Bloodstained Rose

Chapter 5

Rei had finally finished getting the tent set up again. The last few days had dragged on, but they were nearing the end of the patrol. Meanwhile, Shugo had been occupied getting another fire ready. The valley had seen an entire day of rain fall and getting the flame started would take much more work than usual.

“After a whole week of sleeping on the ground,” Shugo said aloud as he rubbed a thick piece of branch into a pile of twigs. “I never thought I’d be excited to go back to the village and sleep on the ground.”

“You get used to it,” Rei muttered softly as she repeatedly hammered down the spikes. Shugo continued grinding the sticks together, growing ever more impatient with each minute.

“Yeah, yeah,” Shugo groaned as the speed started to pick up. The branch in his hand was starting to wither down under the constant pressure. As fast as he could even blink, he lost control. The stick finally broke in two. After a loud crack, Shugo let out a quick yell as the jagged edge was forced into his palm, finally shouting, “Damn it!”

“What happened?” Rei quickly shouted back. Shugo lifted his wounded hand upwards to reveal a trail of blood gushing down the side. He took a moment to catch his breath before trying to remove the splinters. She grabbed his arm and added, “I don’t think you should pull that out.”

“Good call, I don’t want it to bleed anymore.” Shugo replied as he thought on it. Rei drew a small cloth she had tucked away and tossed it towards him.

“Just put that on it and I’ll worry about the fire.” Rei stated as she started to make her way towards the woods.

“Who’s going to get the food then?”

“I’ll figure that out next,” Rei turned back to him. She quickly waved her hand with a calm demeanor and continued, “just stay here.”

“Alright then.” Shugo started to press the cloth against the fresh puncture. With his current streak, he was overdue for a cut. This stick would just be another addition to his collection of scars. He quickly scanned the camp once more only to see that Rei had already vanished. It was his chance to take a moment and unwind for once.

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Rei took another glance at the woods below. The branches below her sagged under her weight but still managed to keep the rest of her body perched up. Raindrops that had collected on the leaves ended up soaking her clothes beneath the protective armor. The sensation while unnerving was not enough to break her focus. In the distance, she could barely make out the camp site. It was impossible to tell if Shugo was still trying to set up or not. She turned away and tried to see if there was anything useful in sight. With night starting to approach, the chances of getting a fire started began looking bleak. Rei was still going to try. She again peered deeper into the valley.

Before long, she noticed something in a meadow possibly miles away. While it wasn’t quite clear under the dusk ridden skies, Rei could make out what looked like a small plume of smoke. It was just clear enough that she could not rule it out as mist. Approaching it could have endless possibilities—both good and bad. The wind of the north began to pick up. All at once she could feel the damp cloth beginning to gnaw at her flesh. Suddenly her shivering began to become the deciding factor.

“Alright, let’s go.” Rei muttered to herself, taking another leap across the trees.

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Shugo had tried giving the broken stub in his hand another tug. Another small bit had come lose and surely enough he could feel some of the pressure starting to release. Just before any more blood could escape, he pressed the piece of cloth Rei had left against the wound. A sharp pain began to dig through the contact point.

“I was hoping this would be an easy week.” He said aloud, expecting somebody to reply.

With the tension starting to release, the piercing feeling of the wood lingered. The best he could do now was try to keep his mind focused on other things. Rei had already been gone for some time and each moment the sunlight became scarcer. He tried to his best to get his hand covered before attempting to start the fire. The draft from the night air swept through the campsite, sending chills up and down his body. His eyes began to slowly clench shut while he tried to keep his breathing steady. Next, he began to try and block out the cold. The forest around him started to slowly fade from consciousness. Before long, he found himself in another void deep within his mind. The blood from his palm had finally come to a head and begun a steady drip. The first drop rain towards the abyss. On impact, a wave of red raced to the edge, illuminating Rei in the distance.

Why are you all the way out there? He stared past her, going further into the Deep before noticing another presence waiting just beyond. His heart began to pound as he realized multiple starting to emerge, each drawing closer to Rei. Suddenly, the cold had become nothing more than a backburner issue. Another drop struck the ground. The tension started to increase as he noticed another—one much closer. After a few seconds, he could detect more closing in fast. Within the minute, they would be on top of him. Shugo took what time he had to try and find cover amongst the trees. While barely managing to get out of sight, a pair of men had begun to make their way towards the camp. It was Kyo and Matsu. Once the tent was in focus, both began to move around the perimeter of the site. Shugo tried to fight his nerves as fear started to take hold. He slowly took another breath and thought, just calm down.

Rei’s presence in the distance began to fade. He shrugged once more and then tried again to get control of himself, keeping silent as the two began to close in on the tent. Before they concluded the approach, Matsu turned to his brother and lifted his finger up to his mouth. Kyo’s face lit up as he acknowledged the gesture. Shugo could just barely make out the two men already starting to pillage the area before turning behind the tree once more. Without warning, Matsu had drawn a jagged blade from his belt and rammed it through the top of the tent rapidly. His brother followed suit, and without so much as a whisper they had managed to demolish the canvas with a flurry of quick stabs.

“I was hoping there would be somebody here.” Kyo said whilst dragging the blade through what was left of the covering.

“There’s somebody out here and I want to find them already,” Matsu replied. He turned to the fire pit only to find blood scattered across the ground. “They have to be here; do you see this?”

“I see it!” Kyo shouted back as he plopped down on the ground. Matsu had started to become agitated as his brother began to get comfortable.

“Why are you sitting? Let’s get ‘em already!”

“I’m tired,” Kyo immediately threw his legs forwards and began thrashing around childishly. “I wanna sit around and do nothing!”

“I want to go home already!” Matsu turned towards the tree line and unknowingly began approaching Shugo. This only added more stress now that the options were beginning to run out. His hands started to tremble as he could feel Matsu’s growing. Matsu drew closer to the tree with his knife at the ready. Shugo instinctively grabbed onto the scabbard of his blade. The best he could hope for is a quick strike. If he could get one, then he would have better chances instead of trying to engage in a two on one deathmatch.

“Where are you going?” Kyo called out to him as he continued waving his limbs through the grass. Matsu stopped just a few feet short.

“Where do you think?” He looked back to him, still disappointed. The weeks spent in the woods was starting to get to them both.

“We got them,” Kyo said as he sat upwards. He immediately ran his hand through the bloody patches of grass, smiling as he brushed the red liquid across his shirt. “There was one. I hit him with a death blow, and he jumped off a cliff. I don’t wanna make a corpse and drag it across the woods all night.”

“Are you serious right now?” Matsu asked him.

“Are you?” Kyo snapped back. His brother could only laugh thinking of it.

“Boss won’t take that for an answer.”

“I don’t care. The last two people from this village tasted nasty and I’d rather starve.”

Those words nearly brought Shugo to tears. How can somebody, much less a whole crew, think like this? The wound in his hand began to gush with blood as he clenched his fists, realizing now the search party had been futile. Matsu took a step towards the camp and began to contemplate the decision.

“There’s no cliffs here. He was eaten by some wild dogs.” Matsu stated as he tucked the dagger into his belt.

“Dog sounds good, actually.”

With a nod, the two began to make their way towards the sunset. Shugo turned to get a look at the two and started to feel even more unnerved. Now that he’d barely avoided death, he started to feel more helpless seeing that it was going to be impossible getting to Rei in time. She was already walking into the belly of the beast and shortly after she would be encountering the brothers.

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Yuuma’s eyes continued to droop with each breath. He had since given up on trying to help his partners set up. Each moment would take just a piece of energy from him. His head quickly dipped forwards.

“Stop scrambling!” Yuuma shouted in reaction as he snapped his head back into place—both of his eyes barely level. Orochi immediately shrieked at the sudden outburst.

“Just go to sleep if you’re not going to help me!” Orochi shouted to him. Just across the way, Hiro had begun to tumble in his sleep as the bickering had alarmed him.

“Be careful, if you wake me,” Hiro said as he lifted his head. “I will be angry.”

Orochi already felt a chill from Hiro that the autumn night could never surpass. He dismissed the two, focusing back on the fire to get dinner finished. Between Yuuma and Orochi was a large fish that had been roasting over the flame. Its skin had already begun to crumble after its extended stay in the heat.

“They won’t be getting up.” Yuuma muttered, already half asleep again. Orochi began rotating the fish as delicately as possible while his comrade continued his tirade.

“Shut up already!” Orochi hissed as quietly as he could. His skin slowly began to grow damper with sweat while the cloth over his left eye had begun to act like a sponge. Within a few minutes, the wounded socket had begun to sting. He tried to set the catch in place as the pain had become much more persistent.

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The branches beneath Rei had begun rustling back and forth. Her weight continued to cause the excess rainfall on the leaves to fall to the ground. In a brief time, she had covered a large amount of ground, making it just an acre from the enemy camp. After getting this far, she had found herself getting cold feet in more ways than one. This is dangerous, turn back. Rei’s head was in a frenzy. She took a moment to gain her footing from atop the tree just as a massive gust had started to consume her. The whirlwind caught onto her bangs and then yanked the rest of her hair directly into her face. Rei could feel her body start to quiver as her nostrils became irritated.

Being away from water for a few days had made every strand bothersome. Just then, she winced as she felt a sudden urge to sneeze settling in. The branches beneath her feet had let out a loud series of cracks. She had completely lost focus. Before being able to release, she had already begun crashing through the rest of tree—each branch taking pieces from clothes to skin on the way down. Just before reaching the base, her leg had snagged against another piece of tree. Another loud snap rung out while her body began to spin towards the grass. With a light splash and thud, her body bounced a few feet away from the base.

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Orochi rose to his feet once he heard the rustling over the embers. There had been enough rattling in the woods all night from the rain, but he knew full well he had heard something. The series of loud cracks from the tree behind them had been enough to wake Yuuma as well.

“Somebody’s out there.” Orochi whispered. He stepped over the log by camp and towards the noise. It was difficult to see in the haze. The storm had stopped, but the temperature constantly dropping was starting to produce a thick cloud of fog. None the less, he still scanned the outskirts of the camp meticulously through his one eye.

“Yeah, there’s something out there.” Yuuma added as he stepped over to him. Just opposite them was a downward slope filled with trees. The two had immediately become focused on several snapped branches beneath one just a couple hundred yards away.

“You see that?” Orochi called out as he pointed ahead. Yuuma slowly turned his head only to be filled with bewilderment.

“Yeah, I see that.”

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Rei’s upper torso had continued to throb from the impact. She was not quite sure if anything had been broken at first. The entire right side of her chest had been completely covered with bruises under the several rips and tears in her clothes. Thankfully, the armor over her bust had had absorbed most of the fall, but she had still been rattled. The two were not too far away from her. Just after the impact, she managed to get behind some bramble adjacent to her position. Through the leaves, she was able to spot both men staring towards where she had once fell, sighing as it was clear at this point that getting a fire would be out of the question. However, as soon as she could start to consider a backup plan, she noticed two more approaching.

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Kyo and Matsu had finally made their return. The scene had not been quite as calm as it was when they left, as they both had noticed Yuuma and Orochi at the ready.

“We got one of them already!” Kyo proclaimed joyously as he waved his hands in front of his shirt, proudly presenting his bloodstained tunic to the world. Orochi and Yuuma stared on. It had been a little too early to break the news.

“Anybody care?” Matsu asked aloud. Yuuma turned back to him with the same cold and angry stare from before. Nothing had to be said. Kyo reached over his shoulder and began to pull his katana from the sheath on his back. Like a shadow, Matsu followed suit, with the two men moving to a flanking position.

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Rei cautiously began to lift her head from her chest then against the brushy terrain behind her. She was still unable to make out any of the conversation taking place. While trying to keep as quiet as possible, she tried to shift her weight towards her knees again. Her armor began to slowly shift around, pressing into tender flesh. A burst of pain followed.

“Just a little more.” Rei whispered as softly as possible given her condition. Her hip let out a light pop as she lowered her right knee.

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As quiet as the sound was, it was enough to draw Yuuma’s attention. He turned towards the bramble in the distance with his fists clenched. The rest of his team had already taken notice and begun to move away. As they began to brace themselves, Hiro tumbled over onto his side and placed his hands over his ears. Yuuma could feel the muscles all over his body start to expand as he raised his arms over his head. With a roar, he slammed both of his fists against the ground. The very instant they collided, the land ahead of them surged as a ripple tore through, pulverizing the terrain ahead as a massive blast of energy propelled debris up towards the skies.

A boom echoed through the valley, awakening it. The shockwave continued forwards, consuming everything in sight as the dirt and other remains started to rain down. Once the blast had cleared, the entire forest ahead appeared as if it had been bulldozed. Dozens of trees had been completely snapped into pieces while the ground appeared to sink into itself.

“Well, whatever it was, it’s dead now.” Orochi declared while trying to brush the filth from his tunic. The men all slowly began to emerge from the smoke.

“I think we might have found the culprit.” Kyo said.

“I see it too!” Matsu chimed in.

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Rei was barely able to react to the attack. The field had completely given in to her weight. Just as quickly as she could be pulled down, another blast of energy ripped through the ground—this time it had engulfed her and the rest of the area. The force from the shockwave struck so hard that she had ended up losing consciousness. By the time the blast had already cleared, the dirt beneath had become so brittle that her body just sank through. The remaining debris raining from above managed to cover the rest of her body. Just a few feet away were Kyo and Matsu, alarmed as they started to move in on her.

“There he is!” Matsu shouted to others. They descended into the brittle land, circling the area around Rei. Their clamoring started to pick up as the men started clawing towards the dirt. Beneath it, there was some slight movement followed by a groan.

“Oh yeah, that’s it!” another called out. Orochi continued scratching away until his fingers touched a smooth pelt under the dirt. The excitement on his face was enough to light up the night sky. He grabbed hold and then started to pull; the rest of the ground gave way.

“It’s just a mountain dog, not a person,” Orochi said after taking a glance at the generous sized animal still twitching from the blast.

“I probably should’ve saved that one for later,” Yuuma said as he could feel the tension in his muscles starting to rise.

“Well, we appreciate the show,” Kyo said to him as they all started to finally head back to the campsite above. Orochi handed off the kill before wiping his hands again.

“I’m tired of dirt.” he quickly muttered while trying to get his footing again.

Just when he stepped forward, he suddenly lost all traction under feet and tripped over. His body ended up just sinking as the land around him began to slide from under his feet. To his left, Rei began to emerge beneath the dirt, still barely conscious as she opened her eyes to the brand-new predicament. Orochi’s only good eye had become irritated from being submerged, leaving him blinded again. Rei sat motionless as the man began clawing around the ground near her. It did not take her very long to come to the realization that she was in a very particular position, keeping her in view of Orochi’s eye that had been previously severed. Orochi finally got to his feet and then tried to take another step up, eventually pulling himself free to march back. Just as he had disappeared, Rei tried to hold her breath to keep from hyperventilating. She could hardly contain her excitement. Now out of harm's way, she began to make her way back through the valley and towards the camp site.