Recent Posts

1. Morei Haji
2. Dragonborn Takehiro
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

The mercenary let out a sigh, picking up the hammer and tossing it to the side. He didn't really like doing what he did, but it paid, and that was what he needed. He would glance to those around him, finding the majority of the men who battled here today were now dead. While this meant he was likely to receive higher pay, because others couldn't claim theirs, it left a sour taste in his mouth.

Takehiro observed what was left of the village. He helped to leave it in the ruined state it was currently in, and he tore countless families apart because of this one battle. Such was the life of the samurai in these times... To make amends with the fallen, he, too, would assist in their burial. The fight was over. There was no longer a side to be chosen.

For being a Fuma-trained ninja, Hideyasu liked to talk a lot, making the whole "element of surprise" thing redundant. Takehiro felt something was up, too, so nothing needed to be said, but he nodded. He gripped his spear tightly in one hand and proceeded toward the door. He assumed his friend would do his whole shadow-melding thing, but Takehiro himself had to rely on using actual caution.

Takehiro wasn't exactly a samurai without honor, no. A place like this was an easy and amusing place to make a bit of quick coin, and that's what he was doing tonight. Every fight so far, he'd bet on the right person, and he'd continually bet his entire wallet on it, so it was growing exponentially. Some people started getting upset with the amount of money they lost on him, but he only found it amusing.

A new kid seemed to be pulled into the ring, now, and Takehiro wasn't entirely sure how much battle he'd even seen, from the look of him. He looked aimless, but there was also something about him that rang out strength. So, once more, the mercenary made a bet, and this bet was on the new kid with the spear. His entire wallet was on the line, but he felt confident in him. Takehiro simply watched from the front row of the ring, intent on observing this kid's fighting abilities.

"You got a lot of money ridin' on you, kid. Kick some ass."

She didn't really seem to be doing a lot of standing out right now, so the mercenary just shrugged. All that stood out was her hair, but other than that, she seemed relatively normal. He wasn't gonna harp on her for that, though. Instead, he just smiled. "If you were born to blend in, that'd be a little sad. There'd be nothin' special about you. And with hair like that, blending in must be tough."

Everyone there seemed to be waiting intently for the show to begin. But, it was taking a long time to start, and there seemed to be a lot of technical difficulties coming along the actors' way, so the show was being postponed for a time.

"Figures something like this would be giving people a tough time... shame."

The mercenary just smirked. The two each had half a village on their side, sure, but if he really wanted, he was sure he could outclass this other guy in a fight like nothing else. His experience with the Hojo led him to more combat experience than most. Though, at the same time, that thought quickly faded.

"Well, I certainly can't deny an offer like that."

Takehiro's spear fell upon his shoulders, and his forearms rested on it. Without much complaint, he would follow after Yukimura.

"I'm not a ninja, Hideyasu."

The mercenary let out a soft chuckle, following behind his old friend. He just shrugged, understanding of the situation, though he was not as involved as Hideyasu was. He shouldn't have cared as much, given an all-out war between Oda and Hojo was something the merc could only benefit from.

"And what do we do if this guy's already made it to Nobunaga?"

"So you're basically going up against a Fuma ninja. How the hell do you plan on taking him down alone?"

So, maybe what the guy knew was insanely valuable. If the Oda gained forces like the Fuma, they'd be virtually unstoppable. The Fuma were the most skilled of all the ninja, and to have a new group to equal them under the ranks of an already powerful army would mean certain failure for the neighboring daimyo. Hideyasu had a very important job, here. Tough, too.

Takehiro would have walked in with the horse, no questions asked. He understood. He used to work with the guy.

"One advantage to being unaligned."

Takehiro would have pushed his way through the crowd, intent on finding his target, even if he had someone disappeared. No one could leave without a trace. So the mercenary would search for one of these traces, spear in hand, ready to strike at a moment's notice. He would have heard the samurai as they gossiped, and he would stop to speak with them before continuing.

"Shimazu, which way was he heading?"

It should have been clear this man was seeking the bounty.

Recently, Takehiro was hired to retrieve an item of importance by a daimyo. This daimyo claimed a necklace, hand-crafted by his daughter, was taken by a bandit in a fight. Apparently, it was a sort of prize, and, given the daimyo's relationship with his daughter, an item of ransom. Whatever the details happened to be, Takehiro seemed to have forgotten them. All the mercenary knew was that he needed to get in, steal the item, which was said to be in this bandit's chambers, and get out, without being detected. While he was confident he could take these guys on, he had no idea how tough any of them were, nor did he know how many they had.

Waiting till nightfall, Takehiro was hidden in the bushes outside the encampment, watching the patrols and their habits. What he'd gathered from his several hours of watching was that patrols alternated every half hour, on the outside. A total of three men were outside the gate at all times, with one watching the entrance and the other two doing rounds around the encampment. Given how few men were doing the patrolling, Takehiro had also gathered that the men's numbers were probably no higher than twenty or thirty.

Night had finally fallen, and the mercenary was ready to strike, just as patrols had changed. One man at the entrance, and the other two had already started circling the camp. Wasting no time, Takehiro took a rock and chucked it as far as he could, and it hit the brush opposite him, on the other side of the camp. The guard at the front looked around before moving to investigate. Takehiro used that chance to hurry to the entrance and slip inside undetected. Once inside, though, he had to play it by ear, seeing as he couldn't scope out the interior from his position.

Almost immediately, Takehiro crouched behind cover in the darkest corner he could find near the entrance. It gave him a decent viewpoint, but not as much as he'd like. There seemed to be a rather active patrol of three men doing rounds in one area of the camp, and another three patrolling a different side. They operated at regular intervals, both passing through the center at opposite times, giving the mercenary just enough time to pass through unseen, if he booked it. So, that's just what he did. As the right patrol passed through, he waited just a second or two before speeding down the hall as quietly as he could. Given the camp's odd layout, this wasn't actually that difficult.

So, now it looked like he'd successfully gotten past, what was it, nine guards, now? And all in about five-or-so minutes... not bad. This meant he had anywhere from ten to twenty more to get past before he got the item, and about twenty-five minutes before patrols switched up. He had to do this quick if he wanted to make it out comfortably.

Takehiro watched the movement at the far end of the next hall and, from what he could gather, the doors at the end led to the chief's quarters. There were two men at the door, and another four patrolling the area around it. Tight freaking security, but he figured he could make it work. He would wait by a stack of barrels, taking a loop of rope he'd brought from his belt. Quickly and quietly, he would tie the rope around the top barrel, and fasten it as tightly as he could. Now, this rope was tight and black, so chances of it being noticed under the cover of darkness were not very friggin' high.

Takehiro waited at the corner opposite the barrels and, when the next patrol came by, he would tug on the rope and the barrel fell right off the stack. The patrol thought they dropped it, and the two guards at the door went to go check it out. Wasting no more time than that, Takehiro made a mad dash for the chief's room and slipped quietly inside.

The room was dark, as he'd expected, and the chief was asleep in his bed. This gave the mercenary all the opportunity he needed to search for the necklace. It took him a few minutes, but he found it sitting next to a chest, and he put it in his pocket. A few steps back toward the door, he watched the chief, but listened outside to make sure the door wasn't secured again. Once he was sure the chief would not have woken, he slipped back out before the guards noticed anything.

Getting out was much tougher, given that the guards were now on alert because of that damn rope, but he would basically have retraced his steps. It all stayed under a half hour, too, so he would have waited by the entrance for patrols to switch before he would have slipped out of the camp. From there, he'd retreat into the woods, and make his way back to the daimyo. Time to get paid.

A close observation of her hair led him to believe it wasn't a wig, so maybe she wasn't lying. Though, were she offended, he would have been indifferent. Her hair was clearly different than everyone else's here, even given there were some people with silver hair. Those people, however, were said to be spiritually in-tune with the gods or something. So... pink was... odd.

"Well it certainly makes you stand out, that's for sure."

The man offered a slight grin, turning back to look at the stage. His spear would now be propped upon his shoulders, and he rested his forearms upon the handle. He didn't know a thing about who the girl was, just that she was small and "cute," so he didn't know how well it fit. If she was an odd soul, or something, then yeah, it was a great match. But he had no way of knowing that unless he knew who the girl happened to be.

"So, you're not one of the actors, then."