Bloodstained Rose

Shugo stood over the pond, his mind was an enigma. The armor he had worn for this night once belonged to his father. It was barely small enough to fit without shifting around. He would find himself moving from side to side, constantly re-adjusting to fix any imperfection. Rei had watched him fumble and struggle long enough on his own.

“Hold on, you’re not wearing that right.” Rei said as she walked over to him. Shugo paused in place to let her try and help. He had felt some embarrassment but learned to deal with it—Rei was only there to help. She had done so much for him so far.

“I don’t know if that’s going to do it. My dad was a big guy. It was loose out in the field, but I was a little embarrassed to say anything about it.” Shugo added. Rei slowly began to refasten the leather straps, slowly making the armor hug him tighter before giving it a good tug.

“How’s that?” she asked him while inspecting the fit. Shugo began to rock his torso back and forth, amazed at the snug feeling.

“That’s great,” he pointed towards the strap on his chin. “Can you get this one too?”

“Fine, but you’re doing mine next,” Rei reached up towards him, jerking his chin to the side as she pulled the straps tighter. He began to shout back as she continued to manhandle him.

“Ease up there, save it for the enemy!” he said loudly, trying not to yell.

“You just look pitiful, and I can’t have you watching my back if I can’t even trust you to watch your own.” Rei had started to seem frustrated as she spoke. This was not the same woman who wrote poems or star search under the moonlight, but something much colder.

“Ouch, sorry,” he finally said back as she lifted her chin to him.

“Now, do me.” Shugo only sighed before going to check her armor. After a few once-overs, he realized that her helmet and gear was very well buckled down.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked again.

“No.”

“Are you scared?”

“No,” Rei quickly muttered before staring back off into the distance. She had taken a few seconds to let him continue inspecting before taking the time to glance back. Not trying to alienate him, she asked, “Why? Are you?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “a little. Didn’t think when I talked to you a few months ago it would lead me here.”

“Hey now, you asked me to teach you stuff. You volunteered yourself, you know? You lead yourself here, not the other way around,” she smirked as he kept tugging at one of the straps. She pulled back and said, “That one is fine, I’m fine. I didn’t need you to help, I was just a little frustrated.”

Shugo stepped back for one final glance. The metal plating was a bit larger on her, but a piece of him thought it was cute to see her trying to fill it out. However, with the thought of a battle on the horizon, he could tell that the warm and fuzzy Rei that he had tried so hard to find was not here.

“Are you ready?” he asked her quickly.

Rei only tightened the katana to her waist and replied, “Are you?”

Shugo refused to speak. He only nodded his head in response, signaling for her to move out. It was the night—it was time.

◆◆◆

Jin kept the small group staggered apart for the patrol as it was only him with the other five, marching in two columns through the woods. From this range, they could all see each other well enough to make out simple things like hand and arm signals. Rei was near the front. Every few steps she would find herself looking back at the rest of the crew. Just a few dozen feet behind was Kai, who had been staring off across the way towards Ami and Noa. Shugo was on the opposite column and directly in the back, just barely able to see Rei. Soon enough, she had peered back towards him to make sure he was still there.

Jin had been near the center, opposite of Rei. He took a quick glance back to ensure that nobody had fallen off as they approached one of the first danger points. Keeping them from going ahead was a large meadow perfect for any archer with even the steadiest of aim to pick them off. Before going any further, Jin raised his flat hand into the air to signal back to the others.

“Hand open, halt. Closed fist, freeze,” Shugo whispered to himself as he tried to remember what few commands they had gone over. They had only been on the prowl for a few hours. It wasn’t clear if they would be able to find anything tonight. Jin looked ahead to Rei and extended his index and middle fingers on his right hand to his eyes. Rei moved on ahead to check for any possible combatants that might have been perched up above. Noa was the first to notice Jin motioning for the rest to get down, so he repeated the command to the others.

◆◆◆

Orochi found himself curled up into the fetal position, the entirety of his back had been completely covered with welts. Just moments earlier, Kyo had taken everything he had out on him over what had started as a simple scuffle over dinner.

“If you didn’t want this, you shouldn’t have eaten my half.” Kyo assured him. The reality was that neither of the crew had eaten much in the past few days with winter already forcing most of the wildlife out of the area. Orochi was still silent as the stick had been smacked across his back again.

“That’s enough,” Hiro said to him, grasping the handle of his ōdachi. “He is a big strong boy who doesn’t cry. Is that right?”

“That’s right!” Orochi quickly exclaimed as clearly as possible. The words had barely managed to escape his mouth without a stutter or whimper as Kyo continued to poke and prod the wounds.

“I was hungry.” Kyo muttered under his breath. He flung his hand to his side, sending the small branch sailing off towards the woods. Hiro turned his attention away from Orochi and back towards Kyo.

“I’m hungry too.” Hiro said to him. Kyo could feel the hairs rising on the back of his neck once Hiro’s lifeless eyes fixed on him. As he approached, a cloud of warm air had filled the area between them, enveloping Kyo with a thin cloud of breath from his lips.

“I’ll get you some food! You can have my half!” Kyo at once cried out, fearing Hiro’s coming outburst. He locked up. Hiro finally closed the distance, leaving no more than a hair’s distance between the two.

“I don’t like crying.” Hiro whispered to him. His eyes appeared as if they were pulling back into his head. The fear had become too much.

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t like crying.” Hiro repeated himself while reaching out to grab his arm. Kyo knew he was about to be punished. All he knew was that Hiro hated seeing weakness—a tear, grunt, or any complaint was enough to set him off.

“Boss,” Matsu had arrived just in time, continuing, “they have another patrol on the ground.”

Kyo’s eyes had nearly shot from his head upon hearing Matsu’s voice. Hiro kept his position, still facing Kyo with the same wicked stare.

“How many?” Hiro asked without moving so much as a finger.

“I dunno, five? Maybe ten?” Matsu said as he began trying to count the fingers on his hand.

“Are they hunters?” Hiro asked after finally turning away from Kyo, who was too terrified to even sigh in relief.

“Doesn’t look like it, same village though.” Matsu said finally. Hiro took a step forward and shot both of his hands to his side with glee in his eyes.

“Well, looks like we’re eating tonight!”

◆◆◆

Rei pumped her legs as fast as her body could, slowly increasing momentum with each step. Her equipment had failed to hold onto her small figure and began to flop around in the air. She had neared the edge of the meadow before throwing one of her legs forward and sliding into the brush up ahead. While her body began to glide across the terrain, Jin gave Noa a quick knock on his helmet, signaling him to move. One by one, the team made their way across. As the numbers whittled down to Shugo and Jin, the two laid chest-first on the forest floor and faced one another.

“When she hits the ground, we both run, got it?” Jin whispered. Shugo nodded back as they rose to all fours and into a crouching start. Jin tightened his legs. Despite the importance of the timing, he still found his eyes scanning across the meadow. While they trailed Ami, he had noticed some movement on one of their flanks. He couldn’t make it out, but from the corner of his eye he knew that he had seen something starting to move around some of the trees. At that moment, Shugo watched Ami dive into the shrubs on the other end of the meadow and sprung forwards and across at top speed. As he made his way over, Jin had split from the group towards the figure after failing to warn Shugo.

“Where the heck’s he going?” Noa asked as quietly as possible. Shugo slid next to him and flipped over onto his chest with a simple twist. During the sprint, he had not noticed that he was running alone. From the edge of the meadow, the group watched Jin make his way up a foothill on the opposite side.

“He’s got an enemy in sight,” Rei spoke quickly. Shugo’s heart had already been racing from the sprint—the extra news was not the relief he had hoped for. As he turned to face her, Rei quickly stood and said, “I’m going to go around and rendezvous with Jin.”

“Good deal,” Noa replied before turning to Kai and Shugo. “You two, go around and watch the flank.”

Without saying a word, Ami quickly rushed to his side with the first arrow already drawn as they began to move deeper into the forest toward another opening.

“Watch my back,” Kai hissed back to Shugo. The two had kept a good distance between Noa and Ami while scaling up another foothill across the way. Shugo tried his best to keep just a little over arms reach. He had already started to feel slightly nauseous at the thought of fighting this soon. Everything from Toki’s fundamentals to Jin’s commands repeated in his head.

“Keep your stance, find your center.” Shugo said to himself as quietly as possible. From here, he was unable to see Rei or Jin in the distance. This alone was starting to put him on edge. Naomi’s words started to echo in his head—he had promised her that Rei would come back.

“This way!” Kai said louder as he approached the top of the hill. Shugo pushed off with his foot, only to feel it slip as the earth below it gave way. He tipped forwards and plopped across the top of the hill, barely managing to catch himself. Kai turned back upon noticing him on the ground. As he reached out to give a hand, a quick whistling sound had torn through the air. Shugo hugged the ground just as a gust of air had swept past the two. Kai’s clothes all at once let out a loud pop as the wind seemed to cut through him. There was silence. Shugo cautiously lifted his head and stared up to Kai, who had been completely frozen in place.

“What was that?” Shugo whispered. Whatever had moved past was long gone. Shugo only shrugged it off and tried to cautiously make his way to his feet. Kai’s head suddenly dipped to the side with a quick groan, and finally gurgling as blood gushed from his mouth. Shugo stared back in horror only to see the upper half of Kai’s torso separate from the rest of his body. What followed was a geyser of blood that had sparkled in the night sky as it sprayed from the remains of Kai’s body. The droplets had covered the rest of Shugo’s face, leaving him petrified.

◆◆◆

Rei had since drawn her weapon. The loud whipping sound from the attack had already rocked through the area. She had already confirmed that Jin was safe, so she took a glance over to see where the others were. Lower down, she could make out Noa and Ami starting to enter another meadow.

“Behind you!” Jin screamed from the distance. Orochi had seemingly risen from out of the ground, blindsiding Rei. There was no time to think. Rei had quickly lunged forward. Her body had tumbled, barely avoiding a fatal horizontal slash. Orochi’s poor follow-through only gave her a window to complete the evasive maneuver. In one quick motion, she had managed to perform a somersault that had spun her towards the attacker. The two clashed swords.

Jin pulled his katana to the ready position. Orochi was in his sights and only managed to slip away further while he scuffled with Rei. Jin had closed the distance between them but soon caught notice of Kyo coming from the flank. All at once, the two had charged into each other, cold steel crashing and grinding between them as they began to battle.

Rei had ducked and weaved past several of Orochi’s attacks. Between strikes, she would find herself making a quick glance towards the others out in the field. As Orochi wound up for another strike, Rei went for a pre-emptive attack and swiped her katana across his face and through his right eye, leaving him to catch a fleeting glimpse of her cold stare before the lights had finally gone out. He began to swing his weapon blindly through the air, screaming furiously as he stumbled over the edge of the foothill.

◆◆◆

Down in the valley, Ami struggled to keep her bow aimed at any of the fighters with the carnage beginning to unfold. The sight of Orochi clawing at the air, Kai being slashed in two—she wasn’t ready. All the horrific images had left her wide open. “Ami!” Noa called out as he realized they were next. She had come through too late. Yuuma managed to get the drop on them from the flank—Shugo and Kai were not present to stop him; the odds were slowly tipping further against them. Ami had been unable to brace herself as Yuuma swung his fists into the ground at her feet. In a blink, she had been completely pulverized by the deadly attack as a shockwave ripped through the valley ahead, consuming her and Noa.

◆◆◆

Jin had barely managed to keep Kyo at bay when the blast hit. At the same time, Matsu had entered the battle. However, he had been struck by the shockwave before managing to get a strike—a stroke of luck. The three had been pushed to the ground. Jin had managed to perform a quick breakfall by kicking off the floor beneath and minimizing the damage from the impact.

“Rei, I need some help here!” Jin shouted to her while the twins had already begun their assault. Every attempt to try and escape would be thwarted with each exit covered by either Kyo or Matsu. As they began to clash, Rei stepped in and managed to interrupt Kyo before he could try and attack Jin from behind.

“Big guy is coming.” Rei quickly said to Jin. She swung her blade towards Kyo, parrying his attack before it could connect with Jin. After hearing the clang, Jin swung the handle of his blade into Matsu’s face, forcing him back once more as the blunt edge busted through his nose.

“I got him.” Jin replied. He could not get enough time to channel the Rising—he had to improvise. Matsu had barely managed to pull himself together in time to go for a quick thrust, but Jin had seen it coming. He had thought of his battle with Shugo at that very moment. Matsu’s sword had poked into thin air as Jin had managed to draw enough power from the Deep to execute front flip to avoid the attack. While spinning overhead, he followed up a quick swipe through Matsu’s chest, sending the blade in and out with no resistance. Matsu had dropped to the ground as a red mist started to erupt from the newly formed gash. Kyo had been on the other end of the violence for so long that he had forgotten this feeling. Watching Matsu drop had managed to bring about a level of dread so fierce that he was helpless to Rei’s follow up strike. He had finally met his end as she delivered one swipe across his neck, instantly beheading him. The blood had rained down on Rei, soaking her as she turned to the valley below.

“You got a plan?” Jin asked her as they looked down to see Ami and Noa lying motionless in the rubble. He shouted to her, “Wake up, Rei!”

“Yeah, I’m here! Big guy,” Rei said finally, “go for the flank while I draw out his attacks.”

Jin did not waste any time trying to find a way around. He found the safest way would be by going near the tree line. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, giving him another boost of energy, but also proving to be a double-edged sword as he had completely been caught off guard by Hiro, who had been waiting.

“Dead!” Hiro shouted as he went for a quick strike with his ōdachi. The blue steel of the curved blade combined with the unhinged shouting were just enough to get Jin’s attention. He lifted his sword, blocking Hiro’s attack. The force from the collision had nearly caused the weapon to fly out of Hiro’s grip just before he leapt backwards. Jin recognized on the spot that Hiro was about to channel something devastating, so he made a quick dash to his right. At the very moment, Hiro swiped at the air, causing a blade of wind to shoot forward and into the valley.

◆◆◆

Yuuma’s power had hardly been depleted from the attack this time around—he had taken more time to prepare his body instead of letting it rip as he did against Rei, days earlier. He looked forward at the remains of Noa and Ami as they poked out from the dirt.

“Somebody, please help me! Hit me all you want, help me!” Orochi screamed again as he rolled around in the grass nearby. He held his right hand over what was his only means of sight, desperate to stop the pain. Once he extended his other hand towards Yuuma, the whistling from Hiro’s attack echoed out, followed by another scream. What was supposed to take down Jin instead had struck the fingers of Orochi’s left hand, causing them to launch outward on a trail of blood. Yuuma had felt the impact from the attack push him off balance. Before the dust could settle, Rei had emerged from the debris in his flank, already closing in for the kill.

“Come on,” Yuuma said to her, wrenching back his fists. He had more than enough of his stamina leftover. “Come and get it already!”

Rei was barely in arms reach when she pivoted to the right and under Yuuma’s attacks. The amount of energy inside of his body had caused another blast of wind to fly towards Orochi, throwing him to the ground again.

“Please, stop and help me!” Orochi screamed.

“I’m sorry, please shut up,” Yuuma said back to him as Rei circled around with her blade. This should have been Jin’s moment to strike, but she did not count on Hiro being there and had no choice but to go in. “Enough of this.”

Rei had tried to go in for the kill, but instead had taken a powerful backhand straight to the left cheek as Yuuma finally locked in. The power behind it had been just enough to knock her to the forest floor. While in a daze, her instincts kicked in and forced her to clench onto her blade. The stars above came into focus—she forgot for just a moment that she had been struck. Orochi’s screaming had started to swell in her head over the ringing.

“Shugo!” Rei snapped back to the battle and struggled to get back on her feet.

“No, you don’t,” Yuuma said as he reached out and placed his hand on her face. His massive hand had gripped her skull tight, wrapping around her head. The pressure had gone from severe to excruciating in mere seconds. She tried to lift her weapon to fight back, but Yuuma had used his free hand to clench her arm in place, finally telling her, “You should have gone home.”

Rei was past her breaking point. Her body wanted to let out a scream, but Yuuma’s grip had forced her jaw shut. The blood began to rush to her face—anymore and she was going to pass out. While Yuuma continued to squeeze harder, he had been blindsided as Noa had finally risen from the dirt behind him. His right leg had been smashed by the attack, but his other limbs remained intact. Yuuma suddenly felt a sharp but sudden burst of pain shoot up from his heel as Noa’s sword had slashed into his calf. Before he could scream, Noa took another swing at his heel, this time throwing the hulk of a man off balance. Rei felt the grip on her head finally slip. With her sword tight, she delivered her own two hit combination on the way to the ground. First there was a splash of blood as Yuuma’s jugular had been split open. The second attack had bisected his torso horizontally, releasing his insides as he dropped to the ground, leaving the earth with a thud as his body crashed into the floor.

“Yeah, how do you like that one you cheap shooting son of a,” Noa had been cut short.

“Are you ok?” Rei asked. She had been relieved to see somebody had survived. Noa tried to shift his weight around as the pain in his foot continued to agitate him.

“I’ve been better. Don’t worry about me, go help the others.”

◆◆◆

Hiro had barely managed to keep the upper hand through the fight. Jin finally pushed him off long enough to get his balance.

“Are you having fun?” Hiro asked him.

“Is that what you call this?” Jin replied. He had no longer been fighting a man. Hiro had since abandoned everything that made him human. His mental state would not deter Jin from having to put an end to the battle. Hiro was going for another attack. This is it. Jin began to channel his energy once more before staring into his opponent's eyes and finally saying, “Alright then, it’s my turn to play.”

The gears in Hiro’s head slowly began to turn. He had locked eyes with Jin, unaware of what was coming.

“Oh yes,” Hiro started to laugh nervously, “play with me, please!”

“Your funeral.” Jin’s voice had started to echo. Just like from the battle with Shugo, his body began to multiply into dozens of apparitions, sending Hiro’s head into spin. His eyes rolled around in his head upon seeing that he was entering another realm.

“Is this one of your tricks? This is new,” Hiro laughed, “it’s very new!”

The large strips of cloth resembling robe Jin’s had started to roll down from the nothingness surrounding them, stretching on infinitely as the forest began to fade from view. Jin and the other apparitions circled their prey before finally making their way behind the curtain-like walls of this dimension. Hiro’s only reaction was to try and do another attack. He slashed—another invisible blade of wind had been released into the void. Unlike before, there was no whistling. The attack had struck the edge, but there was no pop. Everything was off.

“Do you feel that?” Jin’s voice repeated. Hiro snapped to defend against a barrage of quick attacks as back-to-back waves of apparitions spawned into existence, colliding with him. However, there was no impact—all just part of another illusion in this world. He felt his heart racing—it had been so long since he had been here. That feeling that he once believed was vanquished had returned. Fear had finally latched on with its deadly grip; next, the panic. Hiro struck at the air once more, hitting a few more of the clones only to see each swipe collide with nothing. Suddenly, there was a snap. The apparitions and the voices had been stamped out as Hiro found himself back in the forest, alone. There was a quick swoosh. Jin had rushed from behind, delivering the final blow. The downward swipe had split Hiro in two.