Feudal Honor by Chibi Washuu Chapter 6 ______________________________________________________________________________ A Ronin Warriors/Yoroiden Samurai Troopers Story At long last, it's Chapter 6! Sorry for the delay, things have been hectic concerning school. But in any case: HERE IT IS! Hope you enjoy! A Small Glossary: A Little Reminder: *** Touma kneeled beside Ryo, bandaging his abdomen in the last rays of twilight while Seiji leaned against a nearby tree trunk, watching. They had not built a fire for fear of being found by the ninja clan. "Why do you bother?" he asked after a while. "He's an assassin. A cold-hearted killer." "That may be true," Touma said. "But all I know is that he was kind enough to offer a wandering ronin the security of a large group." Seiji said nothing, but watched the ninja toss and turn in his sleep. "I find that hard to believe." "Don't. It's the truth." Midnight blue eyes met gray. "I'm Hashiba Touma, by the way." "Date Seiji." He looked at the raven-haired youth. "Dare I ask his name?" Touma smiled a little. "I don't think I'm at liberty to say. Ninja society is secret. We'll wait and see if he tells you." Seiji sneered and rolled his eyes. "Figures." He sighed. "Why am I even here? I could go back to Sendai." "Don't be stupid." Seiji whirled around. "What..." "Look, the ninja clan is expecting you to go back to Sendai. They want you to do it. That way they know precisely where you are. Then they could murder you just for disgracing R-their leader like that." Touma looked over Ryo's wound again. "I don't think you're a fool, Seiji-sama, so I don't think you'll make a stupid decision like that." Seiji watched Touma, stunned at how bold he was being. But he was right, that was probably what the ninja were expecting. With a dejected sigh, he settled on the ground. Ryo opened his eyes slowly to see someone leaning over him. "Oto-chan?" he questioned hoarsely. Touma grinned. "No such luck, yujin." "Touma. How-how am I..." Touma shook his head and put some water to the young ninja's lips. "Don't try to talk. You need to rest." Ryo drank deeply and instantly went back to sleep. Satisfied that Ryo would live, Touma looked at Seiji. "How are your wounds? I'm not much of a healer, but I'll look at them if you want." Seiji looked at his hand. "It's not serious," he replied. "Thank you." Touma shrugged. "I figure I might as well make as many friends as I possibly can. All kami know that I don't need anymore enemies." "You said you were a ronin? What happened, if you don't mind my asking, of course?" "My clan is being obliterated. Wiped out completely." Touma began tracing odd patterns in the dirt as he spoke. "I'm not even sure why. Maybe Naotoki-sama was beginning to grow uneasy by our presence. Maybe he was afraid that the Shogun would give my father part of his fief. But whatever the reason, he ordered our demise." "Naotoki? Naotoki Yamanouchi?" Touma nodded once. "The same." "Why would he do that?" Seiji said, more to himself than to Touma. "I wish I knew." The blue-haired archer sighed. "That was two years ago that he ordered that, though. I'm sure he believed that a 15-year-old boy would never make it in the wilderness alone, but I don't know if he truly believes that I'm dead." He looked up toward the heavens, gazing at the first stars of the night. "All I know is that I don't keep moving I'm bound to be located and killed. The problem is, I don't know where to head now." The two sat in silence for a while. Finally, Touma spoke again. "Get some rest, Seiji-sama. I'll take the watch for tonight." "Arigato," Seiji replied. Touma nodded an acknowledgement, and Seiji settled into a light slumber. * * * Ryo awoke suddenly the next morning. He remembered the battle, but not much after that. Sitting up proved to be a bad idea by the way his head swam. Groaning, he closed his eyes and shook his head a little. "Feeling a little dizzy, are we?" That voice. Ryo looked up at the blonde samurai. "Shut up, hiretsukan," he snapped "Temper, temper. Don't forget," Seiji walked over and poked him in the stomach, "you're injured." Ryo sneered to hide the wince of pain. "Dokka ike." "I'd like to, but I can't. I have a few problems I have to take care of no thanks to you. Believe me, this is far from over." "Oh really? Won't that be a great accomplishment for you: killing an injured opponent hardly fit to fight back!" Seiji's smile quickly faded and he sneered, not noticing the dagger the other was pulling from a pocket. "Brave words from a nameless ninja." Ryo stood and faced the blond samurai lord, keeping the dagger hidden for now. "I am Sanada Ryo, leader former leader now, no thanks to you of the Sanada ninja clan. Nameless? Hardly." Seiji was shocked, but he dared not let it show. The Sanada ninjas were known as the most fierce of all the clans in Japan. "Too bad. I aimed too low. Killing the leader of the Sanada certainly would have been a great feat." Ryo stepped forward so he was right in front of the slightly taller blonde. He readied his dagger and prepared to slice Seiji's stomach in half. An arrow whistled between their two bodies, burying itself in a tree a few feet away. "That's enough," Touma said, slinging his bow back over his shoulder. "Don't make me hurt one of you." The two sneered at each other, but said nothing else. Ryo took a few steps away before turning with a yell of rage and throwing the dagger to the ground at Seiji's feet. It barely missed the samurai's right foot. "A warning," Ryo said, holding up one finger. With that, he jumped into the trees and vanished from sight. Touma sighed. Those two were going to kill each other before long. Standing, he retrieved his arrow and placed it back into his quiver. The shot had been a dangerous one: any miscalculation in aim would have meant impaling one or the other of them. Seiji knelt and pulled the dagger from the earth, his hand shaking. He would have to be careful. Ryo was deadly serious; he would not hesitate to kill him if royally pissed off. ‘You baka,’ he thought to himself. ‘You’re putting your whole clan in danger by endangering yourself.’ He sighed and looked at the knife in his hand. Extremely sharp, the blade glittered in his hand. The handle was elegant in its own right, with the characters for Sanada inlayed in gold. Touma looked over. Seiji looked pretty shaken by the whole experience. It was probably best that he didn’t mention that was one of the blades Ryo kept poisoned. Better not frighten the lord too much in one morning. Ryo sat at the top of a tall tree, thinking. Actually, he was fuming. How dare that so-called lord insult him like that? He winced and put a hand to his bandaged middle. It was bleeding again, and the salve was like salt in the wound. A soft breeze began to blow, ruffling his dark hair as he took a breath to calm himself. He needed to... Wait. What was that? He took another breath, tasting the air. Smoke. Looking through the branches, he saw the fires of the Sanada ninja camp. Too close. They would start to move soon and it wouldn’t be long before Touma and Seiji were found. ‘Kuso!’ he swore. He would have to save the bastard’s life. Resigned to his fate, he moved silently back to where the three had camped. Seiji looked up from the dagger as Ryo hopped to the ground. The ninja looked at him briefly then turned away. "They’re close. Too close. They’ll start moving again soon to look for us and if we don’t get out of here they’ll find us." "So where do we go from here?" Touma asked. "South," Seiji said. "To Hagi. We’ll be safe there, I believe." "You believe? You mean you’re not sure." Ryo’s eyes narrowed critically. "Well, if you want to stay in the north and be captured..." "This is no time to argue!" Touma said. "Unless you," he looked at Ryo, "have any better ideas, I say we head south." Ryo sneered. "Fine. We go south. But," he turned and climbed back into the tree. "I’ll stay a little behind and watch the clan." Touma was about to protest when he stopped. Ryo was a lot like his father, stubborn as anything and when his mind was made up there was no talking him out of it. "Fine. Let’s go then." That's all for now. Chapter 7 coming soon, I promise! ^_^;;
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