Dark Ronin - The Woman with No Master

Chapter 7

"Since the death of the King Chong Se Won, Grand Prince Yang Su and his forces have been secretly and brutally after the next in line King, Chong Tii Won, and his sister, Princess Se Re Won. Your job is to protect the both of them and the throne; and I will and entrust that, even though the two of you will be working simultaneously, Mr. Takeshi will be over the Prince and Ms. Migisi will be over the Princess. I am sure as two special trained agents, you can handle something as minor as this. And I am pretty sure I don't need to say the old 'call if you need me' thing. So you will meet your dependents at the funeral. With all that being said, shall there be any questions?" The commanding officer, Sir Shigeki, articulately explained; leaving barely enough time for an answer, he quickly waved us off. 

The air and the tiny cab packed with heated tension was devastating but thankfully no one spared any harsh words. However, I was truly grateful when I was liberated from the, what felt like the longest hours ever to take place on earth, choking drive and gloomy process of the funeral contained of unnecessary weeping and outbreaks. 

Afterwards, Ryuu and I met with the Prince and Princess; they wore the same respectable black Shanghai robes everyone else did. We both knelt out of respect. "Hi, my name is Neerangana, you can call me Neera though. My condolences for the grieving family; and my compliments on the strongly well behaved Princess and Prince of young age. My colleague and I, for unfortunate reasons, shall be responsible for the two of you well-beings from now on. I'd suggest you now become comfortable with human shadows. Now enjoy your last few moments of freedom and we shall meet once again after the funeral. And please retain and obviate any thoughts of running away, do know that I will easily find you and your punishment will be restrictions for a period of time. It is truly a pleasure to meet you and will be working with you," I rushed while assuming a strained smile.

 I rose and walked to a seat that positioned me in the view path of the entire area. Well that was very pleasant and welcoming, it's a good thing I left you to the introductions. That sounded like the true robotic greetings we needed – Ryuu purposely blared through my thoughts. Shut up, at least I tried; you just stood there, big head – I trumpeted back while rolling my eyes. He shrugged and sat down beside me; and I could tell from his smile that he wanted to laugh. 

Before I could say anything, he stood tall and stated, "maybe I should teach you how to be nice." I grunted a shut up and mumbled a laugh just as the clock struck time to go. This was going to be a very long mission, but I'm low-key glad we have it together. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the princess face of dislike as she spoke to her brother. I have a feeling this is not going to be easy.

- One month later

This is the stuffiest place I've ever been to. I could've sworn the walls were closing in on me after sitting in this house for just 10 minutes with all these people in here. One of Se Ra and Chang Tii's uncles wanted to have a get together for them. 'Let's lighten the air for the kids, huh?' he said. How fantastic. Living on an isolated hill, he had one of the biggest houses in this miniature side of the country. To pair with it, there was lush farms covering the vast field behind his house. The front of the house contained a grand garden leading to the front door; and the inside of the house matched the beauty of the outside perfectly.

 It was open aired with an imperial feel to it but also felt homey and comfortable. It was a shame the mass amount of people was ruining the environment for me. It also made it harder to keep a good watch on Se Ra and Chang Tii. I'm finna' have a headache after this. At least the food was heavenly otherwise I'd go crazy. A few months in this house and I'll be bigger than this house itself. It wasn't long before it was midnight and a welding feeling of uneasiness alerted me. Glancing at Ryuu's face, he seemed to be in an internal argument. We walked as a small cluster with the kids, their uncle, his wife and a few other statesmen. On our way, we both noticed a few uninvited people dressed as guards. 

They blended well, but their purple spider tattoos gave them away in the moonlight. The path we walked was dark and open. They were smart to pick this place but dumb to pick a fight with us here. I nudged Chang Tii to stay back and the rest of the group followed suit. Ryuu and I slightly nodded to each other, then flew into action, discreetly attacking the unnoticed guest. Meeting back up a little ways from the kids, I caught an uneasy feeling striking my stomach. I guess Ryuu thought the same way he stated, "Well that was weird and too easy." "Yeah, stay alert," I nodded, still walking. Then the dreadful realization hit me –

The Princess was gone. I ran back with Ryuu hot on my heels, our shoes screeched against the packed dirt peering up at a group of shocked faces. "Where's the Princess?" my voice pounded the air, my eyes wide with anger. And like white on rice, the shocked faces turned into looks of bewilderment.