Chapter 1- Information
I’m hiding in the only maple tree in this part of the forest, near Mount Fuji. Don’t tell the Shawansi. they're the ones in blue. They’ll cut it down, and I’ll be tortured until I give the location of my clan, the Kyrodu, in red armor. the colour of blood. My name is AREKKUSU, in English, Alex. I’ve been tracking these men for days, trying to find out how and when they will launch an attack on our base. But the thing is, they seem not to know where our base is. From what I’ve heard, they don’t even know the colour of our armour! They found out someone, namely me, was following them after a careless move of me getting too close too fast in my eagerness to find information. But now, hiding in this tree, the rough bark cutting into my legs, i hear what i've needed to hear since i started.
“Men, we're taking too long; we need to be at around the top of M.t Fuji at 6 O’ clock 3 days from now. And that climb is a hard one. I don’t care who is following us. You know the plan: we will move in a pincer movement with the other squad. Were late!” the leader, Migereto, yelled i had heard of him. he licked training his men to use as much of their surroundings as possible.
“relax, we’re samurai, we’re gonna make it.” said his Assistant. Migreto swore. he thought this man, Halero, should have his throat cut. I pulled away. So this was their plan. I had to report to base. But as I shifted position, the wood that had cut my legs changed position, and I gasped, not expecting the ensuing pain that came. The other samurais stopped still. Then, as one, they drew their blades, and fanned out. I quickly and silently drew my katana(long sword) and wakizashi(short sword.) I knew I couldn’t take them all on, but might be able to stop them long enough to let the lords realize something was wrong. I wished I had something to send a message. And then, as if I had a guardian samurai was watching, a pigeon came and perched next to me. It had a note on it’s neck on a scrap of paper. It also had a quill and ink. It also had fresh parchment. I took the note off and read it.
Arekkusu,
Where are you? Do you know anything about the enemy? Write back. The pigeon will return to the centre of the mountain, where we are staying for a few days, as your father has been injured by a mountain bear.
Lord Hirraku.
Looking up, i watched silently as the Shawansi strained to detect and movement. Finally, after what seemed like an age, they sheathed their swords and started talking, muttering about some squirrel.
Sheathing my swords, I quickly wrote back about everything that I had done and seen and heard. I tied it to the pigeon and sent it on it’s way. and jumped down from the tree. Creeping up behind the lazy man, Halero, I slit his throat with a knife without a moments’ hesitation. I quickly lobbed it at another one, cutting through armour, flesh and bone, hitting him point blank in his heart. The rest of them noticed me now, and started running towards me. I legged it to a cliff face, noting the long fall. I couldn’t even see the bottom. Turning, I saw them circling around me. I grimaced as I saw that there were around 40 of them. Drawing my swords, I charged towards them. The next few minutes were pure heaven. I killed relentlessly, my swords swishing. It is said that when a samurai comes to his near death, he is most powerful. Was I feeling that now? Maybe. I pulled back from the oncoming hoard, my swords red and glistening. I prepared to enter the fray, when a voice next to me said something.
"Always watch your back. never turn away to think. I thought they taught you that in training.” I turned to attack the voice, but was kicked hard in the ribs. Staggering back, I struggled to breath. But I staggered into nothing. I had reached the edge of the cliff. Losing my balance I fell. The last thing I saw was a dark, black armoured figure, and then it was nothing but rushing wind, and a revelation. The cliff did have a bottom. A very hard one. I smacked into it hard, and lost consciousness.
What's a familiar?
