Bloodstained Rose

Chapter 8

Toki and Naomi’s simple stroll around the perimeter of the village had now been nearing its second and final lap—a two-mile walk. For ages, this had been the very tail end of their very long and dragged-out morning routine, or “mourning routine” as Naomi sometimes prefers. Every morning, she would find herself getting dressed, but always conscious as to make sure not to spend too much time, as Toki had been very difficult to wake. With his massive and bulky physique, he had completely overshadowed her and the rest of the villagers in height. Standing at roughly eight feet and two inches, it was safe to say that Naomi had sacrificed as much of her time waking him up than most of the warriors had spent learning to fight. At some point, he would eventually come through after enough attempts before following up with a long walk. It was good enough to get the blood flowing, and a perfect time for the two to do some bonding.

“I’m not looking forward to the winter walks.” Naomi said as she thought of the days ahead.

“It is not good to think about it. It is better to be more optimistic about that future than to worry about the struggles,” Toki replied as he reached down to give her a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Seasons change and time passes by. If you worry about the walks being too hard then they will become unbearable.”

“I knew that.”

“You should think about things that you can do to make things better for yourself. I am certain I have told plenty of stories about how it used to be!” Toki exclaimed.

He had always found a little warmth in thinking about some of the old days. Naomi leaned over to him and gave him a nudge with her elbow to cut him off.

“You know, Papa, with how much you talk about it, I don’t think it was as bad as you remember,” she said with her usual bright smile.

“It’s very possible I might have remembered things a little wrong,” he said with his same low and majestic tone, beginning to stroke his fingers through his beard, “just a little.”

Naomi had tried to smile back as she thought about the many chaotic shifts and her first day in the field. Her palms had continued to sting from the hours of dragging the till through the weeds, keeping the unpleasant memory fresh.

“Well, I certainly hope when I have kids one day, that things will be a little better for them,” Naomi said finally, still trying to be optimistic.

“I am certain they will be. It is up to you to carry the torch.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t pass it off to anybody else. There’s no room to fail.”

“Again, worry not about that,” Toki started to reach back over to her once more. “I have much faith in the future.”

“You do?”

“Of course,” Toki lit up again and exclaimed, “I have the most wonderful and bright daughter in the world!”

“Alright, alright.” Naomi said as she started to blush from the compliment. Toki would give her roaring praise every day—it and his dedication to sleep were something Naomi could count on. The two neared the end of the walk and towards a once familiar spot only to find Rei and Shugo still training. Naomi had always enjoyed seeing Rei, but her initial response today was nothing short of being shocked. She quickly exclaimed, “You see dad? I told her to cut her hair to impress him and she did it!”

The words had flown over Shugo’s head as he had been in a front plank for the past few minutes, still with his shintai lying under his palms. He had much to learn, and after the last few hours he slowly began to feel remorse over the situation.

“You two are cute, that’s for sure,” Toki said, causing Rei’s face to shine red.

“I just wish you had asked me to cut it,” Naomi whimpered upon seeing the unevenness of Rei’s hair, being mortified by the many loose ends, and missed strands.

“I thought I did a fine job,” Rei said quickly before brushing he hands across her crown, finally facing Toki, “also, I didn’t cut it for him, I cut it for me.”

“Did you now?” Toki asked her quickly.

“Yes,” Rei replied. “I don’t want anybody grabbing my hair.”

“Oh, this is too much!” Naomi exclaimed as she began to blush once more. Shugo had been in such distress that he was unable to follow the bickering between the two.

“Can I stop?” Shugo groaned once he mustered up the strength.

“If he’s going to be dueling Jin, then he should probably be resting.” Toki said to Rei.

“Ok Shugo, you heard him,” Rei said back. “I was wanting to punish him just a little for leaving his weapons around.”

Shugo immediately planted his welt-stricken body against the ground, finally relieved to rest his abdominal muscles. The burn had already started to make him forget about the several strikes from Rei along with the massive gash in his hand.

“I wanted a leg up against him,” Shugo groaned as he tried to roll over on his back, “not softened up for him.”

“He has improved a little.” Rei added before smiling to the elder again.

“As we all do!” Toki exclaimed. Shugo gave himself a strong push, flipping his back against the ground and staring up towards the sky. This oddly warm and sunny day had been quite relaxing, especially following an extremely hot summer.

“I think I’m getting worse.” Shugo said as he found himself too tired to even sit up.

“Nobody gets worse.” Toki snapped back. Shugo turned his head to look at his acquaintances as he lay on his back, not wanting to move anymore.

“I’ve been training with her though.”

“Then maybe she should take a break and let me take over for a bit.”

Rei and Naomi were both taken by surprise, as such matters were beyond the elders—there was no reason for him to get involved in this. Shugo felt his abs starting to scream to him as he curled his torso up off the ground.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Shugo asked him.

“The village needs it,” Toki replied while extending his hand to him, “and I want to help.”

Rei had spent many years training and had never seen the elders take time to help anybody who was not a warrior or student. Receiving such an offer was admirable to say the least. Shugo reached out to him and slowly gained his footing while Toki pulled him up.

“My dad gets to train your boyfriend!” Naomi exclaimed while feeling tickled to try and tease them more.

“We’re not friends like that!” Rei shouted back as Shugo only held his tongue.

“No,” she whispered to Rei, snickering, “not yet.”

◆◆◆

Jin gathered a handful of the villagers to participate in the ceremony just as night had begun to fall over the valley. Such an event was not held often and would usually follow a long and rigorous week of training, but given the missing hunters and the dwindling numbers, they would have to bend the rules. Rei had stood to his side in her traditional garbs for just the occasion, her dark blue winter yukata. To her left were the other two troops who had been on her team for years—Noa and Ami. Standing before them were Jin and Hideo with the remainder of the volunteers staring on in wait.

“We will begin shortly,” Hideo said firmly.

Rei for a moment had felt her heart sink upon realizing Shugo and Toki had not arrived. The two had vanished, leaving Naomi and Rei alone to prepare for the event. In the brief time allotted, Naomi managed to help Rei get her robe and hair in pristine condition—not an easy task.

“At ease.” Jin said to Rei and the others, waving his hand for them to lower their guard. During the idle time, Noa and Ami had taken notice of Rei’s freshly cut hair and uniform, stunned to see her look so formal.

“Rei, just wanted to say,” Ami whispered to her, “you look great.”

“Oh,” Rei muttered while trying not to smile. She took a second to think about all the times Shugo or the elders had said something nice, to which she ignored, so she looked back and finally said, “Thank you.”

“You look a lot better with shorter hair.” Noa added quickly.

“Thank you.” Rei said as she had finally given in to flashing him a quick smile. The group had shifted their focus to Toki and Shugo as they made their way over. Jin glanced over to them, seeing Toki’s piercing but determined stare while he stood over his new student.

“We’re almost ready to begin.” Jin said aloud to the villagers as they started to become absorbed. Toki’s quick course had been spent preparing Shugo's mental state, one of the biggest flaws as he could not handle pressure very well. If Jin managed to get any momentum, it would be over in a flash. This was the moment to shine—he had to prove to Hideo and the rest he could compete with the other warriors. Whether or not this would cause some change, being able to defeat Jin could cause a schism. Things did not have to be as controlling as they were—having that extra amount of credibility was all he needed. Rei had softened him up, but he needed to be as powerful and precise as ever, or this would be a very quick duel.

“Everybody, get in line.” Jin shouted quickly. Rei snapped to attention with the others, quickly dashing over towards the end of the row. Shugo had decided the best plan of attack would be trying to visually understand Jin’s fighting style, and the best way would be trying to take a spot near the center of the line. Ideally, he would have wanted to go last, but he felt standing here would at minimum guarantee he would not go first.

“We normally have a much longer trial, but sometimes things have to change,” Toki said aloud. “The rules are simple: you and your opponent will face off, each strike is a point, no dirty fighting, and finally if you can score three or tie, you pass.”

“Sounds easy.” Shugo whispered under his breath, drawing Jin over to him.

“Is that what you think?” Jin muttered as he squared him up. “If you think so, then we’ll go first.”

Shugo froze in place as his careful planning had been completely thrown out the window. As he stepped over towards the elders with Jin, Rei and Ami stepped between them to present them with their shintais. Hideo stared at Shugo with the same cold and displeased look from before, deep down feeling a sense of relief seeing him go first.

“Draw your weapons,” Hideo ordered the two. Both men at once had reached over to draw their weapons before finally standing face to face, just as Hideo finally commanded, “Now, bow.”

With grace, they leaned forwards with their sights locked on each other, neither brave enough to take their eyes off one another. After the situation from this morning and the several welts, Shugo had known better. It was almost common sense, Remember your fundamentals, he thought quickly. After bowing, they raised their arms, finally drawing their weapons to each other. Jin continued to analyze and pick apart his stance while Shugo remained firm. Keep your stance, find your center, and do not lose your balance. Rei’s words rang on in his head as the hairs on his neck began to rise. All at once, Hideo swiped his hand down with a loud grunt. Jin lunged forwards at blazing speeds, trying to get the first point as fast as possible as he swung his weapon down. Instead of attempting to parry, Shugo immediately panicked and took a step backwards to avoid the attack.

“No point.” Hideo said as they separated once more. Shugo tried to keep his weapon high—he had already started to feel the weight of the moment beginning to encumber him.

“Come at me.” Shugo whispered to Jin before seeing him launch another flurry of strikes. The two pieces of wood hammered together, producing a violent cadence of knocks that continued to get more intense. Shugo had tried to maintain his composure and keep the offensive going. Keep your stance and don’t lose balance. Jin had finally landed the first blow to his opponent’s upper arm, busting open one of the welts from Shugo's training. Shugo tried to keep himself from being visibly distressed as the blood started to trickle from the wounds once more. The gauze around the wound on his hand had started to drip red, slowly becoming drenched.

“Point, Jin.” Hideo said as he raised his hand.

“Come on, Shugo!” Naomi screamed from behind the other villagers, causing a few more to shout along in support.

“That’s enough.” Hideo interrupted them. Shugo tried to maintain his self-control with the pain from his wounds starting to flare up once more.

“Still think it’s easy?” Jin asked as he watched his opponent start to shuffle the weapon in his hands.

“Not quite.” Shugo tried to do a surprise swipe as he spoke, only to have Jin return with one decisive parry, completely stopping any momentum he had built.

“Is that it?”

“Don’t underestimate me. Anybody can be a warrior,” Shugo stated just before making a quick defensive strike. Their swords had collided in the air with another thud, locking the two in place as they struggled back and forth. “If they were determined enough, anybody could beat you or even be Daimyo.”

He gave Jin a quick push, knocking him back off to get a little space. Jin looked back to him, smiling as he heard Hideo quickly repeat, “No point.”

“Oh, you think anybody can be a warrior or Daimyo?” Jin asked him with a confident grin, trying to do everything to tilt him. With that, he went in for another barrage just like before, continuing, “Do you seriously think these positions are so simple that anybody could hold them?”

Shugo tried to turn up the pressure to silence him before he could continue. Keep your center. He had moved around one of Jin’s oncoming attacks before rotating around and coming back with his own, sending a loud pop through the crowd as he struck Jin’s face.

“Point, Shugo!” Toki shouted as he raised his hand. There was a slight rumble coming from the villagers behind Rei and Naomi. Seeing the importance of the situation, Rei had tried to hold her tongue and not join in. Blood had stained Jin’s hand as he rubbed it across the throbbing welt on his face.

“Yes, anybody.” Shugo said to him. As much as a fresh slap to the face had stung, Jin had felt his pride take an even harder hit as he rushed forward, enraged at the quick tap. That very instant, Shugo tapped into the Deep, using the supernatural force to leap forward over Jin. While airborne and still upside-down, he delivered another quick attack, this time with the weapon landing directly on the back on Jin’s head in the descent. Naomi and Rei were both equally thrilled to see Shugo getting the edge.

“Finish him!” another voice shouted from the crowd. As Jin’s rage began to get the best of him, his fundamentals had started to become mere suggestion.

“I knew that you knew some stuff, but not that much.” Jin said as he spun the shintai. The wood let out a whistling sound as it sliced through the air between them.

“I told you not to underestimate me.” Shugo said as his body floated down to the ground.

“Well, if that’s the way it’s going to be, then it’s time we kick it up to the next level.”

Jin faced him. Just as his opponent did before, he began to tap into the void. Shugo could feel the unnatural power swelling inside of his opponent—Yuuma’s deadly ground attack was nothing like this. As Jin began to move, his body began to produce trails of after-images behind him.

“What the hell is this?” Shugo quickly muttered aloud as the apparitions began to multiply with each pass, soon leaving him no avenue to escape.

“Are you watching?” Jin asked him. His voice echoed on and on as the hallucinations constantly forming had started to repeat his words. Shugo realized the light around him beginning to get dimmer as he found himself trapped in a state of hypnosis. All around him were large stretches of fabric that resembled Jin’s robe, expanding endlessly as they reached out and above—it was as if Shugo had been swept away into another world. By the end, it appeared as if he was standing in a forever-spanning hall of curtains, each one constantly swaying as other apparitions resembling Jin started to sail in between.

“Reina, are you there?” Shugo asked.

“They can hear you; they can see you, but you can’t see them,” Jin’s voice reverberated continually, still causing Shugo distress while he tried getting control of the situation. With every passing second, it appeared that there was more movement and more of the otherworldly phantasms swooped past him. The voices continued, “Now you’re in the sticks.”

Jin ripped through one of the large pieces of cloth dangling from above and barreled towards Shugo at speeds beyond comprehension. In the brief moment, Shugo had narrowly managed to swipe his weapon across the target, only to be flabbergasted as his target phased away on contact.

“Oh shit!” Shugo yelled, quickly strafing to his right to avoid another combination of apparitions, unaware which one was his opponent. All his training on detecting opponents tapping in the Deep had completely been nullified in this realm.

“Are you finding it harder to find me?” The haunting echo from Jin’s voice filled the realm as he spoke, continuing to repeat itself to the point of insanity. “I control everything here.”

Jin had emerged from behind Shugo, trying to get another shot in as his opponent could only dodge in wake of the offensive. Every few seconds another apparition would dash out from the edge of this bizarre dimension, making it even more difficult for Shugo to keep focus as most of the aggression had been from decoys.

“You have such childlike view of the world,” Jin whispered. The reverberation from the clones repeating his words was starting to become maddening. “Do you really think that everybody who failed just didn’t try hard enough? Do you think any fool could be an Elder if he just tries hard enough?”

Shugo found it harder to keep his balance as he found himself leaping away from constant strikes. Suddenly, Jin closed in with four more copies of him following close, overwhelming Shugo as he found himself swinging his sword wildly into the squad. One by one, the hallucinations began to fade away before he felt the broad side of Jin’s shintai slap across the middle of his back.

“Point, Jin.” Hideo’s voice sounded wildly distorted through the walls of this vivid realm. With the constant echoing, he had found it harder to keep his head together as his legs started to collapse under his weight. The last strike had knocked the last of his breath from his body, leaving him helpless as he finally dropped to his knees.

“Not like this,” Shugo muttered as he started to clench the dirt under his feet.

“If you try to be good at everything, you’ll find that you are good at nothing.” Jin said to him as he retreated behind the giant vestments currently surrounding them.

“Alright, everything or nothing!” Shugo tried to channel from the Deep again, this time giving himself full focus to try draw more power than he could possibly use. To the others watching, they had been unable to see the apparitions, but Shugo clawing through the dirt as Jin approached for the kill shot.

“What’s he doing?” Noa whispered to Rei. She too was as curious and confused to see him sitting wide open, not focused on his opponent.

“I don’t know.” she finally spoke. A cold draft had started to emanate from Shugo’s body as he finally bolted to his feet. Jin felt the chill pierce through him while his opponent’s body began to slowly turn pale. Shugo slowly began to float up and off the ground while his apparel started to wave through the air, as if he were underwater.

“Is that what I think it is?” Toki asked.

“It’s the Rising.” Hideo replied. Rei overheard him and began to feel just as overwhelmed as Hideo by her friend’s accomplishment.

“Shugo learned the Rising!” Rei grabbed and shook Ami excitedly as she spoke. The revelation had been awe-inspiring to the crowd still watching from the sidelines.

“I thought only Jin and Hideo-san knew that one?” Noa quickly asked.

“Apparently not.” Ami said quickly. Shugo could see past the illusions while his body gushed with power from the Deep. Jin began to move towards him, but with Shugo’s new amp, he would have to switch it up. All at once, hundreds of clones began to soar through the walls and towards Shugo. With barely any thought or effort, Shugo had found himself swiping his weapon through dozens of the apparitions, causing them to fade as he started to lock in on his opponent. With the Rising causing his power to reach a new height, Jin began to realize the futility of the situation, and started to channel the same power himself.

“This is my everything!” Jin shouted to him as he started to pull from the Deep. Within moments, the once cold breeze had stiffened, causing the temperature to plummet as fog and frost started to cover the ground around them. Just like Shugo, Jin had drawn forth the power of the Rising, stepping forward to give everything for one final attack. The two charged without speaking a word, finally smashing into each other at high speed. With the unnatural energy swelling and freezing the surrounding area, Hideo had started to see that the battle was going far beyond what it needed to be. This was supposed to be a simple duel to prove a new warrior’s ability to handle pressure but had spiraled out of control.

“Draw!” Hideo shouted as a cloud of dust began to consume the two fighters. Suddenly, a shockwave ripped through the large plume, clearing the area to reveal Jin and Shugo still tattered, bloody, and covered with dirt as they struggled against each other. After Hideo’s words had been sounded, Shugo noticed the vivid hallucinations fading, leaving him alone with his opponent. As they separated, Jin raised his weapon one final time, causing Shugo to flinch in anticipation of another attack.

“Well, you’re jumpy,” Jin said after taking a deep breath and keeping composed, “but you’re just the guy I need.”

“You don’t say,” Shugo said with what little air he could inhale. As his chest continued to burn, he could feel his muscles starting to turn to mush as his sight started to fade. “Keep your balance.”

Just as he collapsed, the crowd erupted in a mix of excitement, disappointment, and pure emotion as they rushed forward to celebrate. Shugo’s body plopped across the frost covered dirt, finally pushed beyond its limit. Toki turned to Hideo with a smile as bright as the moon shining overhead, giving him a friendly push.

“Well, would you look at that?” Toki said to him. Hideo had truly been taken off guard seeing Shugo had beaten Jin in the duel and with the Rising of all things. The anxiety over him dragging Rei down started to diminish ever so quickly. Once he saw Rei’s face light up as she cradled Shugo on the ground, he began to feel a slight warmth.

“Alright now, give him a little space.” Noa said to the villagers starting to gather in the center. Shugo could hear their muffled voices becoming clear as Rei placed his head back into the dirt.

“You there?” Naomi asked as she started to pat his face. Shugo’s eyes had finally opened to Rei’s angelic smile slowly coming into focus.

“Did we win?” Shugo asked, finally wiping his eyes.

“I think this one’s all you.” she replied softly.

“Thanks, Reina.” Rei playfully gave him a pop on the chest, making him grunt as he felt his torso starting to throb. “Ok, I’m sorry!”

Shugo quickly laughed as they began to playfully scuffle.

“You two are just too cute!” Naomi began to tease them as now their spirits had started to rise. They had finally assembled a team to take on the threat waiting in the valley. It would now be a matter of time before they charged headfirst into the danger.