A Blade to Protect (Masahiro)

[Morei Haji]

With my journey only just begun, I had no idea where to even start. I had no clear plan, no destination in mind. I was simply a wanderer, and part of me was regretting leaving my home behind. Yet in the span of a single day, I had run into many types of people on the roads. Farmers, merchants, soldiers, families and children. It was my first look at life outside the walls of my clan's abode. I realized that I had much to learn about this world, that thought alone kept me going. There was curiosity to be sated.

Soon, my wandering would bring me to a small village. Desperate for a drink of water, I stumbled in looking for the nearest inn, or perhaps a small monastery. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a lot of the people were crowding in one area, leaving the rest of the streets open. While this left their food stands unoccupied, I didn't grab anything as I didn't want to steal, and instead proceeded towards the crowd to see what all the fuss was about. Shoving my way through the people as I tried to get a better look, I saw a woman in the center, along with a man carrying a sword at his side. He seemed to be harassing the woman.

"I told you to pour me another drink!" He screamed at her, pulling her closer to him. She was struggling to get away, and he seemed to be attempting to pull her clothes off. He was clearly drunk. Without even thinking, I stepped into the arena and grabbed the man by the shoulders, pulling him back and throwing him to the ground.

"Leave her alone!" I said, not realizing that I had just really pissed the guy off. He got up to his feet and pulled his sword out on me, and I took a step back. "You little punk, I'll slice you open!" He charged at me, and I stepped to the side to avoid his strike, bringing my sword's hilt up to strike him in the stomach before punching him in the face, sending him to the ground again. I made sure not to pull my sword from its sheathe, but rather attempt to subdue the guy without drawing any blood. It made my hand sting a little though.

As the man grumbled on the ground, I went to the woman's side, "Are you hurt?" She merely shook her head, a bit shaken up. I sighed in relief, hoping the man would just stay down.

[Yuy Masahiro™]

I was back in this god forsaken land. The Assassin's had given me resources to move through the land, but nothing was infinite. I knew I had to start finding work in this place soon. Instead here I was... staying at this inn... drinking this sake... Heh... it was pathetic... yet I had no drive to do anything. Was my ambition really that weak?

I turned around on my stool to see some man harassing the server. I put my sake down on the counter and stood up, but before I could walk towards the man, some kid decided to play hero. The kid used the hilt of his sword to knock the breath out of the man. Heh... naive... that was only gonna keep the guy down for a few seconds. This inn was under the "protection" of the group that man belonged to. They were nothing but bullies... extorting people for protection money and doing as they pleased.

The rest of these men that had been killing their time feeding off of the hardwork of others stood up. The drunk bastards started to encroach the kid. Now I wasn't up for a bar fight, but I couldn't let this go. I started to walk up to the men from behind. I stopped another server, putting my hand on her shoulder. Picking up the jug on the tray that she carried, I turned my head to her and raised a finger to my lips motioning for her to be silent. I stepped behind one of the men and slammed the jug against the back of his head.

"A little naive, kid. To think that it'd be over after just taking down one guy."

[Morei Haji]

"Huh?"

I heard the sound of something shattering, looking up from the woman in front of me to see a bunch of men inside the building getting up. One of them fell to the ground, where a man who stood out from the rest stood behind him.

Looking around, I should've taken into account that the guy could've had friends lurking around... it was dumb of me to just dive in headstrong like that. If this man was backing me up, I was truly grateful. He seemed awfully aggressive though.

"When someone's in trouble, I don't think twice about helping them." I said in response to the man, maybe it was naive of me, but it was a part of who I was. A samurai should have compassion as well as strength, I believed.

One of the men came charging at me, and I ducked as he attempted to grab me, grabbing him as he came close and throwing him over me. Another one came at me from behind, and I quickly grabbed one of the jugs nearby and threw it at his face to distract him while I kicked him in the stomach to send him backwards. One of them was so drunk he started to go at the woman I saved earlier, sword drawn. I quickly drew my own sword and stabbed above her, stopping the guy's blade as it came down and saving her. I didn't want to draw my blade, but I had little choice in the matter. I drew my other blade swiftly, swinging the blunt of the blade at the guy's side, causing him to reel over in pain as I hit him in the face with my other sword's hilt to knock him out.

Being in an actual fight was exhilarating, if not tiring. There were still a few guys left.

[Yuy Masahiro™]

"Well then don't blame me when you get yourself killed."

Picking up my right foot, I smashed it into another man's chest. My right hand reached down at my hip to grab my sword... but shit... I left it by the counter. One of the men tried slamming a sword down at me. I thrusted my left hand out, extending the hidden blade out, blocking the man's slash. I kicked him in the stomach pushing him back, allowing him to trip over a stool and hitting the ground. I ran up quickly, stabbing the blade into his neck. Killing the man.

Another man rushed me, attempting to stab my chest. I pivoted on my foot going around the man, and slashed the back of his neck, killing him as well. Three men ran at me and the kid now. I couldn't fight them all with the hidden blade. I needed my katana. I grabbed the kid by the back of his shirt and launched him at the three men. Immediately after doing that, I ran for my katana and unsheathed it.

"You holding up okay there kid?"

[Morei Haji]

I blocked another slash coming my way, struggling a bit to hold the guy back. Drunk as they were, they were still mostly bigger than I was. All I had going for me was being coherent with my actions, but in a direct strength battle, I stood no chance as I was. Grunting, I pulled away one of my swords from the deadlock, slightly weakening me, but I used the blunt edge of that to strike at the guy's knee. This caused him to buckle, and I quickly kicked at his face to incapacitate him. My swords definitely weren't as easy to use when I held them reversed, but I didn't want to risk killing anybody.

Next thing I knew, I felt myself being lifted from the ground. The stranger had picked me up and THREW ME at some of the guys. I landed on the ground on top of them in a daze, noticing all but one had been knocked out. He quickly pushed me off of him, throwing me to the ground and advanced upon me with his sword. Slashing down at me, I blocked it with both of my weapons, but in my downed position, there wasn't much I could do but attempt to hold him off.

"Argh... using me as a weapon... pretty low..." I grunted, speaking pretty angrily to the stranger who threw me.

[Yuy Masahiro™]

Throwing the sheathe aside, I ran to the defense of the kid. Lifting myself off the ground I jumped up and planted both feet on the man. Slamming my feet down on his chest as he landed, I shoved the tip of my katana between my feet, stabbing directly into the man's heart. That made three dead bodies. I pulled the blade out of the man's chest and swung my sword up to rest on my shoulder.

"You're alive. Quit complaining. Better than I can say for these sorry excuses."

I kicked the man I had just slain, moving his body out of my way. I walked over to the man that had started all of this. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt I pulled him up close to me. I smirked a little bit and peered into the man's fearful eyes through my bangs.

"I think you and the walking trash you call comrades should leave this inn and not come back. Or else I'll carve you up like the rest of the pathetic excuses of trash that are on the floor."

[Morei Haji]

For the second time in a matter of minutes, the stranger had once again come to my aid. He had kicked the guy off of me, but before I could let out a sigh of relief, something just seemed really off. As the stranger pulled his sword away, I noticed it stained in blood, and soon he kicked a lifeless body over, my eyes just stared in shock as I began to shake.

"Y-you just... you... killed him..."

I had never seen anyone die before, and here I was out on my first day away from home, staring into the lifeless eyes of a man whose face was agape with agony as blood poured from his chest. It was a sight that I'm sure I would never forget for as long as I lived, a sight that I hoped to never cause by my own hands.

I looked up at the stranger as he approached the man who instigated all of this, scrambling to my feet, still in shock but I felt like I had to stop him.

"You... you didn't have to kill them!" I tried my best to sound as brave as possible, but I felt as though my voice was as shaky as I was.

[Yuy Masahiro™]

"What are you a priest?"

The man who had instigated all of this tried to run away but I caught him by the back of his shirt. I threw an icy glare at the other men who were with him that tried to run away. They froze in their tracks. I threw the man on top of one of the dead bodies.

"Take your filth before you leave."

Reaching into one of the pouches on my belt I pulled out a cloth, one could tell it already had blood stains on it. I used the cloth to wipe down the blade of my katana as I walked over to where I threw my sheathe. Picking it up I fixed my sheath onto my belt and launched my hidden dagger, wiping the blood off of it as well.

"I killed them to send a message. Scum like that won't understand unless their lives depend on it."

[Morei Haji]

I was relieved that he spared the man, but the sight of these bodies... it disgusted me. We weren't even on a battlefield, and all these innocent people who had to witness this...

"A sword shouldn't be used as a tool to kill... a sword should fight for justice, a blade to protect those who need it!"

I looked down at my own swords, unstained though they were, I felt like I was just as bad for not being able to stop him. I couldn't control my hands shaking. I wanted to lash out at this guy for this, but it wouldn't make me any better than he was if I cut him down. Anger was the enemy, I had to keep calm.

"Everyone should get a second chance to redeem themselves... but you just took it away without a thought..."

I looked over at the man who was struggling to get the bodies of his friends. The look of despair on his face, and the life that was ruined. Maybe it was his fault for this, but this was going too far.

[Yuy Masahiro™]

"A sword is a weapon. The art of swordsmanship is learning how to kill."

This kid was pissing me off. His condescending attitude to the way I took care of this situation. He obviously had never been in a real fight or seen anyone die. Heh... a kid as naive as him was running around pretending to be a samurai... It pissed me off. I retracted my hidden blade and turned back to the kid glaring at him.

"You're just spouting some idealism only someone who hasn't had to take a life can believe."

I put my sheathed sword on the counter and turned back around to look at the mess. Turning to the people who ran the inn I spoke, "Sorry about this mess." I rolled up my sleeves and picked up the stools that were tossed over. Putting them away I turned back to face the inn workers.

"Do you guys have a broom?"

[Morei Haji]

"Swordsmanship should not only be about one's own strength, but showing compassion as well!"

Compassion towards friend or foe alike, compassion towards your subjects or superiors, compassion towards your sword itself. One could not be a hero to the people without compassion, as ruling through fear made someone a tyrant instead. This man and I were at odds, we'd probably never see eye to eye on anything. Idealism that one who hasn't had to take a life can believe? I hoped I never had to take a life, especially if it made me like him.

Seeing him offer to clean the place up, it made me think he couldn't be all that bad... I sheathed my swords, following his example wordlessly from this point as I picked up tables and jugs that had been scattered all among the floors from the scuffle. I would notice the woman from before huddled in the corner, and I went to her side. There was a cut on her cheek, and quickly I found a rag and dipped it in some water to clean it for her. She winced a bit, but I did not want any illness to befall this woman.

"It'll be okay, you're safe now."

[Yuy Masahiro™]

"Compassion's for the weak and the dead."

I continued to clean. Picking up a broom and a pan, I swept together the broken items that were on the floor. Bringing my right hand up to my forehead, I wiped away the sweat. Cleaning was harder work than fighting. Before I knew it, a short pudgy man came out from the back door. And he didn't look too happy.

"YOU! YOU TWO! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'VE DONE?!"

I sighed and leaned on the broom as I looked over to the man. I guess letting those guys go was a bad idea... They're probably going to regroup and attack this place to get revenge. I started this mess... that meant I had to end it. But this guy was pissing me off...

"Heh... I guess we really screwed you."

"H-HOW CAN YOU TALK SO CASUALLY ABOUT THIS?! THOSE MEN WILL COME BACK WITH TORCHES! YOU IDIOTS SHOULD HAVE LEFT WELL ENOUGH ALONE!"

I glared at the man. Left well enough alone? So the kid should have let that girl be harassed? Where's the honor in that?

"We saved your employees. And we'll stay here to see it through to the end. But if you don't mind your tone, my comrade here and I will walk away without a second that."

[Morei Haji]

I grimaced as the guy spoke. He and I definitely saw things from completely different eyes. I hoped that I didn't meet many people as heartless as this guy. Nevertheless, there were other issues at hand. The woman seemed okay now, so I got up and began to pick up some of the items that had fallen in the scuffle when a man came in shouting.

The stranger was quick to respond, which only seemed to further infuriate the man. However, I couldn't take the angry man's side. There was no way I was willing to let this woman be harassed. Could we have taken things in a different direction? Perhaps. But even if blood had not been spilled, the men's damaged pride would've brought them back just as angrily, if not in bigger numbers...

I walked up to the man, bowing quickly. "I am sorry, sir. But do not worry, no harm shall befall this place. We will make sure of that." The man merely brushed me off and walked away, still shouting profanities, but nonetheless we were now involved in this more than I'm sure either of us would've liked. I looked over to the stranger, amused by what he had said earlier.

"So I'm your comrade, huh?"

[Yuy Masahiro™]

Heh... the kid was over polite. Guess it isn't half bad having someone like that around. An honorable samurai. Don't see that very often now a days. Most of these ronin are in it just for the money. It was pathetic. Didn't they have goals? Ambitions?! I grunted at the kid's comment.

"I said that in the heat of the moment. Don't get cocky."

I continued sweeping all the while thinking of a way to get through this without dying. Didn't seem too likely. Sure we were able to take out about ten men in a bar where the confusion of who was on what side helped us. But out in an open space like in front of the tavern... we'd be waiting like lamb for the slaughter. Oh well. That didn't matter. I'd fight to the death if I had to fix a mess I made. Besides. I couldn't think about dying. Not yet. I still had plans for the future.

"How good are you in a fight?"

[Morei Haji]

"Heh. Alright." I said in response to him, looking away from him now. I looked outside of the building, wondering when the new invaders would arrive, if they even would anyway. I sighed, it meant more conflict was about to happen, and I couldn't say the prospect of more fighting thrilled me. Yeah, I practiced a lot against test dummies, but battle against actual people was still a new thing to me. At the very least, I did decent enough to not get the crap beaten out of me.

"Can't say I'm an expert."

I looked back at him, I was going to leave it at that. If he knew I was a complete novice, he'd probably just tell me to get the hell out of here. Then again, I did hold my own well enough earlier.

"I'm Haji, of the Morei clan." I don't know why I introduced myself. I guess I didn't want to be rude. Maybe I wanted to know his name too, so I didn't just refer to him as 'this guy'.

[Yuy Masahiro™]

If you're not an expert then you're no good. I had little choice but to allow this boy to stand by my side. I knew not of what numbers those fiends would bring and I did not want to risk the chance of being over run. Besides the boy did well enough previously. Morei clan eh? I could not say that I had heard of him. But I'm sure the boy wouldn't have heard of my family either.

"I am Masahiro of the Yuy family. And this..."

I grabbed my saya and drew my katana from it, holding the blade out right properly. The boy had held his swords backwards in the previous fight which meant one of two things. Either he was an idiot and didn't know how to hold a sword, or he was suicidal and was trying not to kill his enemy. Judging from his outbreak earlier it was the latter, but at this point I couldn't rule out the former either.

"Is how you hold a sword properly."

[Morei Haji]

Yuy Masahiro. That was a name I was going to commit to memory. This guy was my first look into the world outside of my home village. Being forced to fight alongside him like this, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Didn't hurt to make friends, even if we saw things differently, right?

"Oh, you misunderstand."

I drew my katana from its sheathe, holding it the same way I had earlier. "I do this on purpose. I'm sure you remember what I was talking to you about earlier, about not killing my enemies..." I sighed and sheathed my blade. "It just so happens these are the only blades I can get ahold of for the time being. I assure you my form will improve once I obtain a sakabato."

[Yuy Masahiro™]

"No... I only wish I misunderstood."

I sighed sheathing my sword and running a hand through my hair. It seemed that victory in this battle just wasn't in the stars for us. I grabbed the boy's wrist before he could completely sheath the sword, forcing him to pull the blade out once more.

"Look at the edge of this blade. It may as well be a sakabato. Your blade has no killing edge anymore. So long as you aim for the body and limbs, the enemy should be... alive. You should be prepared for them to wear armor as well. Do not hold your blades in reverse this time."

[Morei Haji]

"I..."

He had a point, my blades were dull as hell. Being old hand-me-downs, they were doomed from the start. A samurai carrying these things around was pitiful to say the least. I looked away from him and at my blade, pulling it out completely again.

"... Fine, then I'll do it your way." I said, holding my blade properly. It definitely felt better... "This world, it really is kill or be killed, huh?"

[Yuy Masahiro™]

I criticized his blades yet my katana was in no better shape. The hidden blade was a chore enough to bring aboard the ship that brought me here, a katana would have been impossible. So I was stuck with this putrid blade sold to me by a deserter.

"Come with me. We should survey the land for an advantage."

If we were to win this fight, we would have to fight smart, not rely on brute strength. Luckily for us these were just a few rough thugs, not veteran soldiers. I started to walk out of the tavern through the front door, hoping Haji would follow.

[Morei Haji]

An advantage? I liked how he thought, at least. I would merely nod, following him out of the tavern, keeping my guard up just in case we would be assaulted before we thought. Luckily, no such thing happened upon our exit.

Outside, I would take a look around, taking note of the various buildings around us. There wasn't too many, but there were a couple of ones with some height to them, some looked like they had easily scalable rooftops.

"Hmm... should we take to higher ground?"

[Yuy Masahiro™]

"Higher ground? Do you have some sort of ranged weaponry you kept hidden from me? Because if you don't, our only other option would be to jump down to our deaths."

I looked around. This was a small village, with mostly farmers. The only people that came to the tavern were the travelers passing by, most of whom where pilgrims not mercenaries. Even if they had been mercs, we didn't have the money to hire them. I looked around. We would have to lure them into a trap some how... If only we could procure some barrels of oil or sake...

"Actually I take that back maybe you're not too far off base with that plan..."

[Morei Haji]

I frowned. Getting to higher ground to give us a better vantage point seemed like a good idea to me, but Masahiro quickly shot me down. Besides, I was sure a jump like that wouldn't completely kill us...

"Huh? What do you mean? Did you think of something?"

I scratched my head in confusion. One moment, he was chastising me. And the next, my plan was rather sound. I was curious how his mind worked.

[Yuy Masahiro™]

Oh it wasn't the jump that scared me. It was the fact that all they had to do was point their katanas at the sky and we'd be impaled. But if we could shock them...

"We'll need barrels of sake and oil. And anything else flammable that we can. We'll roll the barrels down from the rooftops. We'll rain fire on these men."

I crossed my arms looking rather proud, turning back to Haji seeing his reaction.

[Morei Haji]

"R-rain fire?"

I looked at Masahiro dumbfounded. I thought we were trying to fight these men off, not blow up the entire tavern. Regardless, fighting in the streets like this would probably cause just as much damage with the way he fought. This way was relatively less risk to us, and if we could evacuate the towns folk for the time being...

"Yeah, I think that might work..."

Immediately, I set off back into the tavern, asking for some of their barrels of sake. I would pull out some coins to compensate them for this, and I began to urge the patrons to keep some distance away from this area. Though, with this sake, it probably looked like we were just going to get drunk...