The Vigilant Sword[Open]

[Kadoya Daisuke]

Boxes breaking, people shouting in fear.... Yep, all the signs of crooks using the war to their advantage. Why that day? Why that moment when I hadn't eaten? If I had a full stomach, I could've beaten these guys up without even drawing my sword. But my honor demanded that I protect the weak, and I wasn't going to start ignoring my duty as a swordsman of the Vigilant Sword style. I just really wished I had something to eat beforehand.....

I got a good view of the thugs as they were roughing up one of the shopkeepers. The big one, who seemed to be their leader, said "You've been behind on your payments, old man. What's the matter? Don't think we're good enough to protect your shop?" "Please, Sanosuke-sama, I'll get you your money in a week! Business hasn't been good lately, but I'll pay up! I promise!" "That's the thing, old man, we've given you two weeks already. Now we gotta make an example out of ya!" The big guy, Sanosuke, readied a sword and raised his arm, intending to chop off the shopkeepers head. Before the boss could swing, I ran towards them shouting "Hold it!", stopping when I got between this Sanosuke character and the old man. "Heh. Getting in a yakuza's way is pretty hazardous to your health, pipsqueak." "And trying to hurt an innocent is hazardous to yours." "Innocent? Heh! This old geezers been paying us protection money for months. He started to get brave and stiffed us on a few payments." "And that justifies killing him? You vultures make... Me..." I threw a punch right at Sanosuke before I finished the sentence, afterward shouting "SICK!!" For a big guy, he wasn't very tough. That punch sent him to the far side of the road, but he didn't look very happy when he got up."BOYS....

KILL THIS IDIOT!!!"

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

It was a fine day as Ryunosuke was pulling his cart along the roads of a marketplace in Oshu. It had seemed that he could not purchase the ore he needed in Izumo, and he was pointed to this marketplace where, they say, good ore could be purchased. But he had traversed all around the marketplace and he found no smithy or ore refinery shop here. Ryunosuke scratched his head at the seemingly false information that he had received.

"Now damn it, how will my smithy run without ore?" This thought was running over his head as he dragged his cart along the way. That's when he saw an ore refinery shop around the corner of an intersection of alleys of the marketplace. He smiled, thinking that he would save his smithy, and ran over to that shop when he saw some people surrounding a lone man in the middle of the alley. Their katanas drawn, they seemed about to murder the man they had surrounded. Seeing these kind of things made his stomach churn.

He then ran along the street, still dragging the cart along as it bumped through some the people surrounding the man; some dragged along with the cart, while some stumbled on the ground only for the wheels of the cart to roll on them as the cart passed through. He then skidded to a stop, his straw sandals seeming to burn as he does that, and said, "I'm sorry, sirs, you just have to be in the middle of the road. Could you have some clearance for my cart to pass by this alley?"

[Zhuo Jina]

Jina was happy to be in the Oshu territory, finally a member of one of the factions that had a hand in this war. While the Date themselves weren't actually a fighting party, they would take part in the battles. Jina had some new armor and a fashionable gold and blue crest on her clothing, curtesy of the Date. She was strolling the streets just the day after her recruitment when she happened upon some yelling. 

This seemingly violent interaction between a shopkeeper and some mercenaries was something Jina could understand. The people she had been employed by were never kind, but all too often she had taken to violence to ensure her pay. She looked upon the mercenaries with pity, but it wasn't long before she realized what her new standing meant. Being a Date meant protecting the innocent people of their territory. She was now a woman of honor, and she had to uphold that.

"Excuse me," she began, "please put down your swords and do not proceed with your acts of violence." Jina was feeling some kind of honor building in her chest as she spoke. For whatever reason, this path felt right to her. She wasn't a mercenary, she was a protector.

"And, you should do as I say before you face the punishment from a Date enforcer." It was then that Jina drew her twin hook swords, one embellished with a Light Pendant and one with a Demon Medallion. She hoped that the ever-sharp edges of her swords would intimidate the mercenaries into laying down their arms.

[Kadoya Daisuke]

Daisuke placed his hand on the sheath of his sakabato, his thumb slightly pushing against the blades guard so he could draw quickly and knock out the thugs quickly. "I take it you're not going to back down. Fine then..."

As he was about to draw his sword, the thugs were distracted by a woman who decided to intervene, even going as far as to call herself an enforcer for the Date clan. Sanosuke merely smirked and retorted "You think we give a damn about the Date? You can all burn in hell for all I care. " Sanosuke looked toward two of the thugs surrounding Daisuke and nodded his head in Zhuo Jina's direction, prompting them to change their focus from the ronin to the Date enforcer. While Sanosuke was distracted, a few of the criminals who had surrounded Daisuke were ran over by another bystander who couldn't mind his own business.

"I'm sorry, sirs, you just have to be in the middle of the road. Could you have some clearance for my cart to pass by this alley?"

Sanosuke was seething mad now, to the point where it looked like steam was coming out of his ears. "YOU THINK I'M GONNA LET A BUNCH OF PUNKS PUSH ME AND MY BOYS AROUND!? I'LL SEND YOU ALL TO THE SANZU RIVER!!" Sanosuke then picked his katana off of the ground and charged right at Ryunosuke, but the attack was stopped as Daisuke jumped onto the cart and dropped right between Ryunosuke and the crazed thug, quickly drawing his sword to block the attack. "Hah... Careful. You could've hurt this kid." Sanosuke backed away, looking towards the few members of his gang who were still conscious, and shouted "KILL THEM ALL!!!" The crooks dispersed into 3 groups, each one with the same goal: kill their target. Daisuke's group was easy to take down. All it took was a few dodges and a couple strikes to knock out Sanosuke's thugs, but he became concerned about the others and looked around to see how they were handling the lackeys.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

As Ryunosuke was about to be attacked by the giant, he reached for something in his cart, and he swung it on the katana of the giant, a large object 5 feet long not including its handle, covered in cloth. But as it was too large for his body, he found his swing too slow, and that he would not reach the katana to shield himself from it. Fortunately the person who was surrounded by the thugs a while ago shielded him from the giant by drawing his own katana.

Pondering about the man's words, he said, "Thank you for saving me, sir. But that slash would not hurt me much, let alone hit me!" With those words, he swung the ponderous object towards the katana of the giant, shoving the giant away from him and the man. But because of the katana's edge, the cloth tore apart, revealing what looked like a large straight sword with a thin double-edged blade and a thick spine, engraved with images of demons. The tip of the "sword" was flat, revealing that the spine was hollow, and the cavity was as large as the giant's fist.

"Your dialogue, the typical dialogue of bandits I have faced. But where are they now." Ryunosuke then acknowledged the presence of the Date enforcer woman, before looking again at the giant. "I am not a Date enforcer, and I am on a break, but justice seemed not to be on a break. I am only a visitor here, but I would not tolerate your acts against the people in this land!"

[Zhuo Jina]

Jina's twin blades had been sharpened on each exposed area, meaning that as the thugs attacked her, she promptly cut each of them on the hands, sliding the hooked end against their blades down to the knuckles. The hooked tip locked the blades in her swords steel before she flung them out of reach with a quick flip of the wrist.

Once the thugs were disarmed and bleeding, Jina once again pointed her blades at her enemies. "Leave now and face nothing more than the slit tendons you already have. Stay and force me to remove your organs from the inside of your body" Jina proclaimed. Her confidence was growing with each moment. Not only had the Date training improved her weapon skills, but also her emotional strength as well. Jina wondered if she had really been this strong all along.

[Kadoya Daisuke]

Sanosuke was pushed back by Ryunosuke's weapon, but quickly regained his footing and leapt into the air above them, his katana over his head and ready to strike. Daisuke blocked the attack, however, and pushed Sanosuke again, quickly following with a strike to the neck. Sanosuke fell to the ground, his final words before slipping into unconsciousness being "A.... Sakabato?.... You.... son of a....." As Sanosuke fell, his thugs (thinking that he died) ran away in fear. The shopkeeper Sanosuke was shaking down exited the shop as the criminals ran away, saying "You... Beat him! You actually beat him! Thank you, Samurai-San, and thanks to you two as well! He and his goons have been pushing us around for months, scaring away customers and making us pay their 'protection fees.'" Daisuke sheathed his sword and turned towards the shopkeeper, saying "Don't mention it. I couldn't sit by while those men were harming an innocent."

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke pondered about the fact that these goons are scaring the customers away... and they were asking for "protection" fees in exchange? He then said, "Hmmm... they scare away the customers who should have given you their payment. Might be someone who wanted to get you out of your current place while they occupy it, hm?" He then moved towards the giant, and kicked him on his side to check if he's dead. "And this man over here looks intimidating enough due to his size and tendency to wreak havoc. But he's just a weakling compared with another one I have faced. Shame that he cannot speak, if he was still alive. Maybe there are some landlords who are connected with these thugs, reaching all the way maybe to the daimyo."

He then returned the weapon to the cart he brought with him, and then said, "Maybe if we could get a hold on these thugs, we would see what's going on."

[Zhuo Jina]

[[Ooc: I'm on my phone so I can't change fonts or colors]]

Jina was satisfied when she saw that the thugs had left. She felt vastly more confident and sure that she had sent them on their way.

"Well, I must have totally intimidated them" she said as she sheathed her swords. From there, she peered at those she was standing across from. She wasn't sure who the men were, except that they weren't Date.

They did save this man though, and that give them some credit.

[Kadoya Daisuke]

Daisuke nodded in agreement, saying "Good idea, but it's not going to be easy tracking them down. They likely ran into hiding once they noticed that their boss was out cold, and I don't think they make ropes strong enough to hold a guy as big as him." At that moment, Sanosuke regained consciousness, causing Daisuke to draw his sword as soon as he heard Sanosuke's mumbling. "Wha... What happened?" Sanosuke looked at Daisuke, Ryunosuke, and the shopkeeper, noticing that Daisuke had drawn his katana. "Wait, stay your blade! I'm sorry! I wasn't really going to hurt anyone!" "You had your katana drawn and were about to kill this man." "I was just trying to scare him! If I killed him, my boss would be--" "Your boss?" Sanosuke held his hand over his mouth as a nervous and scared look appeared on his face.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke was surprised that the giant still woke up from that slash, and doubly surprised that he could still speak with that slit on his neck. That giant sure had lots of fat within that neck of his. But since Daisuke had some hold in this situation, Ryunosuke just stayed silent as Daisuke questioned the giant who was struck in fear. But when he heard something about the boss of the giant, he seemed interested. Now it was time to make him spill more information.

He then got the large weapon from his cart, and moved towards the giant, not to threaten him with a slash, but to tell a true story. A story that will be more effective than physical threats.

He then held the ponderous weapon with his right hand, and then said, "Just look at this weapon, and the engravings on it. As you can see, the figures engraved on this sword are images of demons. Once upon a time, there was a demon knight who wielded a weapon like this, and he ferociously struck anything that he could reach. But his rampage ended soon when a blacksmith defeated him by circling around the confused demon, dealing his fatal blows at him that made him be included with the dust of the land. The blacksmith then took the weapon, and crafted from it a larger and more ferocious weapon, that became his friend whenever he serves justice. Surely a man could not withstand the ferocity of this weapon, now that it ended in the hands of a veritable fighter like myself?"

[Zhuo Jina]

Jina was wildly happy about her "success" at scaring away the thugs with her intimidating swords. Yeah. She was sure it was all due to her words.

Anyway, Jina sheathed her swords and then looked up, curious about the men standing across from her. They weren't Date but they did save this shopowners life and for that, they did have some credibility.

"Thank you for your assistance" she bowed. She still hadn't forgotten her childhood and knew that being respectful could get you far.

[Kadoya Daisuke]

Sanosuke panicked and replied "Look, I haven't met him in person, he only gives me my orders through a messenger! Go interrogate him instead of me! I heard he's been staying at the inn on the other side of the city!" "Good. Now leave Oshu and turn away from the life of a criminal." Daisuke sheathed his blade and turned away from Sanosuke, who quickly ran away as soon as he was out of Daisuke's field of view.

As Jina appeared and thanked Daisuke and Ryunosuke, a confused look appeared on Daisuke's face as he replied "Thank me? I was the one who picked that fight. You guys didn't have to step in like that."

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

((We could further this into a quest. Or maybe I would want to make a quest about this one. Would you like to join?))

Ryunosuke thought about the words of the giant. It had seemed that the boss the giant talked about was either a high-ranked criminal in the land, or a very influential person in Oshu. Maybe this was even a retainer of the daimyo Date Masamune, and so had to conceal his identity by placing orders on his men via his messengers. A name would help them search for that man, but the giant fearfully ran away after Daisuke gave his missive. He wanted to extract more information, but due to respect for Daisuke's words, he did not follow the giant.

When the woman Ryunosuke saw from the corner of his eye appeared and thanked them for their assistance, Ryunosuke just scratched the back of his head, and replied, "No need to thank me; I was just passing by only to see a man who needed help, so I just helped due to the force of habit." He then looked at the running giant, and then said, "That boss hiding his identity too much? Seems I would like to pry into that secret."

[Zhuo Jina]

[[Ooc: I'd love to quest it!]]

Jina was happy to see that the violence had settled. She wasn't particularly keen on hurting people, but she supposed it would be necessary in some cases. That's why she had joined the Date. She was tired of killing to support herself.

The Date had welcomed her into their faction for the small price of choosing a side. This seemed reasonable to Jina. The other two men were talking, something about how she wasn't needed. Internally, she grinned. These guys just didn't understand how effective she was back there with just her words. Fear my words, and my blades!

Maybe I should think up a catch phrase....she thought. 

"Is there anything more that you gentlemen need? If not, I will continue my intended mission."

[Kadoya Daisuke]

((Yeah, sure. I've been meaning to do a quest anyway, but whenever I try to set one up, I end up drawing a blank when it comes to the title))

Daisuke turned to Ryunosuke and said "Well, it'll be hard to find this messenger. We don't have a name or anything about him that could help us find him." Daisuke turned to Jina as she asked if there was anything else Daisuke and Ryunosuke need, saying "Well, we might need some help looking for the guy who sent these thugs in the first place. If you want, you can help us administer justice to whoever's behind all this."

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

((All right, if it's ok for you, I'll set up the quest thread.))

Ryunosuke thought about Daisuke's reply. Of course, after the incident that happened, they would settle down for a while before resuming to those acts again. But this must be solved before they spark such outrage again. Ryunosuke was adamant about this matter that he would pursue it to the utmost, though it was not the matter of a head of a local militia far away from this marketplace. All bad acts must not go unpunished.

"I do have a huge amount of time to search for someone who could wreak havoc for years to come, don't worry," he said, smiling. "The most important thing is to catch that boss, for while he is at large more people would continuously suffer from this." He then turned at the woman, and then said, "If you had more matters to settle, you must attend to them quickly, just catch up on us as soon as you finish what you ought to do; your obligation to your daimyo comes first. As if we could track the boss really fast."

[Zhuo Jina]

Jina bowed at the men. "I will meet you on the eastern edge of this town before the sun sets. Justice must come for the people here. These are my people."

She turned away and began to walk, she needed to head back to the camp and report the incident before she could take on this new mission. Plus, she was pretty hungry and wanted to avoid paying for food if possible. Since she had joined the Date, she had found little use for money other than for things to treat herself with.

When the sun had almost reached the horizon, Jina had returned to the town, eager to get started. Her officer listened intently and assigned this to her for the now. It wasn't officially a mission, but protection of these people was necessary and he trusted this to her. She was leaning up against a building in her uniform armor, watching the orange clouds roll by. The sun was cresting over the land. Where are they?

[Kadoya Daisuke]

((Go ahead, man. If I make it, odds are I'll spend hours trying to come up wth a name))

Daisuke turned around and walked off, saying "Yeah, I got something I have to take care of beforehand, anyway."

Daisuke arrived at the east end of town when the sun was beginning to set, noticing Jina leaning against a building. "Good to see you again. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if we were properly introduced earlier. I am Kadoya Daisuke."

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke nodded, saying, "I have to finish my business anyway. Setting a meeting at sunset seems fine to me." As the other two walked away, he went to the ore refinery shop and bought what he really needed in this marketplace: a ton of fine ore for his smithy. He then went into an inn near the shop, rested for a while, and then, donning on his armor and sheathing his weapon on his back, he left the inn, entrusting the care of his belongings to the innkeeper.

At the east end of the town, a boy, with his hair matching the colors of sunset, arrived to meet Jina and Daisuke. His face was half-covered with a sky-blue cloth mask, and his eyes seemed to bear a glint of that color as that color formed a cross on each his irises. His haori, the same in color with the mask but with a white zigzagged trim on its hem and cuffs, fluttered freely in the air along with the cord used to support it, only to have a ponderous weapon sheathed on his back, six feet long and almost brushing the ground, hold it partially in place. That haori, along with the crest that he wore as a necklace over his white kimono, would reveal that he is a member of a group of militia that hailed from Totomi and had fought numerous battles with bandits there alongside them. When the boy saw the two others waiting, he stopped and said, his voice under the mask seeming familiar despite his otherworldly appearance, "Sorry, I think I am late. So, are we ready to go?"

[Zhuo Jina]

Jina turned to Daisuke, "No, I don't believe we introduced ourselves. I'm Zhuo Jina, from across the sea in a country called China. I came here by accident and chose not to leave. Now, I have given myself up as a hand to the Date." She smiled, happy to hear her own words.

Her new armor made her stand out amongst the people in the village, though the armor was familiar to them. All those who live in Oshu know what the Date attire is, and are typically happy to see it.

"I believe we are ready!" She was cheery, happy to be off on an unofficial mission for her new leader. She was determined not to let him, or these other two men down.