Meteor Arts Saga

Chapter 10

The sun was about to rise, and the ninja had already left the Meteor Samurai being on their own once again. They saw the conflagration still up and running in the mountain they left at night. They were glad to have survived and escape trouble, but it would not relieve them. They had been compromised by the Hagetaka. They could sense them now. They heard the loud, thunderous footsteps of the soldiers echoing their ears. They knew they were not so far from their location, and they were searching for them.

The samurai took a discreet route within the grove of Japanese maple trees. They were safe, but so tired. They were covered in dust and ashes and low on health and energy. Even Shintaro could barely walk and soon fell down to the ground, exhausted.

Koki and Naotaka hurried over, shaking their front member awake. "Come on, this is no time to rest, we have to keep going," said Naotaka.

Shintaro was like he was dying. His face looked pale and blue, and his eyes were aimless. "Need. Food... Water..." he said dryly.

"We're very low on food and water, I'm afraid."

Koki thought of something when he noticed Shintaro's bag. Maybe there should still be some water left in there. He reached out his canteen from the bag. A bit of a shake and heard some light splashing. It was good to know. He said to Shintaro to drink up quick, as he drew the bottle neck to his lips.

"There they are!" shouted a man's voice. The Hagetaka caught up and began shooting.

Naotaka quickly used his powers by raising a wall crafted from the earth before they could hit them, but it cause Koki to accidently drop the canteen, emptying the rest of the water. Shintaro was in shock and banged the ground so hard, yelping 'No, no, no!' He could not help but let it out and throw the living hell out of his Fire Arts at the soldiers.

"You bastards!" Shintaro yelled at them. "That was my precious water!" He was ready to confront the soldiers with rage, but instead Koki and Naotaka grabbed both his shoulders and dragged him away for an escape. "Hey, lemme go! I want a piece of them!" he yammered, but no use getting out of it.

They hid somewhere down the valley, where they were hidden from sight. The soldiers that attacked the samurai followed but lost track of them. They were finally gone.

They were hiding inside a small fissure, where the Hagetaka missed them. Koki and Naotaka were relieved, but not Shintaro. His teammates asked if he was all right.

"No, I am not all right!" Shintaro responded sharply. He was upset all that water he was about to drink was wasted at a bad time, now he cried he about to die on the way.

"Don't give up now," said Naotaka. "You just helped us escape back there. We should be close to our destination soon."

Koki just realised he still held Shintaro's canteen. He handed back to him, and Shintaro took it. Just when Shintaro returned his canteen into his backpack, he saw something which clicked him. He pulled it out, and it was a large piece of folded paper. He opened up and it was the map his grandmother gave him right before leaving home. His face was filled with life and spirit more than ever. Then he looked straight with a determined face, knowing what needed to do. "We should try going here," he said, pointing the cross on the map. "Grandma mentioned there's a man who can help us out. Orders, boss?"

Naotaka was smirking. "I see our Senpō's finally got his spirit back. If your grandmother knows something, maybe we'll follow her."

The team agreed to head for the mark on the map. While they were still cautious of the Hagetaka, the team regained a bit of encouragement. Shintaro now had a fixed objective to follow. Koki and Naotaka were motivated than ever. Whenever they saw Shintaro in a good mood, they too felt the same way.