"You're drunk aren't you!" I shouted as we darted toward the house.
"Not in the slightest, and besides, we have more pressing matters at hand."
Surely enough, in the distance, I saw a party of mounted samurai heading our way.
This is not going to turn out well. We closed the door behind us and after barricading the house, went into father's dojo.
"This is bad, we're going to get killed," I said, pacing around the room.
"Calm yourself Namakaze, " Reo started, "A calm and clear mind is the most formidable weapon."
"A calm and clear mind?" I repeated, walking to him and gently pushing him backwards. He stumbled, falling to the floor.
"Ouch!" he shouted
"You're clearly not fit to fight!"
"This is nothing, I'm still a capable fighter," Reo said, his words uttered with a sluggish slur. He gingerly got up, "And besides, I think I have a plan to get us out of here safely and with minimal harm too."
"How?" I asked, losing hope each time Reo spoke. In the next moment, we heard a flurry of neighs and whinnies from the outside.
"That must be our guests," Reo said, hand at his hilt. I felt a swarm of unease hit me, can't I just rest for one day.
I left Reo in the dojo as I ran to the living room, I hunched down whilst peeping through a window. My heart sank, there were six horsemen in front of the house. Draped in military kimonos, each one wore a stern expression. Honour-stricken, like all soldiers, they were disciplined and ready to die at a moments notice.
A few paces, behind the six samurai, were two mounted figures. One of them stood out, mainly because he was the only one adorned in samurai armour. He seemed to be of a different ilk. He was a large hulk of a man, he had somehow found a large enough stead to mount. He loomed over the other samurai, both in stature and might. Next to him was a lanky youth, who looked around his 18th year, which meant he'd be around two years older than me. Dressed in a lavish navy blue Kimono, he also wore an annoyed expression. Besides his sword, the boy had a bow slung over his back, which rested next to his quiver.
Three samurai rode out of view, heading to the sides of the house. They're surrounding us.
"That domineering figure at the back must be their commander," Reo said, almost startling me to death. He had somehow crept to the window in the living room without me noticing.
"What are they after?." I found myself asking.
"Most likely you" Reo waggishly blurted.
"Why, what have I done?" I asked
"Besides kill one of their own?" Reo retorted.
I gave him an icy stare, "That was self-defence and besides, you killed more than me!"
Reo started laughing, "Go and tell them that, ".
I rolled my eyes, the Idiot was clearly drunk.
I glanced back at our guests, they were unmounting now. The archer spoke to one of the samurai. The samurai, given his orders, walked towards the house. After clearing his throat, he proudly opened his mouth saying,
"By our military law, we order you to show yourselves, we know you are in there. Our scouts have been watching you. We know what you've done, you know what you've done. Come on out and face us, my commander means only to speak to you." The samurai shouted, his voice reaching our eager ears.
I looked to Reo, he had on a hard expression.
"We have you surrounded. There is no means for your escape. If you do not comply with our orders, we will simply burn this house and you with it!" the samurai continued.
"We need to go out and do as he says," said Reo, looking around the place, "We have no other choice."
"We'll get killed if we attempt something as stupid as that!" I reasoned
"If we don't leave here, we'll be burned down with your house, and more importantly, your parents' graves will be decimated if a fire were to start. I'm sure that both of us do not want any of those things to happen"
He was right, this was a sacred place now. Reo stood away from the window, readying himself.
"Besides, you needn't worry, I still have my plan."
"What exactly is this plan you keep talking about?"
"It'll start once we're outside," he said.
I looked at him fumble at his hilt, Why don't I believe you?.
We walked to the front of the house. I stood behind Reo as he opened the door, it creaked open and we were greeted by a nocturnal circus of sounds. It was midnight, the air was cold and clean. Two samurai stripped us of our weapons, one of them held Reo's arm behind him and the other tied up my arms. We were dragged to the bulk of their party.
"Now that you've complied with our demands, my commander will speak to you. Listen well" the samurai said, stepping aside.
The domineering figure etched closer to us. His armour shone and clanked, he had a somewhat regal air to him. He stopped a few feet in front of Reo and I. He towered all of us, he looked at us with fierce eyes but uttered no words. Instead, the lanky youth came to his side and looked us dead in the face.
"You finally reveal yourselves" the boy started, each word coated in hate. He measured us from top to bottom.
"A yearling and a one-armed cripple, you somehow bested three of my men?" he said, "Was it by luck or are my men that incompetent?"
An out-of-place smile crept on his face, he looked at his men and started laughing. His men, looking to please him, laughed along with him; besides the giant that stood next to him. He laughed for quite a bit, making Reo and I feel estranged. Once he and his party stopped laughing, he composed himself.
I was confused, who is this person? to have so much power?. He must be a noble, a lord's son. I looked at Reo.
Reo wore a familiar expression, one that I had come to associate him with, in the short time I had been with him. With this, I knew his "plan" was about to begin.
Reo started looking around us.
"Did you bring more men for us to best?" Reo asked, the question earned a long silence from everyone. What's this drunkard thinking?.
"You dare speak without being asked," grunted the giant standing next to the boy. He drew his huge katana in a surprisingly quick flash and held it at Reo's neck. The boy raised his arm signalling the man to stop.
"No need Gorro," the boy said, "I wish to speak to them a bit more."
"I understand Lord Gyenru," Gorro said, lowering his sword.
"You are a brave man, although that also means you do not value your life or the life of your comrade here. I still like you, if the circumstances were different, we could have used people like you. Tell me your names"
We both stated our names.
"Reo Hiruka and Namakaze Tanaka," he paused, "Tanaka?, I know that name. Ah yes, you must be the son of Otochi Tanaka, that dog of a man.
I lurched forward in the hopes of sinking my fist into the boy's face. Hearing my father being disrespected was something I wouldn't tolerate. My captor pulled me back.
"Judging by your reaction you must be the son of that man" Gyenru surmised, "That also means that the rumours were true. Your father did settle down with that woman. Today must be my lucky day."
"Why are you doing this?" I asked, failing to hide the anger beneath my question, "Why do you speak of my father with such hate?"
"Don't give me that nonsense, boy. You of all people should know what your father did. You have treasonous blood in you. You must be captured at once for you have also killed my men, a deed that my father, Lord Ranga, will consider when issuing your punishments" he said.
Lord Ranga?, of course, I should have known. He was a well-known military strategist and a high-ranking noble. He even worked with the Daimyo in many wars. It was with this realisation that I could properly discern how much trouble I was in. My father was once Lord Ranga's right-hand man but my father mysteriously left his position as a high ranking samurai, he said he wanted a rest from the war but I never believed him.
I looked to Reo, he was making odd sounds with his mouth. What's wrong with him? is he about to vomit?. No, he was laughing, my heart stopped, at a time like this?.
Reo was laughing hysterically. Gyenru did not look amused, "Well?!, shut him up!" Genyru ordered, anger painted across his face.
Reo was punched in the stomach, thrown to the ground and forced up again.
"What's so funny?" Gyenru asked, motioning one of the samurai to kick him again. Reo responded with more laughter. Gyenru had had enough. "Now that I think about it, we only need one of you and that's this boy here," Gyenru said, "Kill the mad man" Genyru commanded, as he and his towering companion walked to their horses. One samurai held me by the neck, dragging me towards his horse. Reo was knocked in the head, he crumpled to the ground. Two armed samurai loomed over him. He was on his own, I couldn't help him.
Everything was going horribly, I was captured, Reo was to meet his end. All hope was lost. I needed to do something but it was useless, my captor had me in a tight hold. We were nearing the horses when we heard a blood-curdling scream. My captor turned around, allowing me to see what was going on, Reo had managed to stop his attacker by somehow biting their shin. It must have been a formidable bite. The bitten samurai responded by kicking Reo's head. Reo looked up at the samurai, with a bloody grin. Angered, the samurai swiftly thrusted his sword in a downward motion, heading straight for Reo's nape, but Reo was a step ahead.
Reo forced his weight downward, performing a rough roll, forcing the samurai that held his arm, to move forward. The katana hacked straight through that samurai's head. Whilst the other samurai was shaken by his folly, Reo grabbed the slain samurai's katana and clumsily sprung to his feet. Reo was hunched over, his mouth bleeding, he spat out what he could and tried getting into a battle stance.
I looked to Gyenru his pale face had turned a violent red.
"Well? what the hell are you waiting for?!, get him and call the others around the house! " he bellowed.
The samurai that had killed his own companion, snapped out of his daze. He screamed, twisting his katana in the air, manoeuvring it into a diagonal slash. Reo roughly blocked the attack with the flat of his sword and kicked the samurai in the stomach, forcing him back. The samurai attacked again this time with a worthy rush. Reo was forced to try and block or evade each attack.
Reo kept moving backwards, his strength slowly leaving him. His opponent performed a wide side arch in the hopes of catching Reo's waist. Reo kicked the samurai's arms, effectively disarming the samurai.
"Shut it!, Shut up! I already know!" Reo shouted, confusing everyone.
Has he gone mad?, I thought.
This time Reo rushed in, his opponent tried picking up their weapon but to no avail. Reo slashed the man's arm off, further disarming him. The samurai screamed once again, clutching his bloody stump of an arm. Reo swiftly beheaded the man, purely out of pity.
By the time Reo looked up, he had already been surrounded by three samurai. He swore, getting into his battle stance again. The odds were against him.
"You there!" Gyenru shouted, pointing toward my captor, "Give that boy here and go fight, finish that cripple already, you useless pawns!" he continued.
I was pushed towards Gyenru, as my captor ran towards his comrades. It was four against one now, Reo was doomed. I had bumped into something hard, I turned around and felt a heavy thunk on my head as Gorro punched my head. I felt my brain collide with my skull.
Sorry..... Reo.