Yuzuki knows overwhelming odds. While it’s not customary for those of her ilk to so easily and hastily retreat… well these are special circumstances aren’t they. Her mind is still reeling from meeting her father here… from his words to her. They cut sharper into her than any blade ever could.
But there is more to Yuzuki’s retreat than just getting the hell out of there. When you are fighting a group of people, get them to chase you. Make them angry enough that they will want to hunt you down. Run as fast as you can… because they will do the same to get you. But, there is only 1 in any group that is the fastest. So when that fastest runner gets some distance from the group…
Yuzuki plants her foot into the ground and comes to a jarring halt as she spins around. One of the men was very close to catching her, the others a small distance away still. The lead man seems shocked that she was able to stop so abruptly. Her eyes meet his as she unsheathes and swings her sword at him in on smooth motion. He cries out as the blade slice into his chest, and he stumbles back, falling to the ground. She then turns as the majority of the group closes in, and she is running once more. Yuzuki whips her sword out at her side, and then promptly replaces it into her scabbard as she runs. She now holds her scabbard in her left hand, as she may need both sword and scabbard to fend off the oncoming foot-soldiers. She can’t keep this pace up… she isn’t moving as fast as she was. But… she thinks most of the remaining troops followed her… so her… friends… are safe. Well safer.
Unfortunately, Yuzuki’s antics have not gone unnoticed.
From camp proper… the Burned Woman has taken note of the foot-soldiers chasing a singular person. As Jim is taken away by 2 of her lieutenants, she looks in the direction Yuzuki is headed. Her skin starts to bubble and char, her body suddenly trembling as she lets out a pained whimper. A painful breath is drawn in… and she focuses her power just in front of Yuzuki, intending to obliterate her.
Considering everything the Burned Woman has accomplished so far (no one has been able to stand against her), this should be by all rights the last page of Yuzuki’s story. But lucky for us all… well as stated these are special circumstances.
One of those chasing Yuzuki is now able to get within striking distance of her. A small-ish and thin man, his head shaved. He is carrying a pair of daggers, perhaps part of the reason he is able to move faster than the rest of his group. While Yuzuki really wanted to get more distance… well here we are. As before she comes to a sudden stop and spins around to face her new opponent. But something is suddenly very wrong…
The Burned Woman doesn’t have direct line of sight with her intended target. And said target is moving fast. She’ll have to… well instead of a smaller explosion… she’ll just blow up everything to make sure she gets the trouble-maker.
Yuzuki’s eyes widen as her near opponent swipes at her with his daggers. She is able to lean out of the way of the blades, but she feels she is about to be attacked by something more. On instinct Yuzuki pushes off her forward foot to leap back, her left arm drawing up to act as much of a shield as possible. Just as Yuzuki leaps back, the Burned Woman’s eyes flash a crimson red. As if in slow motion… the air between the dagger man and Yuzuki sparks… and then explodes. Both cry out as they are caught in the explosion… dagger man more so. If Yuzuki hadn’t moved preemptively, then this would indeed have been the end of her tale. It didn’t help the Burned Woman didn’t have a really good shot. But the explosion is enough to shake the ground in the immediate area, debris of the ground flinging into the air… along with body parts. The smoke from the blast clears, and the Burned Woman thinks that should be it. She finds herself smirking a little under her hood as her skin heals miraculously quickly, and she now moves to join her lieutenants. To take Morrison back to her commanders.
The troops that were following Yuzuki stop, some stumbling back from the pressure wave of the blast. They look behind them, seeing a rampaging pirate and a guerilla fighter cutting through the others. Their resolve is rattled… and they flee. They don’t bother to check on the man with the daggers, or the girl they were chasing.
But once someone gets closer to ground zero of the explosion… well there isn’t much left. A shallow crater, bits of people. The trees that are near the crater now burn slowly, but the flames will burn themselves out soon enough. But most of note, one of the pieces of ‘debris’ that fall to the ground… Yuzuki’s scabbard and sword… and part of a slim hand with a death grip on that scabbard. And… nothing. That’s all that is left there at the crater.
Well that’s kind of depressing, huh? Thankfully though, as promised, this isn’t the last part of the tale. Because every ending is really a beginning. We just don’t know it at the time.
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Yuzuki feels a tug on her scabbard as she leaps away. The dagger man has reached out to grab her scabbard, to try and disarm Yuzuki. The Japanese woman starts to cry out
“No! Please get away! There is d-” but she is cut off as the explosion goes off. Yuzuki is hurled away and into the forest, almost immediately unconscious. And the dagger man that so badly wanted Yuzuki’s scabbard… well he got it. So bully for him. As he was grabbing Yuzuki’s scabbard, his body was for the most part disintegrated by the explosion. All that’s left of him… his hand and arm in that death grip of Yuzuki’s scabbard. The rest of what he was is in small chunks along the crater… or a fine red mist.
As for our favorite time/reality displaced Japanese samurai woman (onna-bugeisha as her ilk is known) with a magic medallion (but then how many of those can you possibly know of?), she is thrown clear of the camp itself and lands on her side in the forest. Almost immediately she gets up, and starts to stumble deeper into the forest. So how does she have the presence of mind to just be able to hop up like that? Well she doesn’t. She’s not even aware of where she is, her mind jarred from the force of the explosion. Blood trickles from her ears as she stumbles away, her right hand gripping her left arm in pain. By the time anyone got to the crater, Yuzuki would be out of sight. It is her survival instinct that drives her. The innate ‘fight or flee’ voice is screaming ‘GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE’. So she listens. Though she isn’t given much choice. She seems to be going in the direction her mind perceives water, or at least her mind thinks she smells water. Water equals a reprieve, one hopes. But she is stumbling blind, her eyes haven’t even recovered from the flashpoint of the explosion.
Remember the river they followed Xing along to get to Jim’s camp? Well Yuzuki finds it. And she falls right in. Well passes out/stumbles into the water. Something in her must have told her that there was danger at that moment, so she started to turn weakly. But not enough to stop herself from falling in. But in turning a little, she at least doesn’t land face first in the water. As bad as things are for young Zuki, drowning would have been a very undignified way to go. She once more slips into unconsciousness… and the river gently carries her off, away from the camp.
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((Translated from the Japanese))
“I had heard you cried for days when they made you shave your head, little one.” Yuzuki is now 12, and she isn’t thrilled. Kaito, the swordmaster of the clan, feels bad for the young girl. But if Yuzuki’s father’s intentions are going to be realized… it will require sacrifices from his daughter. And one of those sacrifices has been her hair. Yuzuki speaks in a low, mopey tone as she watches some of the swordsmith’s assistants working a piece of glowing rock flat.
“While ‘m here he didn’ want me ta get burned. Said hair would burn…” which is partially true. But more than that, it was to be a lesson in humility and sacrifice. Kaito nods a little and holds out leather bandana to her, motioning her to it. “If you are going to help smith your sword, you’ll be wearing this. If you are to be working with us for the next few months, you’ll dress the part.” Yuzuki scowls as she stares away from Kaito, tears rimming her eyes. “Here.” he now moves behind her and ties the bandana to the top of her head. It’s basically to protect her head from whatever sparks there
will be from the forge. “There. Now you’re ready to smith with us, little warrior.”
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How much time has passed? Has it been a few minutes? Days? More? Is she still even alive? She thinks she is on a boat. A boat being pulled from shore by a horse. So a boat on the river. Maybe one of the merchant crafts she often uses to get across large bodies of water? Is that where she is? Heading to her next job? Her next pay? Her next meal? She hears water, so in her mind she is on a boat. She feels herself being pulled, so in her mind she is on a boat.
With a gasp her eyes open, and she starts to sit up quickly. To quickly. She cries out softly as her right hand goes to her left arm, pain shooting up that arm. She draws her knees up a little as she sits there… she is on the shore of a river. But she’s not
in the river. How…
Yuzuki hears a happy nicker from behind her, and suddenly Niji is right there pushing her muzzle against Yuzuki’s back. She looks behind her towards the unicorn, and then towards the river.
“You… pulled me out, didn’t you?” She says in a gentle tone, Niji nickering strongly once more as if in response. She nudges Yuzuki again, as if wanting her to get up.
“Yes yes..” Yuzuki utters as she now slowly pushes herself to her feet.
“Uwa” she utters softly as she feels herself get lightheaded. But Niji is right there, and moves so Yuzuki can lean on her. Which she gladly does. Her eyes close tightly a moment, and then open half way as she looks around herself. Yeah she has no idea where she is. Or even how long it’s been since the camp. She looks towards the sky… from the past few days she’s been able to get a sense of time in relation to the position of the sun on this world. And if she’s right, it’s morning now. But… which morning? How many mornings have passed since the camp? She needs to get back to her crew. Ugh she actually thinks of them as a crew.
“Alright.. slowly..” she utters as she now starts to move, leaning a little on Niji, who obediently walks right next to her at the very same pace.
"Thank you Niji... let's see if we can find the others..."