started, let’s eat her first.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

◆◆◆

It had been over a month since the incident surrounding the attempted theft. In the wake of the event, not much had changed, nor had they been reprimanded severely. Rei found herself at the edge of the monastery, sitting at the base of the only tree inside the village. Since that night, she had become shy at the thought of having to read poetry to somebody. Having to set a schedule to interact with Shugo had given her much anxiety. For the last few weeks, she had deliberately gone out of her way to avoid meeting him. After finally being hunted down on a post, Shugo had convinced her to meet him here today.It had to take a few deals and taking a post—a day long one at that—but she had managed to switch shifts with Sara to dedicate this one day to seeing Shugo.

We had a deal.

She could hear Shugo’s words in her head as she pressed her right index finger firmly into the brittle soil beneath. With a little pressure, the ground shifted up and around, leaving a small trench behind. She continued to drag her pointer through the dirt to create the first character, only before stopping short to observe her work. It was not much. While her mind wandered, a pair of laughs echoed out from just over the walls. Blood rushed to her face. As the laughing got louder, she quickly swiped away at the ground, clearing the canvas before trying to rise to her feet.

“There you are!” Shugo exclaimed as he emerged from the corner. Rei began to brush her hands against her black shorts to clear her extremities of any grime. Shugo’s smile slowly began to droop as he she poised beneath the glowing sun. Today, she had only worn her usual green robe. The front had been cracked open, revealing the binds over her chest, leading Shugo’s eyes to them.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stand you up last time.” Rei said to him as he began to zone out. Shugo tried to gain his senses before lifting his hand and pointing to her.

“Oh, uh,” he muttered, noticing some dirt still on her black shorts, “you got some…”

“I know.” she replied, swiping furiously at her legs again. Shugo took a deep breath, trying not to look nervous as he finally took a moment to gaze at her figure. She was rugged, timid, but there was something about it that he found attractive. He stood tall and placed a hand in his pocket.

“It’s ok! Don’t worry about last week,” Shugo said. “Or last month.”

“No, it’s fine. I really wanted to write more.” Rei bowed her head and took a step forward. She humbly locked both of her arms behind her. Shugo’s could slowly feel his heart beginning to race.

“Well,” he could feel his face starting to become flushed. While maintaining what little composure he had, he raised his chin while continuing to keep pace with her. “I want you to write too!”

“I try to write on my own, but I don’t know what.”

“That can be pretty hard,” Shugo nodded. He took a moment to collect his thoughts once more and continued, “I don’t write that much, but my mom liked poetry. She would tell me to just do what you thought and write what you feel.”

“That’s it?”

“There’s a little bit more to it than that. I imagine not everything you write will have meaning or reason. You don’t have to tell the world how you feel,” Shugo began to wave his hands through the air. “Tell a story or something.”

“Like that one time, you snuck into the shrine,” Rei’s eyes lit up with excitement as she quickly spoke. “Then we fought that one guy and saved the scrolls!”

“I wouldn’t talk about that first part,” Shugo whispered as he scanned his eyes across the way, making sure that nobody was eavesdropping. He turned back to her, “You are onto something though!”

“Maybe I shouldn’t bring that one up?” She asked. Shugo’s eyes began to wander towards her again. Her hair across her shoulders, the tight compress around her chest, and her angelic stare—she’s looking right at me. Shugo turned his head forward.

“What really goes through your head when you want to write something?” He asked. It was a simple enough question, and good enough for a start. “Nothing at all, really.”

“What do you feel?”

“A little cold,” Rei said immediately as she brought her hands forward, closing the robe over her chest. For an autumn day, she had felt that it was a bit warmer than usual. She turned her head to observe the scenery, for once comfortable in the moment before commenting, “It’s been a little on the drafty side.”

“No,” Shugo laughed. “I mean what do you feel? On the inside?”

Rei’s eyes began to trace upwards towards him.

“Does it matter?” she asked as she slowly crossed her arms over her chest.

“Of course it does! If you create something without feeling, does it matter?”

Rei had been perplexed by the comment as she looked down to the ground, finally saying, “I still created something, did I?”

“You did, but you can’t just do something and give it meaning because you did something, especially if you didn’t put any thought or feeling into it.”

“What does this have to do with writing?”

“Everything! Isn’t it the same when you fight?”

“I don’t know.” Rei was already starting to feel herself at a loss for words.

“Do you feel anything now?”

“No.” Rei’s eyes remained fixated on him with an empty glare. The two had come to a stop. Shugo could only grin as she looked back over to him.

“Nothing at all?”

“I don’t know,” she stuttered trying to find the words, “nobody’s asked me this before!”

“That explains a lot!” Shugo exclaimed as a chuckle escaped his breath. He was finding it harder to keep composed the more he learned about her.

“What’s so funny about that?”

“Nothing, it’s not funny at all. I just didn’t think it was that bad.”

“What do you mean?”

“Wait,” Shugo interrupted, trying to save the moment from spiraling out of control. Instinctively, he reached forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Why don't we skip writing just for today and focus on fighting?”

“I switched shifts to be here.” Rei mumbled softly to him.

“Well,” he said while lifting his hand from her. “why don’t you try writing something?”

With that, they were back to square one again.

“I don’t like people watching me write.” She added quickly. The response brought out another cackle from Shugo.

“Oh, that’s the way we’re going?” he asked her as he took a step back—the brightest smile shined from his face. Rei was unable to comprehend what was in store. Shugo finally declared, “You know what, I think you know everything about writing. I’m going to tell everybody that you’re the best poet I’ve ever met.”

“Stop this, right now!” Rei shouted back as panic struck. Shugo howled watching her blush.

“Reina, you’re the best poet ever. Everybody must know!” he said loud and joyously, waving his arms to tell the world.

“You’re an idiot!” She screeched before storming past him. With little resistance, he was pushed aside while she reminded him, “My name isn’t Reina!”

“I’m serious, you’re the best! Write a poem about how angry you are!” Shugo shouted to her. He did not know what brought it out. Rei continued forward a few more feet before coming to a slow but steady halt.

“I’m not angry.” she said to him.

“What do you feel?” He asked once more. Rei slowly turned towards him. The wind pressed across her face as she took another breath.

“I feel nothing.”

He knew that he would not get any other answers. Rei was one of the most stubborn people he had the pleasure of meeting—easily taking her spot at the top of the list. Not being one to give in, he found any ground was ground; she would answer him. That would do.

“What does nothing feel like? How does that feel? Do you wonder what others think about you?” He tried again.

“Yes.”

“Then write,” Shugo stepped forwards and pointed to the ground. “I won’t look.”

“Ok then.” she said whilst lowering herself to the dirt path. Right as she began carving into the brittle surface, the two had been interrupted. One of Jin’s troops had approached them hastily.

“Rei, we need you on patrol.” the man said quickly.

“I just switched out with Sara,” Rei said, perturbed as she had finally gotten comfortable enough to write something.

“That’s the problem, she’s not back yet.”

“Wait, who’s missing?” Shugo asked.

Rei quickly rose to her feet once more before asking, “Have they sent anybody to find her yet?”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you,” The troop pointed to her as he continued, “Jin wanted you to lead the search. We don‘t have anybody else and we’re already one person short. I’m about to take post; just get you somebody together so we can get these two located.”

Shugo quickly shook his head as the shock of the situation took hold. He immediately raised his hands and asked, “Only two people to find them? Two people missing? There’s not enough manpower.”

The man only gestured back to the field and said, “We don’t have the manpower. Speaking of manpower, you might be the extra person we need.”

Rei immediately raised her hand and pressed it against Shugo’s chest, noticing he was somewhat off put by the news.

“This is your chance to get to do my job. How great is that?” Rei asked warmly, giving him a nudge.

“Yeah, great.” he spoke quickly.

“What route are we on?” Rei asked the troop as she lowered her hand.

“Route two, six days,” The man replied as he started to move away from the two. “Jin-san is going to debrief you both in half an hour.”