Two Times, One Sword (Closed)

Yoko was actively swinging her cage, building momentum with the combined strength of her legs and the gusts of wind. She steered the movement of the cage as though she was surfing to avoid the air slashes that came her way. The cage spun around faster than Yoko could think. Blood rushed to her head and started to go pale.

The ground was starting to churn under Yori's feet, the violent waves of wind cuts crushing down on the cliff, breaking it down into rubble. The cliff suddenly collapsed, and the lever that was holding the Yoko's cage opened. In the half-second it took for Yori to see where the cage was, Ayako uncloaked above Yori for a downward swing with her scythe. A jet of flame burst from the tip of Yori's sword. Ayako backflipped to avoid the flame, but it had engulfed the cloak. Yoko screamed as she plummeted towards the ocean. As the fire consumed the cloak, Yori activated his boosters and rocketed towards Ayako. By the time that Ayako completed her backflip, Yori's sword stabbed through her chest. Blood sputtered from Ayako's mouth. She was grinning, holding Yori's sword with both of her hands. Her facial features became hollow. Yori knew by the feel of his sword inside of Ayako that this version was human. There was a crash as the cage collided with the ocean.

"You can't save her." Ayako said. "Like the ones before her, she will die."

The sword was fully embedded in Ayako's chest. Yori had no time to pry it from her. He let go and dove into the water after Yoko. The cage was sinking fast into the darkness. Streams of blood flowed behind him, from the countless cuts that Ayako inflicted. Yori swam towards the cage, and his metal hand becoming hot enough to melt steel. He violently grabbed the lock and ripped it off, flinging open the door. Yoko's eyes were closed as her body lay against the bars and the cage floor. Yori took her over his shoulder and started swimming back up towards the light. The weight of the water above him started to crush him.

Thinking quickly, Yori heated the water around him. If he had calculated what he needed to do, it would've seemed to be an insumountable task. In this situation, no calculation mattered. Yori felt resolve burn within his chest to save Yoko no matter the risk. The water in the ocean around him started to boil, making the water lighter and rich with oxygen. With another burst of power expended to boost him upward, he broke the surface of the water and dragged Yoko to shore.

Yori's body was the verge of shutting down, as though his body had just become aware of the blood loss and the punishment he forced his body to go through. But Yoko wasn't breathing. In Yoko's face, he could see the faces of the previously dead, of the women he failed to save. He began the process of CPR pressing her chest three times before giving her a breath of air, repeating again and again. Yori resolved to never stop until she breathed.

A gasp of air pieced the silence on the beach. Yori quickly lifted Yoko to face opposite of him as she threw up the ocean water that filled her lungs. She coughed violently, struggling to get up.

"Relax." said Yori. "It's safe." Yori collapsed face first into the sand beside Yoko. Yoko turned herself around, and flipped Yori by the should, so they were both facing upward at the warm sun. They didn't say a word as they rested. Yoko was the first to sit up, looking down at Yori every so often to check nothing was wrong. Yori followed soon after. Yoko crawled towards Yori and wrapped her arms around him. Their chins rested on each others shoulders as they hugged each other tightly.
 
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"Good bye father, may you rest again." Jiro turned for the exit, a white flash of light engulfing him. The samurai awoke on the floor, Amaterasu standing over him.

"How do you feel Jiro?" she helped him up.

"Like a weight has been lifted, so much better thank you. Though I'm not sure what happened."

"The Water Stone helps sooth the soul and calm the mind, one of my gifts to mankind." she smiled.

"And what of Yori?" Jiro looked down concerned.

"I believe in him Jiro, he is strong." she continued to smile, knowing that he had won.
 
The heat escaped Yori's body like steam, and his eyes seemed to open on their own. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted from his eyelids. He saw both Jiro and Amaterasu look at him. Despite being in exactly the same place as he had been before, walled in, hiding from Gin's golem forces, the situation itself had changed. The mission remained, to save the world from Gin's tyranny. The mission was still difficult, and demanded strength and sacrifice. However, the mission no longer felt impossible. The Aqwuis Stone was the proof that Gin hadn't won. Yori looked at Jiro and Amaterasu and smiled.

"My warrior has returned." said Amaterasu.
Yori rose and stood by Jiro.
"Like a river breaks through a dam, your barriers have been destroyed." confirmed Amaterasu. "Both of you are ready."
"Ready?" questioned Kissoten. "Nothing has changed. No new weapon, no army, no plan."
"We head towards Gin's fortress." said Yori.
"You said it was a death trap."
"It's possible either of us could die." He looked at Jiro and they both nodded. "We're now ready to make that sacrifice."
 
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The two would walk out of the massive graveyard and head east, the direction where the clouds were darkest. "Yori my friend, let's kick Gin's ass." he taking a note from Yori's way of talking. He smirked and the two were off toward their destiny.

A New Challenger!
Eventually the hero's found themselves walking next to a bamboo thicket on their left side and a river to their right. The past few days they had been traveling were peaceful, most due to the clean escape they had coming from Kisshoten's compound.

"I'd say in another week we should be at Gin's doorstep." Jiro smiled. "I know we can do this Yori, and I know my line is watching over us." he placed a hand on the samurai's shoulder.


"HALT! YOU ARE ENTERING THE TERRITORY OF LORD GIN! YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED HERE TURN AROUND NOW!" a voice called from no direction in particular.

"Show yourself!" Jiro called out drawing his sword.

Out of the bamboo came a knight "Leave now or be killed on the spot!" he yelled.

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"We don't have time for this!" thought Yori despairingly. Gin's minions were meant to slow them down, to make them too weak to fight him and his generals. He drew his sword and charged towards the knight. The knight was merely an obstacle to be cut down quickly. There were no opening words, no witty repartee. He intended to cook the knight like a potato in tin foil; the metal armor conducting the heat of his flames.

The knight readied himself with his spear against the charge. A flurry of stabbing attacks came at Yori all at once when he got into range. A knight in armor shouldn't move that fast. How was it possible?
 
"WEAK!" the knight growled, a few tares appeared in Yori's gi, but no major damage was taken. The warrior backed off and reset "Your armor is impressive, but nothing I can't handle!" he came at Yori again with a heavy charge. *BOOM!* A rock wall shot up in front of the samurai, the knight disappeared just before he hit.

"I have you back Yori!" Jiro shouted.

"FOOLISH!" The knight charged from behind Jiro aiming to run him through.

"AH!" Jiro pulled his sword from the ground to block the hit, *CLANG!* but the spear was heavier then it looked sending him to one knee.

"My master will have you both dead for trespassing!" he growled again.
 
Yori's sensors couldn't catch how the knight disappeared before the rock wall, but he didn't have the time to figure out why. Once the knight had disappeared, he was behind Jiro. Yori activated his rocket boosters blasting upward into a parabolic arc, arcing towards Jiro. It reminded him of his first fight in this timeline against the samurai he was now aiming to save. The boosters engaged again, sharply changing his flight downward on a diagonal as he unloaded a barrage of fireballs to siege the ground around Jiro. The knight disappeared again as Yori landed.

They needed to work together to face this foe, but more than that, it seemed they had to act as one mind to manage the unpredictability. The simple image of two rivers twinning into a single stream. A mental connection -- like the Heikegani.

"Jiro, the Aqwuis Stone."

Jiro pulled it out towards Yori, still wary of the battle ensuing as the smoke of Yori's bombardment partly shrouded the battlefield. He was confused, but they had worked together for so long that he did it without question. Yori clasped Jiro's hand and a blue light exploded from within the bond. Yori had made a gamble. They had both went through the trial that the Stone had presented. It had helped clear their minds, but it had to be more than that. Yori didn't previously question why the Heikegani were the way they were. Everything had a reason. The Aqwuis Stone being the source of that power seemed like a natural one.

The two minds became one. The feeling was overwhelming. They were still two people, with two different sets of eyes, limbs, and brains, but somehow they both knew the contents of the other. It wasn't straining either, with both minds processing sensory information as to not overload the other.

The knight charged towards Yori from the side. Yori's eyes caught a glimpse of the charge. Jiro's back had been turned away. "RAH!" Jiro shouted. An earth pillar shot from the diagonal, and crashed against the knight like a blitzer sacking a quarterback.
 
"Oooah!" the knight was struck on the side, a massive dent in the armor caused the sound of snapping ribs. He went flying across the dirt, body bounced off the water like a stone, *CRACK!* and into a tree. Blood poured from the slats in the helmet.

"Did we do it?" Jiro spoke in their minds.

"I will.... I will not let you pass!" the armor tore itself from the tree, blood staining the ground below, he pointed his spear at the two. "Master.... Gin is not to be.... DISTURBED!" there was a bright flash of light and the knight was gone.

"Yori above us!" Jiro's eyes caught a glimpse of the knight high in the air. Yori's body almost moved on its own firing fire balls at him. The attacker dodged a few but ultimately could keep up.

*CLANG!* One of the balls knocked the helmit off of the knight. "Ah!" he screamed and hit the ground with a thud leaving quite the crater.

Both samurai gathered around the hole "Yori that light earlier... It was magic. Wait Gins creations are made of darkness they shouldn't be able to use light magic unless...." Jiro's heart sank and Yori could feel it.

"You will not get through!" the light called rushing out of the hole, but his voice... It was that of a woman's. The tip of the spear just missed the future samurai's eye as Jiro came to block the attack. Both saw the knights's face as she shot by. *SHIIIING* The sound of metal scraping rang out as Jiro deflected thier attacker, pushing her to the side of them. Before them they say the bloodied of of thier former ally Alexandria.
 
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Yori's hand was outstretched towards Alexandria, before it slumped back down. She was shaking, struggling to keep herself up in armor despite shattered ribs. Her face was severely burned; what was noticeable were patched of blonde hair cut short and her stern expression. The helmet had conducted the heat of the fireball as Yori had planned, before he found out that it was their friend underneath. It was likely she was severely burned elsewhere.

"It's over." said Yori and Jiro in unison, their voices as one, solemn.
"As long as I stand in Master Gin's service, I shall not fall."
"You have already fallen..." said Yori. "From the light..." said Jiro.
"I command the light!"

With another flash, she attempted to use their blindness to kill them, channeling her light energy into a steady stream laser emanating from her lance, cutting directly into the energy she needed to live. She only wished to sear onto them a pain worse than the one she experienced as Yori's fire, and earn her master's favor forever. However, just as the beam shot outward they ran in opposite directions, constantly facing her as though they could still see, with their eyes closed. She wasn't able to turn the beam fast enough to either side to span an arc necessary to cut either samurai down. She disengaged the beam and started to run into the forest, leaving afterimages that charged from different directions into the samurai's paths. However, their paths didn't waver, jumping through the images that attacked with their heavy lances. She found herself in a clearing, and dropped the heavy spear before she stumbled further into the lightly grassy area. She turned slowly see the samurai catch up with her, standing a ways away, and fell.

"What are you waiting for?" She spat out blood. "Kill me!"
Their faces, though solemn, were sad. Alexandria's eyes drooped and she fully collapsed, drifting away.

When her eyes closed, she found the answer. Yori's hand was outstretched. He had planted a tracking device on her after her final pass when she tried to stab through his eye. How she knew about what such a thing was surprised her. It all made sense somehow. The two exchanged concepts without words in an instant's time. Yori's eyes could calibrate to filter out strong light and slow visual input to few frame if needed, but it was Jiro's blind-fighting training that overcame being blinded, and being fooled by illusions.

She experience a memory of a fight, from Yori's eyes. He was the demon, possessed by the Reaper's items. She saw a woman. It was herself, noble and strong. She saw the splendor of the woman before her in the light. Alexandria strained to remember that woman. The battle for the Academy broke, and with it great mental anguish. She found herself confronted with the torture, the memory previously suppressed through engineered walls, torn down by the combined effort of three minds.

I'm dying...

It was difficult to be a singular voice in the plurality of mind. There were no easy words, only truth left bare. She knew Yori and Jiro wanted her to live through this, but the strain on her body had been too great. She didn't spare an ounce of energy. Yori understood her state as deep REM, nearing a comatose state. Alexandria accepted it. If she was to die, it would be as the woman she once was, and not alone.
 
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Jiro stepped forward "Yori help me get her out of this armor." his voice solemn. The two started to cut away at the straps holding the armor together, picking each piece off carefully what was underneath was terrible sight. Aside from the battle damage she took Alexandria's arms and legs were hacked off and replaced with poorly crafted robotic ones. Jiro picked her body up slowly, and carried her into the forest "I'm so sorry this happened to you Alexandria, had I just taken you with me..." tears started to roll down the samurai's cheek. "You may rest now brave warrior your fight is over." he kept walking until her found a small clearing. He set her down and next to her her opened a hole deep enough to be a grave. He drew his blade and placed it just on top of her heart "May the spirits give you piece." he said before showing her the mercy of a quick death. Jiro fell to his knees and cried out in pain and sadness. A few minuets went by before he pulled himself together "Ahhh... Yori... have you an words for her...?" he stood up and sheathed his sword.
 
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Yori closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. Alexandria's body had been hacked to pieces, mutilated before their fight even began. The mechanical arms and legs were jury-rigged, turning her into a Frankenstein. Yori was vat-grown a cyborg, brainwashed by a tyrant. Alexandria had died as a reflection. He thought bitterly on how they had fought each other's dark half, and not as true warriors. He looked up and saw Alexandria's spirit rise from her body. As she rose, she looked only towards Jiro. Her eyes were filled with a quiet sadness. She mouth had opened as though to say something but they pursed. A tear rolled down her cheek. She smiled lightly and waved before ascending into the sky, fading into the light.

"She fought bravely until the very end." said Yori. They had both shared her memories of the torture, felt they way she resisted against the brainwashing techniques, lashing, kicking and screaming, of how the light inside her burned hot against Waru's malice.

"She broke her brainwashing and conquered the darkness." Yori cleared his throat. Jiro and Yori had been part of that experience, her support. They felt her triumph, and felt the surge of courage that broke her chains. "She died as the woman she wanted to be, noble and strong. She died with honor."

Yori stopped for a moment and looked at Jiro. "Above all, she didn't die alone."

Though the haze of separating the other two minds, it was hard to tell what he was feeling. There was something else too, an odd sort of reflection. It seemed cold at first, but Yori started to think over Alexandria's experiences. It offered at least partial information of what Gin's fortress was like. Further meditation could yield even more. Yori refused to let Alexandria's death be in vain.
 
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Without another word Jiro picked Alexandria's body and placed it in the hole. A quick flick of the wrist and grave was filled, on more and a stone was at the head. Jiro carved her name into it, said one more prayer, and headed for the main road. When they got to the road Jiro spoke up "Gin will pay for this Yori, we'll make sure of it." he said before walking on.

---

The journey to the fortress was along and taxing. Constant golem attacks, sleepless night, and lack of food, by the time they reached the outside of the compound they were worse for wear. "Yori we need to find a place to rest, we need to eat,... we need a plan." he spoke from behind a bush. The compound had constant patrols, and there were still a few yards away from the main building. "Any ideas? I can make a rock barrier around us so we can sleep. I can get water with the Aquis Stone, but food I'm out of luck." he whispered.
 
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Yori had thought about the fortress from the inside. The more that he thought about fighting in there, the more discouraging entering it was. Attempting to reconstruct maps based on Alexandria's memories locked in his brain was starting to become nauseating. The reality of Jiro's point of not having sleep or food was sinking in. They were only mortal.

Only mortal. Yori thought of the fortress again, but not from the inside. It could be seen as an entity, but unlike the futuristic buildings of KAMI 5, the fortress couldn't move. It needed things from the outside.

"Fall back." Yori whispered. Without saying another word, Yori led Jiro away from the fortress, but closer to a worn path. Now they were about a mile back from where the fortress was. There were tracks of wagons and metal machines. They were overlooking it from a hill in heavy forest with their bellies at the ground.

Jiro looked at Yori. "This is the path they dragged Alexandria on." he said sadly. "Golem soldiers have our faces. It's not like we can infiltrate the supply line. Even if we weren't caught, we'd be stopped at the supply gate. That's the most guarded. So, why here?"
"It's here that we'll setup our raid."
"We're not bandits!" Jiro protested.
"Gin would not expect a raid from us for that reason."
Jiro didn't understand Yori's point. Was Yori merely opportunistic, with the cruel heart of a raider? That didn't seem like Yori at all, who acted honorably. Was his honor just a mask? Was that 'metal man' really just a dishonorable ronin? He breathed in, trying to collect his thoughts. "We're both tired, hungry, but this is not the way. We need to think through this."
"We can't hunt for food. There are no animals around for miles."
"There are innocents working for Gin in those supply lines." added Jiro. "The chaos, it --"
"Might claim lives." finished Yori.
"I'd sooner eat dirt than kill innocents to fill my stomach."
"That is not what I'm asking you to do." Yori said solemnly.
"I won't do it."
"It's the only way to draw Gin out away from his fortress."
Jiro looked at Yori with bewilderment.
"As you said, we're not bandits. Gin'll know it was us, though, after the initial shock of that fades. We're the only ones who would have the gall to attack his forces so close to his fortress. It will send a clear message to him, a direct challenge. His pride wouldn't allow the act to go unpunished."
"This is insane." said Jiro. "We can't just kill based on how we think Gin will react. It's arrogant. These are innocent lives we're talking about, not pawns."
"I know, but Jiro, innocents will also die if we do nothing. More will be captured as slaves. The world is at stake. If Gin knew innocents forced us to hold our blades, he'd make them into meat shields. He'd strap one of the backs of every golem if he could."
Jiro nodded reluctantly. Yori's crude analogy was alarmingly close to reality. It was not outside Gin's malice. "What if the raid fails to draw him out?"
Yori sighed. "We'd have to keep raiding to siege the fortress. Without steady supplies, Gin would start to go hungry, like us now, and his robot army would slowly degrade."
"I still don't like it."
"I don't like it either, but we don't have much time, before Gin's full army is built. For this plan to work, we need to strike hard and get what we need within minutes. After that we'll hide, recuperate, and wait for Gin's reply. I need to know you're in. I can't do this without you."
"I understand." Jiro replied. "At least outside the fortress, we can choose when and where to attack."
"It's a long path." said Yori. Jiro understood the double meaning. The supply path was long, but so was the path of righteousness, to do what had to be done. It would still be a while since the next supply line would come through this way. They would still have time to setup a two man raid.
 
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A day later, that night, the two laid in wait for the supply line. What little rations they had left were gone, it was all or nothing. Amaterasu hung over them in the form of a bright full moon. The two were hiding in the trees just off the path, and just barely in sight was a group of iron golems coming down the path. With was a large supply line being pulled by a few dozen slaves.

"Yori are you sure we need to take out the slaves? Can't we just destroy then golems and be done with it?" Jiro whispered.

"Jiro... if we leave them alive where will they go? Theres nothing around but death for these people... it would be a mercy."

"Yes... I suppose..."

"Alright they are almost in position." Yori turned to the group. He waited a few more minuets "Now!" he signaled.

Jiro stabbed the ground and instantly thick solid rock walls shot up around the supply line. There was panic from the slaves, but the golems stood there coldly assessing.

"Go!" Jiro shouted and started to dash at the wall, foot whole appearing in the wall. "YEAAAAHHHHH!" He came down and stabbed one of the golems in the head. The golem went down like it was made of straw. Everything in him screamed to spare the slaves, so he continued to go after the golems.
 
Yori had tried to explain further other reasons why someone had to acclimate themselves into the possibility that innocents would be killed. He saw that Jiro still didn't take to the idea, which was understandable. It shouldn't be taken lightly.

"Time is everything in a raid." Yori started as they lay in wait. It was much like robbing a bank, a reference that would be lost on Jiro. The samurai were laid still, to prevent the possibility to be spotted in advance by patrols. "We only have five minutes. After that, the supply line forces will reorganize and counterattack, and reinforcements will come. We will not be able to protect innocents from the golems. There's not enough time."

"Earlier," said Jiro, pausing, "you made it seem like we'd have to kill innocents."

Yori downcast his eyes. "Do you know the concept of a 'milk run'?"
Jiro shook his head.
"A milk run is an easy job that's expected to go exactly as planned -- foolproof. There's no such thing as a milk run. A lot can go wrong, even in five minutes."
"You think we might kill innocents, by accident?" Jiro replied incredulously.

Yori nodded slowly. He couldn't bring himself to bring up that what made usual raids effective is the fear that bandits incited in killing innocents on purpose, to make a point of their cruelty and malice. Their honor stopped from killing on purpose, which would make the raid less effective. Mercy wasn't a quality to be feared. Still, it was possible that innocents might die because of the chaos they would cause to get the job quickly. Yori was getting weak from the hunger. Yori's mind was swimming in a kind of haze, even with his cybernetic brain keeping level.

"We won't let that happen." said Jiro.
"Five minutes." Yori reiterated, sadly. "That's all we have." Jiro sensed that Yori was now talking from experience, about something constrained in his own time.

Yori's last comment before the ambush was instead an appeal to emotion, not to reason. The lesson learned about what could go wrong would come from experience. Yori hoped that Jiro was right, that they wouldn't allow innocents to die, because the lesson was best left unlearned.
---

The barrier had come up from the ground. Yori followed close behind as Jiro led the charge from only opening created. The slaves started to scream in panic now as the golems mobilized, shoving slaves to the ground, and narrowly trodding upon them like war elephants. Yori fired a large fireball that went hurtling besides the convoy. It would be the only one he planned to fire. It was all his spirit could conjure. As the fireball hit, it exploded like a mortar, launching the line to its side. Billows of black smoke and fire covered the immediate vicinity. In the cover of smoke, Yori cut down a golem trapped with him. He heard the screams of the innocent as they crawled out of the smoke, covering their ears because of the terrible ringing of Yori's mortar. No time to see if any were suffocating. His attack was indiscriminate. He plunged into a caravan to start looting for food and supplies.

Slaves kept their heads low not to breathe in the fumes, clinging to the walls in fear that they would be struck down by the golems or the bandits attacking them. The walls were to keep in the smoke and the fire of the burning wreckage, and keep the golems from regrouping, always amid the chaos. Jiro weaved through the slaves that clung to the ground with their hands over their heads.
Then the screams stopped. Instead there was a kind of low moaning as the slaves started to get up from the ground and walls. That's when Jiro noticed something subtle about them. They had collars. Their eyes were bloodshot. A larger, silver golem emerged from the smoke with his arms behind its back, then pointed at Jiro. A slave man threw himself at the samurai, his body contorting unnaturally as he charged.
 
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"What!" Jiro was quick to dodge as the slave grabbed at him like an animal. He kicked the slave back with a blow to the chest. His resolve not to kill was being pushed to the limit, though he sheathed his sword and got ready for hand to hand combat. Another slave came at him *WHACK!* Jiro met him with a punch to the gut... though this only stunned the slave momentarily. *CRACK!* He hit him again across the jaw... only to find the same result. Soon there were more coming after him, he only able to through them off. "I will not kill. I will not kill. I will not kill!" he kept repeating over and over in his head, until. *CRACK!* He was hit across the face by one of the slaves, this knocking the reality of it all into him. "These... are no longer people...." he drew his blade, and started to cut down each slave. Each scream rang in his ears as he cut and slashed his way through the crowd. Blood stain his Gi turning it from red to crimson.

The silver golem controlling the slaves couldn't believe what it was seeing, a nobleman cutting down his own people. The golem turned and started to run, but Yori blocked his path. "Where do you think you're going?" the samurai growled. In one swoop he cut the golem in half, and watched it fall to the ground.

Jiro put his sword through the last slave, and pushed him away. "AHHHHHHH!" he tossed his sword hard, it landing at Yori's feet. He was covered in blood head to toe, falling to his knees he dug into the ground with his hands "What makes us better then Gin Yori?" he whispered.
 
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As Jiro fell to his knees, the stone walls cracked. What had once entrapped the supply line crumbled into small stones, Jiro's shoulders slumping, his hands still in front of him now cupping the dirt that he dislodged from the ground with his hands.

"Jiro!" Yori looked frantic as he ran towards him.

Jiro could still hear the ringing in his ears, of Yori's blast crashing into the supply lines, the coughs from the billowing smoke, and the screams. Jiro looked up to see that Yori was now carrying his sword, saw as he reached across for the scabbard and took it from him. He was covered in dirt, sweat and oil. Yori sheathed the sword he had cast away and added it to his belt. Only a bandit would carry two swords like that, as though one was a wakizashi, a short sword. It wasn't a mere tool that Yori had taken from the ground to add to his collection, to cast away once it was beyond repair. It was an extension of Jiro's soul. The sword wasn't meant to be anyone's but his, and his alone, to use, or cast away.

The way the slaves had attacked Jiro replayed in his mind ceaselessly. Every bone broken from his fists, every garbled cry as blood choked the mouths of his victims. He saw beyond Yori, saw the large burlap sac filled and tied up, the spoils. It laid among the slain. Jiro raised his cupped hands and released the dirt from it.

"We have to leave, now!" Yori yelled. "They're coming. Don't you understand?"
Yori's words barely penetrated the ringing in Jiro's mind, and the darkness enclosing him. So what if they came?

"Dammit. We don't have time for this." Yori muttered. He went in to hoist Jiro up, but he was pushed away violently. Jiro's eyes looked at the half-golem in disdain as though he was a stranger again, a bandit like any other. Yori had thought of the raid. They could've died with honor charging the fortress. Now they were here among the ruins of a raided supply line, just for food. Just to send a message.
If Yori couldn't provide an answer to his question, to say how they were different from Gin, they belonged with the slain.
At least dying in their presence would be a sort of redemption.

"Leave me." said Jiro.
"Like hell I will!" growled Yori. Once again Yori approached Jiro, and once again, Jiro outstretched his arms to push Yori away. However, anticipating this, Yori swatted Jiro's arm away and punched him square against the jaw. Jiro descended into unconsciousness.
 
Jiro woke up to the smell of cooked rice and grilled salted fish. "How can you eat after.... after what just happened?" he said trying to focus.

"Shut up and eat." Yori said curtly.

"No." Yori said quietly.

"God damn it Jiro when are you going to wake up! People die in war Jiro and that's what this is!"

"So that gives us the right to take life as we see fit!"

"It gives us the right to protect ourselves as we see fit Jiro, or have you forgotten that there is still a world out there that we are trying to save. Your village, your people, your uncle, all of these people are counting on us. Now eat your damn food, I just spent an hour peeling rice."

Jiro paused for a moment and looked at his food for a few moments before picking it up. "You never answered my question." he started to eat. "And give me my damn sword back."
 
Yori sighed. He knew that he couldn't spare Jiro this moment. After killing his first innocent, he was much the same way, except it had been Ayako to beat some sense into him. She said that he had to do whatever it took to complete the mission for PaxCorp, that civilians were simply obstacles, nothing more. However he wanted to believe it was merely his duty to the corporation, he knew underlying all that was the simple foolish goal to get John Paxton continued favor, to get love from the only father he knew. Now that Jiro had spilt the blood of the innocent, Yori didn't know what to do or say. He wasn't like his sister, at least, anymore.

"Well?" said Jiro impatiently.

Yori ate the last of his rice and fish. It had been okay. The fish was already prepared. He basically just had to burn it a little. The rice took a lot more work, Yoko feeding him what he needed to know as he did it. Otherwise Yoko remained silent. Yori supposed that she was also resentful for putting her brother in that situation.

"We all have to make choices. It's those choices that define who were are." said Yori. "I'm better than Gin because my choices are made in pursuit of justice. Gin only makes choices to enslave and kill people."
"How can you say that? We killed today."
"The golem controlling them gave them a death sentence. They were already dead."
"They were dead when we decided to raid them, and you knew!"
Yori was silent.
"You've done this before. That's why you said those things before the raid. You wanted me to get used to the idea of killing innocents, make it seem like the right thing to do."
Yori scowled. "The right thing to do is fight for survival."
"Is that your vision of justice?"
"Justice is blind." said Yori. "She holds a scale in one hand and a sword in the other. I will see the end of Gin's tyranny. The raid was necessary for that end."

Yori reached down for Jiro's sword and knelt in front of him. He laid it in front of him palms upward in a kind of ceremony before gently resting it on the ground.
"I know you're better than Gin, Jiro, but only you can convince yourself of that."
Jiro didn't respond as Yori left to presumably take stock of what was looted.
 
Jiro sat there for a moment eating, until he could stomach anymore. Deep down he knew Yori was right, but that stop him from feeling awful about the act. Though he knew he needed to stop dwelling on it and just move on... that was easier said then done. For now he put that aside and focused more on the task at hand. "We should cook everything we have, try it up, and continue on towards the strong hold." he said before yawning. "Though I think sleep is required at this point..." he got up to see what they had stolen. "So did we at least get anything good?"

Among the food there was a few sets of clothes, rope, flint and tinder, and some metal parts that Jiro didn't exactly understand, Yori on the other hand would know them as simple replacement parts. They were addressed to a Mr. Himura... Yori looked back at the parts and he knew he had heard this name before.

"What is it? Are they important?" Jiro asked.