A small girl sighed as she walked down the road, looking at the few coins in one hand. "All that cleaning and gathering and I didn't get much for it" she grumbled and then let out a breath, "well at least I managed to get some food for me and Dororo" she sighed as she looked at the two dango sticks she bought. Her smiled then saddened. "These people really are stingy"
(Name) was a 16 year old girl who worked odd jobs in almost any place in the small village she and her little brother stayed at. They lost their parents at a young age and (name) being the oldest took it upon herself to take care of her little sibling.
This day, she managed to get a family to pay her upfront to clean their little home and gather some herbs from the shrubs across the river. She had just finished cleaning and gathering the herbs when she decided to get some dango for her and her little brother, before going to drop off the plants. Unfortunately, she could only buy two with the little money they gave her.
Her bare feet walked over to where she knew her little sibling was. Dororo had ran by and told her about what he was up to. Of course she didn't approve, but he was gonna do it anyway and she was busy at the time. From across the river she could see her little brother sitting on a tattered mat with some stuff he stole, trying to get people to buy them.
"Come, take a look at these quality goods, straight from the capital!" He announced and picked up a red kimono, "this is real silk that has been worn by a wealthy princess. Come miss, feel it! And this is a sale jug from the Yamata No Orochi legend. All one-of-a-kind quality items. I'll give you a bargain. I'll even throw in these dried fish. First come, first serve!"
(Name) chuckled. She had to admit, he was good. She expression changed into that of worry when she saw 5 big men come up to Dororo. 'I knew I should've tried to talk him out of it' (name) thought as she watched the scene unfold. 'And he's too cocky for his own good!' She creamed internally as she saw him smirk and act tough. She was about to cross the bridge when she saw him throw the jug at the biggest guy and run for it.
"Dororo!!" (Name) started running down the path across the river, along with Dororo and the men. "Damn it!" She yelled as she tried to keep up, "for a little guy you sure are fast!" She yelled angrily, not looking where she was going. Because of this, she bumped into a kid who was starring at the scene and started falling down along with him. Before they could fall down into the river, someone had grabbed both of them and yanked them back up quickly and just continued to walked away.
"Thank you, mister" the boy called out as (name) was still catching her breath from the sudden shock
"Don't just stand there, say thank you" the mother had said as she forced her son to bow.
The realization came back to (name) and she quickly bowed to the mother, "I am so sorry! I hope he's alright!"
"Yes, he's fine" the mother replied, "and you miss? You fell as well"
(Name) chuckled, "nothing to worry about"
"Is there a festival today, mama?" The boy asked
"Of course not. We just had one not long ago"
The boy then pointed to the man who saved them, "but he had a mask on"
(Name) looked lost for a second, before she remember she had a brother in danger. She gasped out loud and jumped to her feet. "Dororo!" She started looking around frantically but she lost sight of the little boy and the five men. "Oh no!" She started running down the path again, hoping she could see a glimpse of Dororo and ended up bumping into the man in front of her. "Sorry about that!" She yelled as she quickly bowed and continued running.
~~~~~~~~~~~
(Name) gasped for breathe. She finally found Dororo one the other side of the river, washing his hands. She growled and ran across the broke bridge, trying not to pay attention to how some boards broke behind her, and how loud it creaked under her.
She was about to yell at him when she saw him being mean to a puppy.
"Nope, I can't. You have to learn how to live in your own" he said holding a small fish in his hand, "learn how to find your own food. I'm saying this for your own good" Just then, someone smacked him on the head. "Ow! What the!" He looked up and saw his older sister. "What was that for!?"
"Don't be rude to the poor thing" she said as she shoved one of the dango sticks in his hands, "who knows how long this poor guy has gone without food" she said as she gave the other one to the little dog.
Dororo sighed "you're too soft sis" he said "what happened to the old big sis I had?"
(Name) glared at him "her little brother almost starved to death, that's what" she snapped as she took the small fish and ate. The small child only sighed sadly as he looked at the little dog eat his food happily. Suddenly, someone picked up the dog harshly by the back of his neck. It was the guys who were chasing Dororo.
"You're mine now, Dororo" the big guy said as the puppy yelped
"Hey! Let him go!" Dororo yelled
"Is he yours? The he'll pay for what you did." He said as he then grabbed the puppy's hind legs.
"Stop it!" (Name) yelled
The big guy looked at her, "and who is this? Your sister? Maybe she can pay for you as well"
Then two men came up behind her and grabbed her arms
"Let them go!" Dororo yelled
"Then do as we say" the man snickered
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Stop it!" Screamed (name) The men had tied her up and actually took whatever money she had left from her morning jobs. And now they were beating up Dororo. "Stop it! Leave him alone!"
"Had enough! Don't you ever steal again!" Dororo threw a rock at the big guy, actually hitting his forehead, earning more kicks from the other two. "Never show your face here again, got it?" The man said as he stepped on his hand and started walking away.
"Assholes!" (Name) growled making them men stop and look at her, who was now in front of Dororo, "beating up a child! You think you're such big men, well all I see are jerks who would take advantage of two homeless kids!" She yelled as they glared at her, "no one tells us what to do!"
"We decide where we want to live!" Dororo yelled as he threw a rock at the big guy again, this time actually getting his eye.
"You two wanna die? Be my guest! He yelled as he grabbed on to (name)'s neck and the back of Dororo's shirt. As he chocked out the (h/c) girl, he was drowning the boy in the river.
"Bring me that straw may. I'm wrapping them up" he ordered
The girl struggled to breathe as she tried to wiggle herself away from the man's grip.
"Hey boss, there's a weird guy up there!" One of the men called out
(Name) looked up and saw a man standing on top of the bridge. He was pale and had long black hair in a ponytail. 'That cloak...' (name) thought, 'it's that man from before!' "H-help..." she gasped
"He's got a face like a doll"
"His eyes too. Where's he looking? Creep"
Dororo managed to get his nose above the water and the boss loosened his grip a bit, so (name) was able to breathe again. "Hey you, got a problem?" He yelled, "we're not some bullies, you know. We're the ones being bullied." But the man didn't answer, "hey, you hear me?" The man's arm then moved to the sword on his side, "what, you wanna fight?"
"No, I don't think he's looking at us" Dororo said gaining the boss' attention.
"His eyes" (name) silently gasped as she stared at the man's dull brown eyes, "he's looking behind us"
"Huh? There's nothing out there" the boss said as they all followed the man's gaze. There was a big pile of trash floating down the river towards them. "Just some floating garbage" the boss chuckled. Suddenly, the 'garbage' stood up and an appendage grabbed the boss and ate him.
"It ate him...?" Dororo said shakily as (name) moved her upper body over him protectively.
Two more appendages sprung out towards them. (Name) and Dororo shut their eyes thinking this was it for them. When they felt the air swift pass them they opened their eyes to see that it had passed them and had gone for the other two men who tried to run away.
"Let's go!" (Name) said as she nudged up Dororo and tried to run. Unfortunately, the creature grabbed them. "No!"
Before it could eat them as well thou, they noticed the man move and suddenly they were falling. The man had pivoted back and managed to push them off his back and on to the grass. (Name) landed first and cushioned Dororo's landing as they both stared at the man. He climbed up the leg of the bridge. They heard a slash as he moved up and he landed at the top.
"He's not looking at it!" Dororo said. Then, two arms fell next to them.
"His arms..." (name) gasped From his elbows down the man had sword blades. "Prosthetics?"
The man slashed and dodge easily as he cut at the bridge. Then he let himself fall back down and did some more slashing while still dodging the monster. "Amazing" the siblings breathe as they watched the bridge collapse on the monster and the man was standing right in front of them.
He moved into the water and managed to grab his sword, which was being held by a piece a wood, keeping it from floating down the river. Dororo grabbed the arms as he and his sister jogged down the hill towards the man.
"Wow, that was amazing!" Dororo complimented
"I don't think even amazing covers that" (name) chuckled. Then man then pointed his blade at (name) making them both flinch. Slowly, he moved his blade down and cut the ropes that bound her. "Thank you"
Dororo carefully placed the man's arms back, shielding the blades. "Your face. Those eyes, ears and all are fake, right?" He asked and waved his arm at him, "how can you see?
"Dororo!"
"But you can't hear, can you?" He asked and clapped his hands in the man's face
"You're being rude!"
"I wouldn't be able to walk a step with my eyes shut. But you ran and jump without using a cane. How do you do that?" The man suddenly flinched getting both their attention "What is it? What's wrong?" Dororo asked. The man then started shaking violently. Almost as if in pain. "Are you hurt?" Dororo then grabbed his hands
The man jerked forward and the mask he wore then fell to ground, along with Dororo. Both siblings stared in shock as they saw the man's skinless face for a second before his skin actually appeared.
"What's going on!? You're skin..." Dororo gasped
"I-it's real skin?" (Name) questioned as she got close to the man
"His skin...what's going on?" Dororo asked shakily, "what are you? Are you human!?"
The man looked up at them and blinked. "H-he looks human...enough...I guess"
"You guess!?"
"Hey! It's not like I know what going on!" (Name) said, "but...it sure feels real" she said as she lightly poked the man's cheek. She noticed that he didn't react to her touch at all. So she poked a bit harder yet still no reaction from him.
"What are you doing sis?" Dororo sweatdropped
"He doesn't seem to react"
"What about it?"
"It's just...strange" she said as she got a good look at the man, now that he was just sitting there. That's when she noticed that the bandage on his left leg was unwrapping. Her curiosity got the better of her and moved to unwrap it.
"What are you doing!?"
His left leg had flesh but his right was a prosthetic. She then raised her hands to move his cloak and felt that his arms were prosthetics that reach all the way to his shoulders. "What happened to you?" She questioned quietly
"What do you mean?"
(Name) turned to look at her brother, "he's basically all prosthetic, his ears, nose and eyes are fake, he can't hear, and by the looks of it" she poked her nails in his knee, "he can't feel pain either"
"Woah, that's...a lot even for one guy" Dororo muttered, not exactly knowing what to say.
Then man suddenly got up and started walking away. The siblings look at each other then back at the man. "Wait a second!" They both yelled as they ran after him.