บท 1: The End and Beginning
"Keep shooting! Don't let anyone escape!"
"Slaughter them all! Let's end this war! Glory to the Lord!"
"Glory to the Lord!"
"Aargh, damn you, barbarian's dog!"
Shouts and screams echoed in the deep of the forest. The foul stench of blood and gunpowder mixed in the air gave a nauseating feeling. Countless bodies piled on the forest floor where hundreds or more men searched around for any survivor like a hawk locking their prey.
Close to the massacre scene, behind a huge dead tree trunk, a man and a woman hid while slowly catching their breath. The woman, who wore an eerie crimson demon-like mask with two horns protruding from the forehead, kept looking in the direction of the battle and struggled to keep her cool. If the man, who dressed like a common foot soldier, didn't grab the woman's shoulder with every ounce of his remaining strength, the woman would have already charged to the battle disregarding her own life.
"We can still fight! What are we doing hiding here like a turtle?!" The woman shouted with a hoarse voice. Despite what she said, it appears that fatigue and wound from battle have already worn her off.
"You cannot, Lady Ayane. Lord Yoshitsuna still needs you. You need to escape." The man said with a stern voice.
"But!"
"No, but, Lady Ayane. You need to escape quickly! Don't let this old bone sacrifice go to waste!"
No word could emerge from Ayane's throat. Her head kept facing downward, and her hand clench so hard that blood slowly drip from her palm. Old Man Take was one of her first retainers and one of the people who spend with her the longest on the battlefield.
Taking a deep breath, Ayane fixed her gaze to Old Man Take's eyes. There was no fear shown in the man's face—only a resolute and determined gaze. Ayane shuddered a little bit before slowly regains her composure.
"Thank you for your service, Old Man." She said without turned back while running in the direction of the forest outskirt. Nobody can tell what kind of face she made behind her Hanya mask.
'It's a pity that we can't have a last sip of sake together,' thought Old Man Take as he stared at the back of his young general, which slowly fade away. A big grin then plastered on his face while laughing at the direction of the battle.
"Come, you barbarian's dog! Let me show you the spirit of a warrior, haha!"
...
..
.
Running with all she got, Ayane just steps away from escaping the forest. Her vigilance didn't drop, though, as she knew that the most dangerous time was when someone was nearing their goals. Her eyes quickly scanned the surrounding, while her ears didn't let even the tiniest sound escape.
Bang! Bang!
'They are closer than I think!' Ayane got startled by the sound of gunshots.
While looking around to find the source of the sound, Ayane suddenly unsheathed her beloved crimson katana, Onimaru, and swing it sideways to deflect some knives flying at her. Another knives come from above but easily block as she assumed Jodan stance.
"Hehe, as expected from The Demon Maiden. Truly remarkable," creepy laughter heard from Ayane's behind as silhouette of a short man appears from the shadow.
"So, it's Kojiro-dono. It's an honor to make one of the famous shinobi force to show his face to take care of this little one." Ayane calmly replied to the man known as Koga Kojiro, the head of Koga Clan, one of the oldest shinobi clan in the Land of Rising Sun.
"Don't be so humble, Lady Akane. The successor of Houhou Niiten Ichi-Ryu is worth giving this much face," Kojiro said with a mocking tone.
"So the Head of Koga Clan is already submitted to be Western Barbarian's dog? How surprising," Ayane sneered.
"The new era is coming, Lady Ayane. The old ways cannot keep pace with how the world progressed. Katana cannot fight the gun, and horses cannot compete with cars. Shogun has already predicted that intellectual and civil servants are more necessary than samurai in the new era. We merely take a step earlier."
Although Ayane understands the tide of change has already blown, she disagreed that displacing old value with a new one without considering the way of life already persisted for more than 400 years.
For example, the samurai rising from many different schools that strive for the spirit of a warrior and the way of the sword, like her master, Miyamoto Musashi, known as "The man unrivaled under the heaven."
It surely brings chaos and danger to common people. It against the betterment of living, albeit in a short period of time.
'Well, people like me who only know blood and battlefield surely can't fit in easily. It's better for some peoples like Kotone, though.'
Ayane suddenly remembered her taciturn childhood friend, Miyamoto Kotone, who her master adopted.
Although she lacked talent in swordsmanship, she excels in managing the household. From cooking to arrange the school's training schedule, she can do it with relative ease despite her lack of words and expression.
Surprisingly, Kotone is the type of person who can draw people closer to her with little or no effort. Stopping herself from random train of thought, Ayane's gaze once again back to the black-robed old man.
"So, we already dead in your eyes?"
Without waiting for an answer, Ayane then unsheathed her tachi, Kunitsune, from her waist. Holding Onimaru on her right hand and Kunitsune on her left hand, Ayane quickly readying herself with both sword face sideways. Her sharp perception has already detected several men rushing toward her position.
"Young'un always eager to fight. It's not that...!!"
Before Kojiro can finish his words, Ayane has already blitzing toward his body, ready to strike with her katana to gain an opportunity to cut his head with a downward slash. Kojiro readily reacts with a back step to retreat gain fair distance from Ayane.
Slowly relaxed, Kojiro startled by Ayane's sudden acceleration into his side. Kojiro swings his blade to parry upcoming strike, but to his surprise, Ayane feinted the strike and then swung her tachi into a diagonal slash.
Already caught in the feint, Kojiro cannot keep up with sudden slash and got his body cut. A wound appeared on his leg straight upward to his chest. The old shinobi's breath grew heavier. His leg lost its strength, cannot keep supporting his body anymore. Ayane didn't relax and moved closer to Kojiro to deliver the final blow.
However, before she could swing her katana, a gun pellet came into her way.
Forcing her body backward, Ayane barely dodged the bullet. She was then turned in the opposite direction of attack back into the deeper section of the forest. She recognized that her enemies had besieged forest outskirts.
Desperately ran away from the upcoming pursuer, Ayane suddenly felt a little dizzy, and her leg lost its strength. Confused by her weakened condition, Ayane checked her leg and found that a single knife had already dig into her flesh.
Kojiro stealthily threw the knife when Ayane focused on dodging the bullet so that Ayane has no way of knowing before its too late. The poison-laced on the blade surface has slowly taken a toll on her body. Ayane's body slowly became more sluggish as she found a cave in the depth of the forest.
'Aah, so this is the end,' Ayane's eyelid became heavier as time flew.
Before she cannot muster any more strength to keep her eyes open, an image of a warm smile that rarely appears on her childhood friend's expressionless face flashed into her mind. The only regret she has before her final second came because she hasn't had a chance to convey her feeling to Kotone due to her stubbornness.
She had vowed that before she challenges and wins against her own master cum soon-to-be father-in-law, she would keep fighting and pursuing the way of the swords.
Now, she already an inch away from facing her own demise; she lost her chance forever.
'If there is next lifetime, I will make you the happiest girl, Kotone. I'm sorry.'
Tears slowly form on her eyes and make their way down on the surface of her crimson mask. Time began to flow from second to minutes and from minutes to an hour. Ayane's eyes have already closed, and the last tear dried away. There is no sign of life left in the tattered maiden body.
However, without anyone knowing, Ayane's beloved Onimaru and Kitsune bursted into moths of lights and enter her body when Ayane's heart beating for the last time.
...
..
.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
Water droplets dropped one by one on the little girl's forehead. Felt cold sensation on her eyelid, the girl slowly opened her lifeless eyes.
"Where am I? Is this hell?" murmured the little girl who had her hand and feet chained to the wall.
Inspecting the room she locked in, the little girl's eyes stuck at the woman figure with platinum hair and red pupil in front of her.
Then, a cold yet gentle voice snapped her out of dazed.
"Little girl, do you want to live?"
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