FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The weakest link will always break...

Rain came with the dawn, coating the smoldering remains of Eizu in a gray ashen

sludge. Nezujin Samurai in the black armor of Gasara skulked through the once-streets of

the city's remains, shepherding muddy and injured women of young and middle-ages back

through the remains of the gate the Gasaran Army had stormed through.

The head of Yuiji Sokanomi glared in enraged shock at the scene, the samurai's body a

good twelve feet away from the head. A black sandaled foot rolled the head back ad red

eyes stared at the expression with a slight glimmer of mirth, wrapped in annoyance. "Did

you find them?" He snarled, kicking the head away into a mud puddle.

"No sir. They... They escaped."

"Escaped? How?"

The Samurai bowed and knelt in the mire of the city's ruined street, "we think it was

some sort of explosive sir. They blew out the East Gate and trampled the small guard we

had stationed there."

"I have a report that Kajikuro was wounded," the Lead Samurai growled hoarsely, "he

will slow them down; Send out a pursuit group at once."

The ash-mud on the street squelched as a leather boot stopped next to the Lead

Samurai's sandal, "Lord Gonji, may I suggest you let me handle them?"

"And what do you think you could do better than we, Gul'brekh?" The samurai snarled,

hating the foreigner.

"My Ahikis can track them down faster and muck more effectively than chasing them on

foot or mount," the nobleman chortled.

"You and your beasts... Do as you will then... I shall inform Lord Gasara that you are

assuming responsibilities for them."

Gul'brekh was a tall foreign man, Feline in features, with tan fur and a firm build. He

turned and barked orders at the nezujin underlings behind him, and they scrambled back to

a trio of large cages that contained a large snarling mass of fur and leathered hide.

Cautiously they opened the locks and scrambled away as two of the beasts leapt from the

cages and ran out the East Gate before anyone could get a really good look at them. The

third paused a moment after leaving the cage to lash out with a massive maw of dagger-like

teeth, biting one of the nezujin handlers in half at the waist and then swallowing the

thrashing upper torso whole.

Gul'brekh grinned and snarled something incoherent at the thing, and it dashed off after

its companions, chasing the refugees down.

"How is he?" One of the maids asked, looking over the unconscious Aritseru.

Shuji sighed, "He's in trouble. It's not surprising, but the blade he was cut with was

poisoned. Honestly, I'm impressed he's survived this long. Usually Gasaran poisons are

particularly lethal. He's got a great willpower to stay alive."

Usuyami mumbled tersely, "He is simply too stubborn to die."

Aritseru coughed, "Hardly, Shidomori-san..." He smirked weakly, breath rasping, "I

cannot die until I have fulfilled my goal."

Aoi looked over, "His goal?"

Usuyami hissed and walked off to patrol the path they had traveled.

Summer looked over to Aritseru and blinked, "What goal?"

Aritseru smiled more, hacking a little and grimacing at the pain in his side, "I will see

her with my child... before I die..." He gave a startled grunt as Aoi jumped up, 'accidentally'

kicking the Lord of Eizu in the head.

"Oops... I didn't mean to do that." She said apologetically, seeming completely sincere.

Shuji laughed a little, "Jealous, Yanagi-dono?"

Aoi bit her lip and looked away.

Summer looked confused and then heard a groan from Magura's cart.

Her Foreign companion sat up wincing, and muttering weakly in English. Summer was

on her feet, and in motion, as was Shuji and the others. Summer looked at him, conversing

in English with him for a moment, though only Magura was able to catch some of the

conversation.

James, the Foreign Kyujin, stared at the samurai surrounding him and reached at where he

had kept his pistol, "Christ! Summer, get behind me!"

"You git! Calm down! They saved our lives," She glared angrily at him.

"But that one attacked us! They're savages!"

She hissed, "You're being an ass and making us look bad, now calm down before I have

them knock you out again!"

James took that moment to notice summer's clothing, "Wh-what are you wearing?!"

She smiled and nodded, "When they took us in, The Lord Shuji bought me these so I

would not stand out as much.

"Good god, put some real clothes on! It's indecent! I'll not have you-" James was cut off

as a glimmering katana came to rest on his shoulder near his neck and a soft voice hissed in

Ipponese in his ear...

"Tell him if he does not silence himself, I will do it for him," Usuyami sneered at the

rather loud Kyujin man, "We're being followed, and he's attracting too much attention with all

that shouting."

Summer bowed and spoke softly to James, the tone of warning in her voice obvious.

The Fox nodded weakly, cowed by the proximity of steel on his neck.

"Better, and if you can spare some time to teach him how to say some basics, that

would serve him well," Usuyami looked at the prone Lord of Eizu. "What happened to him?"

"Yanagi-dono took offense to a comment of his and dealt with it accordingly," Shuji

smirked.

Usuyami looked to her friend, "You kicked him in the head?"

Aoi nodded shyly.

Usuyami laughed, but kept herself quieted, "I wonder how long you've been dreaming

of that moment."

Shuji joined the laughing for a moment and then nodded to Summer, "Ask your friend if

he thinks he can walk, and we'll get Kajikuro-san on the cart so we can make good time."

Usuyami nodded, "The Shijito border is just over the next ridge, maybe half a day."

Shuji raised an eyebrow, "You're not leading us to Tetsumo?"

She shook her head, "We are hunted... if I return to Tetsumo, they will lay siege to it.

And while I do not doubt my city's ability to hold them back, I would rather not risk my

people at the moment."

"That is wise," Magura Kibotani smiled, "you would make an excellent merchant,

Shidomori-sama."

Usuyami smirked, "Part of being the lord of a smithing town is being a merchant,

Kibotani-san. If I do not turn a profit from my steel, my people will go hungry."

Shuji nodded, one of the maids whispering to him, "Kajikuro's on the cart... we should

leave."

Summer had been trying to translate to James, and he gawked at her, "Wait... we're

being chased, and they're planning on traveling at night? Are they insane? We'll be

ambushed."

Summer glared at him, "Will you stop? You've never been in a real fight in your entire

life..."

"I won that fight with that Panther that time," James puffed out his sore chest.

Summer hissed, "You punched him in the back of the neck when he wasn't looking, and

then ran away when he got back up."

Shuji stepped over and smiled, "Natsumi-chan, Ikimasho..."

Summer smiled back and bowed, "Hai." She turned to James who was glaring at

Shuji, "Come on, we're leaving."

"I don't like how he smiles at you," James said.

Summer sighed, "Well tough, he smiles because he's polite."

"It's not right," James said, following with a cloud over him. "It's not right for you to let

him smile like that. You're my Wife..."

Summer rolled her eyes and continued walking, her mind going back to the morning

after that night with Shuji.

"I don't understand what you mean," Shuji blinked.

Summer looked down, "James..." she pointed to the room where James was still

unconscious, "together, me."

All of a sudden Shuji's expression shifted to one of understanding, "Oh... understand..."

He looked to be in serious thought.

Summer shook her head and put her hand on Shuji's, looking at his eyes, "No love..."

she nodded and pointed to where her husband was again, "coward, fool... No love..."

Shuji blinked, his confusion even greater now. Had she been forced to marry him? If he

was a coward and a fool, then how could he have gained enough standing to have an

arranged marriage? The Rokkotsu Lord's head swam, trying to work out the situation on his

own, and only adding to his confusion.

Summer saw him thinking and put her soft fingers on his cheeks, smiling, "Shuji-sama...

Love." She looked down a little, blushing.

Shuji blinked, astounded. This woman was married to another, and she had feelings for

him? Such things ended badly... and he knew that from experience... "Understand..." he

smiled softly, putting his thoughts aside and running his fingers over her hair and ears,

admiring the beauty in her uniqueness. No one in Ippon was like her, and as such, she was

strangely beautiful to him.

"What think?" she asked, leaning in and resting against his chest.

Shuji smiled, forgetting her lack of words and spoke softly, "I'm thinking that you are

the most beautiful creature I have had the honor to lay eyes on..."

Summer looked up and nuzzled him, "Not understand."

"Someday you will..." he smiled and met her nuzzle, giving her a soft kiss...

"Across this chasm is Shijito, and then about a Ri beyond is Hagoni," Usuyami

nodded, "If we can get across the bridge and then drop it, we'll be safe."

"You propose to destroy the bridge?" Shuji blinked, "We used all the explosives in the

escape."

Usuyami nodded, "Aoi can handle leveling the bridge."

Everyone looked to Aoi, who blushed and nodded, "I'll have Dozou ready..."

Shuji nodded, remembering the Earth Fan, and smiled, "All right then, let's cross the

Bridge."

No sooner had he said this, than Usuyami whipped up her bow and shot an arrow right

past James' head, the bladed tip of the arrow nipping off a lock of his hair. He screamed and

fell over, but the arrow lodged in the black mass of hair that had been towering behind him.

He rolled and crawled away, and the small band scrambled into motion as Usuyami sank two

more arrows into the thing.

"What is that?!" Magura wailed, taking off after his group.

Shuji swung his spear to the ready and snarled, "I don't know, but it's not getting past

me! Shidomori! Lead them on!"

Usuyami did not argue, she knew better. She let three more arrows fly in rapid

succession at the massive thing, shouting at her people and the others to get them in

motion. Each arrow sank in all the way to the fletching, and that worried her, but she kept

the group moving.

Shuji stared at the mass, and bristled, his scales clattering softly against themselves as

he sized it up. "And now the slowest dance begins..." He mumbled to himself and the

creature, not caring if it understood him or not.

As if on cue, the thing lurched forward, arrows jutting out of it as the black mass of hair

opened into a massive maw of uncountable teeth and the reek of a thousand rotting corpses.

Shuji felt his stomach turn, but he used it to plant his feet and Lash out and upward with his

spear, stabbing through the upper portion of the mouth as it threatened to close around him.

The creature slowed to a snarling halt, as the weight of it leaned on Shuji. He paused, the

battle-haze clearing and making him blink. He was stuck. If he pulled the spear out, he

would be crushed and minced under the weight of the thing, held captive in its dead maw.

But He did not want to lose his spear. The spear had been a gift from his master, and it was

the last Spear the great weaponsmith Yusuke Shajitaki had crafted.

"Yarimoto-sama!" Aoi yelled from the far side of the bridge, "Please hurry!"

Shuji hissed and pushed with all his might, heaving the creature up for a moment as he

let the spear go and leapt aside, the beast crashing onto the bridge and snapping his spear

under the weight. He shed a mental tear for the loss, and got to his feet, dashing for the far

side of the bridge as Aoi pulled the yellow fan from her sleeve. Shuji leapt and landed behind

her as she closed her eyes and gave the fan a slow, dance-like wave. Shuji felt the ground

shiver, and for a moment the native terror of earthquakes rose in him.

Aoi pushed her own fear down as she carefully controlled the fan, the chasm slowly

widening as the bridge's supports lost their grip on the opening ravine, the whole bridge

tipping and falling down into the mists of the bottom of the ravine, the crash at the chasm

floor taking a full twenty seconds to be heard.

"We made it," Shuji sighed.

Aoi nodded and smiled in relief as the tremors stopped once her fan was tucked

away, "But, you lost your spear."

Shuji shook his head, "Spears and bridges can be replaced. Lives cannot."

Aoi nodded at the truth of that and sighed, "We should hurry and catch up."

"Indeed..."

Gul'brekh clenched his fist and snarled at the small shambling mass of hair before him.

"So... They escaped your creatures?" Gonji Rakamura smirked, reading the foreigner's

expression.

"It seems they have some formidable prowess to their group," Gul'brekh sighed. But

inwardly, he smiled at the message the Watcher Ahiki had brought. There were two

Europans with the group, a woman and a man, and the man was not happy traveling there.

"The Lord will not be pleased when he hears of your failure," Gonji crooned.

Gul'brekh smiled and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I have not failed yet, Samurai.

They are headed for the farming village of Hagoni."

"How do you know this?" Gonji stared, stunned.

"I told you... my Ahikis are effective... even at gathering information," the feline smiled

venomously, "I will retrieve them, do not worry... and even if not, I will have something of

value to them... so they will come to us."

Shuji lay on the futon, sighing. His spear was lost, and the woman he had feelings for

could not stay with him while they stayed at Hagoni. She was down the hall of the inn in the

room with her husband. In the back of his mind, he wondered what kind of conversation they

were having...

"You WHAT?!" James stared, shocked.

Summer looked away, "I'm not going back to Europa."

James blinked, "What craziness are you talking about, you can't stay here! You saw

what's going on."

She huffed, "I don't care. I like it here."

James was stunned, "You LIKE having your life threatened?"

"It's better than having to be around your arrogant arse!" she snarled.

James backed up, shocked, "What the hell does that mean?"

Summer took a breath and stared him down, "It means I can't remember why I

married you in the first place. It means I don't love you at all anymore, and it means that

I'm disappointed that that Rat-samurai didn't manage to cut you in half!" she stood and

stormed out of the room.

James got to his feet and broke the sliding door off its rail, causing several inn-workers

to scramble over and yell at him for breaking it, "Summer! Come back here!"

Shuji lifted his head at the commotion and saw someone stalk past his room and

outside. He stood slowly and adjusted his yukata, stepping out into the garden and seeing

Summer standing near the fountain, crying. He hurried over and stopped a few feet away,

leaning forward to look at her and raising an eyeridge, "Natsumi-chan?"

Summer perked up and looked over with sad eyes, blinking, "Sh-shuji-sama?"

He nodded and smiled, walking closer, "a fight?"

She nodded and sniffled, "I want stay..."

He smiled and nodded, "Understand... always welcome to stay."

She smiled a little and leaned against him.

James' voice snapped the two of them to attention as the fox-foreigner stood at the

garden, glaring at Shuji.

"James, don't," Summer said pleadingly.

"Be silent, woman!" James snarled, his pistol held tightly in his hand.

Shuji eyed the thing and knew it was a weapon, like the 'cannon' he had read about on

foreign ships, but made to be used by a man. He nodded and stared back at James,

speaking softly to Summer, "Ask him if he knows what he does..."

Summer inhaled sharply, seeing the stares and biting her lip, "James... he wants me to

ask if you know what you're doing..."

James glared more, "Of course I know! He's stained my honor and you've thrown yours

away! I'm going to kill him!"

Summer gasped and looked to Shuji, "He... he say kill you..."

Shuji smirked and held his arms out, in a gesture to show he was weaponless. Summer

saw it and looked to James, "You'd shoot an unarmed man?"

James bristled and spat, "Fine. Let him arm himself." He stepped aside form the door

and looked away impatiently.

Shuji smiled more and walked into his room calmly, picking up his Katana and stepping

back toward the garden. Usuyami and Aoi had heard the ruckus and came to see as well.

"Yarimoto-sama, what is he doing?" Usuyami blinked at the foreign fox.

Shuji sighed, "He is Natsumi's husband, it seems, and his honor has been insulted

because she does not love him... But she cares for me."

Usuyami blinked, stunned, "Oh dear..."

Shuji nodded and bowed to James, "Whenever you are ready..." He turned a bit and

spread his feet, tail adjusting for balance as he held the scabbard for his blade in one hand,

and the grip in the other, ready to draw the blade.

Aoi blinked, whispering to Usuyami, "Did you know he practiced Iaido?"

Usuyami shook her head and watched the duel... it would be over in an instant.

James stared and raised the pistol, taking careful aim. Summer wrung her hands and

watched, fear in her eyes.

Shuji kept his eyes glued on his opponent, and his smirk never left his face. James saw

the smirk and growled, his anger getting the better of him as he fired. With an ear-splitting

crack that made Aoi and Summer duck, the gun went off, but Shuji was already in motion,

having closed half the distance between them with the bullet skipping off a shoulder scale

almost harmlessly. James backed up a step and fired again, the gun holding six rounds. The

second shot was barely evaded again, Shuji's cheek getting grazed as he was still closing,

moving with unmatched reptilian speed. James fired again, this time landing a hit as the

bullet tore through Shuji's upper left arm, but it was too late for a fourth shot.

Shuji grunted as he struck out, not even noticing he'd been hit as he pushed the arm

holding the gun away, his sword coming out of the scabbard silently as he knocked James off

balance and brought the sword down, stopping just before the edge made contact with

James' right eye and cheek. Shuji stared and breathed heavily, barely restraining himself.

Summer looked up and blinked.

"Natsumi," Shuji spoke shortly and stiffly, "Tell him I stopped because you would be

upset by his death."

Summer took a moment to find the words and looked at James, "He stopped because

he thinks that you dying would make me sad."

Shuji heard the English and did not wait for a response, "Tell him that if he attacks me

once more, I will end his life."

Summer blinked and translated as fast as she could, "And if you want to die, you can

attack him again."

James held as still as he could, knowing that if he moved, the blade would split his

cheek. Shuji nodded and pulled the katana back, slipping it back into the scabbard slowly

and turning away.

James took his first breath in almost a minute and shook his head, snarling and raising

the pistol again, "ARGH! DIE!" He pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't go off.

Shuji sheathed the sword again and stared over his shoulder, "You were warned..." He

grimaced as his left shoulder ached.

James felt the gun slip from his grip as his fingers fell off, cut cleanly on the first

knuckle, leaving him with four bleeding stumps. He yelped in pain and dropped to his knees

as Shuji turned and assumed his ready stance again, eyes locked on James' neck as he took

aim.

Summer stared, shocked by the ferocity of Shuji's action. James looked up, terror in his

eyes as the sword came out. But the stroke never landed on his neck, as four pairs of

taloned hands, gripped the prostrate fox, and lifted him into the sky.

"What in?!" Usuyami hissed as the giant black creature spread its bat-like wings and few

off, carrying the fox into the night.

Shuji blinked and sheathed his blade, "I've never seen anything like that..." He shook

his head and wavered, the pain in his shoulder starting to affect him.

"Shuji-sama!" Summer darted over and hugged him, almost knocking the light-headed

samurai on his rear.

"Whoa... Calm down... I'm not dead..." He winced at his shoulder and blinked, "I just

need to sit down..."

Usuyami nodded, "Aoi, get Yuri... have her bring her kit."

"Yes." Aoi hurried off.

Shuji sighed, holding summer softly with his right arm, "I think things are getting

worse..."