Ronin Strike

Chapter 5: Bird of a Feather

Previously...

"There sure are some weird people in this area..." Kel said while walking away. "What was that kid's issue?" the girl in the trees uttered. "who knows maybe he's lost or something".

"Lost?" a voice in a neighboring tree says. The girl turns her head from her laid-back position to see an old man sitting on a branch from a tree next to hers. "oh...an old guy in a tree," said the girl before closing her eyes in a relaxed tone. "wait a second..." she mumbled to herself before getting up in a panic to see the old man standing on the tree branch above her. "WHAT THE?!" the girl screamed out loud before falling out of the tree. "AHHHHH" she yelled while descending, only before being caught by the old man who was already on the forest floor. "Put me down you geezer!" the girl said while pushing him away. The old man laughed, "you would've almost turned the dirt red if it weren't for me" he chuckled. "I mean, thanks I guess," she mumbled off to the side. "sorry to disturb you young one, but may I ask, what were you doing in those trees?" he questioned. "relaxing," she said. "really?" the old man queried with a raised eyebrow. "yeah... what about it? " she murmured. "whatever you say then," the senior said before walking off. The girl then spoke out to him in agitation. "fine, ok ok... I just like bird-watching that's all" the girl scoffed. The man then turned around and questioned "why is that?". "I don't know... I guess... it's just because they're free to do what they want, and be who they are without anyone telling them what to do". she then sighed while looking at the trees that were lit up with the sun's rays. The girl then looks back in his direction to see him heading off in the opposite direction. "DID YOU EVEN LISTEN TO A WORD I SAID?" she called out, frustratingly. "a small piece of advice," the old man said after turning around. "what is it?" she replied. "Be proud of who you are, don't let anyone limit you into reaching your true potential". "Like the birds in the sky... fly high and soar above it all". he said with a smile before disappearing along with the windy leaves. the young girl was distraught seeing him disappear like that. "old people sure are weird..." she said with a confused look on her face. "yet they sure do give some subtle advice," she said with a grin while looking at the ground. "let me just get back up there real quick," the young girl said as she looked up at the sunlit trees standing high above her.

"Marima": Voza. 2 years ago.

"MAYA!" a voice echoed from downstairs. "COMING!" said a reverberated voice from upstairs. "yeah mom?" Maya said questioningly. "here's 500 Ryō. Go buy some more groceries before we open up for the day," her mom said sternly. "ok..." Maya replied before leaving the house. As she was walking down to the market on a brown trail with trees surrounding her, she saw birds in a tree chirping between one another. Maya stopped walking to look at them with the sack of money dangling from her hand and a relieved look on her face. She mumbled to herself. "I always wonder what you all could be saying to each other, why you sing in the morning to wake us up, why you chirp when in danger, and even when you mourn a loved one, you chirp with your hearts out". "If only I could be as free as you guys are one day, ya know?..." she exclaimed before heading off. Once she made her way to the town from her long walk. she strolled through the city to see people living out their daily lives. "these people live their lives all the same..." she muttered. " get up, work, play and go back to sleep... no sense of adventure whatsoever". "I might not be any different than they are, but at least I'm trying to find something else to do in the meantime," she scoffed. Maya was then pardoned by a rolling Temari ball that rolled towards her foot. she then scooped it off the floor with her foot and kicked it in the air to grab it with her hand. "a Temari Ball?" she questioned. "Hey can you pass that over here?" a voice called out. Maya turned her vision from the ball to see a young, smiling chubby kid with his hand in the air and his hand on the side of his mouth calling out to her. she then placed the ball on the floor and kicked it towards him. "Thanks!" he yelled out as he ran off into the distance. "Yeah, sure..." Maya mumbled to herself before she walked off in the distance. As she was walking, she saw a police officer sleeping on duty. "lousy cops... they need to take their job seriously, don't they know that-" "OOF-" she stammered as she bumped into someone, only to look up and see a group of delinquents. "don't they know what?" he said cunningly. "oh great..." she murmured. "look, I don't have time for this," Maya said with her hand on her head in frustration. "so can you guys just m-" she uttered while trying to walk around them. "I'm afraid we can't let you go unless you give us whatever is in your hand, kid," he said slyly. "Why? so you can buy yourself a better functioning brain?" Maya said off to the side with a chuckle. the delinquent's friends started to hold in their laughs, causing the delinquent to get embarrassed. "DAMN KID!" he shouted before forcefully snatching Maya's money out of her hands. "This should be enough. Let's go guys". once they turned around, they were all hit in the head, one by one. "GYAH! WHAT THE HELL!" the leader delinquent shouted while they all were holding their bruised heads. They then look up to see a furious woman holding a spoon with an angry, sinister look on her face. "Drop the money, you shit-filled brat, and run back to wherever you crawled from," she said cunningly while repeatedly tapping the stick on her hand. "DAMN OLD HAG!" they shouted after getting up quickly and pushing Maya out of their way to run off. Maya turned her vision away from seeing the delinquents run off in the opposite direction, to now seeing who the woman in front of her was. the sun's glare made it a bit hard for her to see who it was. yet once the woman squatted down to Maya, who was on the floor after being pushed by the delinquents; said. "Hey there Maya," the woman said with a smile on her face and a hand on Maya's head. "Aunt Otori?" she questioned. "Hey Maya," Otori said. "AUNT OTORI!" Maya shouted as she got up to hug her. "How are you doing Maya?" she asked. "You know me, almost just got mugged haha nothing too crazy". "I could've fought them off if I wanted to," Maya said pridefully. "Yeah right," Aunt Otori said. "You would've got robbed if it weren't for me," she boasted. "N-No I wouldn't!" Maya stammered. "anyway what are you doing out here in the city? did you move or something?". "No haha I'm still in that same old place from before," said Otori. "What are you doing out here? your family still owns that restaurant?" she asked back. "Yeah, but I'm supposed to be restocking on groceries since we ran out". "but then those meatheads came over and you know what happened then". "ah I see. Why don't we buy you those groceries and you let's catch up at my place". "sure!" Maya replied. as they were walking on their way to the shop, Maya spoke to herself in her head. "I can't believe I'm seeing Auntie again. It's been so long since I've seen her". "I haven't seen her since I last been to Japan when I was like 4". Maya then looks up at her aunt's face and continues to internally talk in her head. "wow she has gotten older. I remember she used to have blacker hair". "now she has grey streaks running through her head like an old person". "hey but with age does come wisdom, I guess". Maya then looks at the side of her face to see a scar on the side of her ear. "I see she still has that scar on her ear. I wonder how she got it... might need to ask her about that later". "Maya...MAYA!" her aunt shouted. "hu-HUH?" she repeated. "He's asking you what you wanted to buy," Otori said. "Oh uh...some peaches, pears, plums, spices...". after Maya got done with what she wanted to buy, they then left the market and were on their way back to Otori's place. "Here we are" Otori replied as she opened the door to her house. "wow...it's just like I remember," Maya said to herself. "you were about 4 years old the last time you came here with your parents," Otori said as she walked to a framed picture. "hey come look at this". Maya then walked over to her aunt and saw the picture of her family altogether. "wow I was young" said Maya. "you had such a big head" Otori replied while chuckling. "HEYYY!" Maya responded. Maya then peered her vision to her snickering aunt's ear. "Aunt Otori... how did you get that scar on your ear?" she questioned. her aunt then paused her laughing and responded to Maya with a smile on her face. "I never told you, did I?". "then again, you were only four, so I couldn't". "did you know I used to be a part of the Hikari military?... Maya," Otori said. "Really?!" Maya asked. "Indeed, but my time as an Onna Musha had to come to an end, eventually". "but to answer your question Maya, this scar... believe it or not, came from the Yami emperor Akuma". Maya stood there in surprise at what she was hearing. "I was captured in the battle of the Hikari and Yami many years ago; and taken to the Emperor for interrogation". "and when I didn't give them the information they wanted... they tried other methods". "they started with trying to cut my ear off and as they were about to... he showed up and saved my life". "his name was Hayashi Takeshi, and he was one of the greatest warriors I had ever seen in all my years of battle alongside Nakamura Miyamoto, Sakana Ryo, and Kumagai Honoka". "Takeshi had defeated all enemy Yami forces who had captured me, as well as even almost defeating Emperor Akuma as well, yet he was at his limits and had to make time to escape, as many enemy forces were flooding in the building". "once we had escaped, he told me that he would come back for me once I had gotten my ear healed up... and that when they won the battle... we'd be able to share a drink like old times," Otori said with cracks in her voice. "Takeshi... and everyone else... I've heard... ended up... dying in combat that day, as the entire Hikari were slaughtered". "I blame myself til this day for not being able to help them out if I wasn't so weak and got captured". "you're not weak auntie..." Maya uttered. "you're one of the strongest people I know," she said. Otori began to look at her niece with tears slowly falling from her closed eyes. "you were captured by an entire army, and even when they would've harmed you... you still never gave up on your comrades!", Maya called out. Otori wiped away her tears with her palm and started to smirk. "you know... If I had a daughter, I'd want her to be just like you...". "thanks hehe" Maya said as she briefly beamed with a charming smile, but then abruptly frowned in sorrow. "excuse me, where are my manners? I'm so sorry. Was it something I said?" Otori uttered quickly. "no I appreciate it, auntie, I really do. It's just... I wish my parents would be more like you," she said. "You're so outgoing and don't treat me like some sort of servant". "It's always the same old same old with them. Maya do this, Maya do that". "I've never had time to myself for what I like to do". "I feel like they just don't care as much as you do for me". Maya stammered. "heh, you remind me so much of a younger me Maya". "always wanting to seek something interesting to do in life". "My parents never really liked the idea of me becoming a warrior, they wanted me to be a teacher or nurse of some kinda and instead when I refused...". *sigh* "they kicked me out of the house... and told me that I would bring a dishonor to them if I continued to choose a path in where I would get harm's way" said Otori. "I'm sorry auntie, I- I didn't mean to-". "It's ok Maya, don't apologize". "you haven't said or done anything wrong". "you know... I'm glad I ran into you earlier because I wanted you to have something of mine". "what is it?" Maya asked. "it's a special gift that has been passed down from generation to generation," said Otori. "I want you to close your eyes, and when I tell you to open them;
open them... ok?". ,"sure" replied Maya. she proceeded to close her eyes shut and when she opened them she saw nothing in front of her. "There you go," said Otori with a gleaming look on her face. "what?" Maya replied questioningly. "there's nothing here". "your gift is right with you. " "it may not look like I gave you anything, but when the time is right; you will see your gift in full fledge". "thanks auntie!" Maya said. "your welcome dear". "ah would you look at the time? Shouldn't you be getting back to your parents? ". "oh shoot, I forgot!" said Maya as she packed her stuff. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" asked Otori. "sure!" Maya said before leaving. "alright take care now!" Aunt Otori uttered while waving goodbye. "you too!" Maya replied. as she was rushing on her way back home, a ball flew towards Maya's head. "DUCK!" a voice called out to the running girl. Maya quickly lowered her head down in a panic. the ball hit a walking pedestrian right next to her running space. Maya looked down at the knocked-out civilian and back up to see the chubby kid from earlier." WHAT THE?-" she shouted. "Nice reflexes," the young boy said. "I ALMOST DROPPED MY STUFF! WHAT'S YOUR ISSUE!" she yelled out. "sorry... I just... it was..." he stammered. "Never mind, I'm in a hurry right now, just try to watch yourself next time, ok?" she said as she let out a sigh. "no problem!" he replied before running off again. Maya then started q look op p.m. to get back on track and arrived at her family restaurant. she then starts to see customers waiting outside in a long line that stretched out through town. she begins to walk past some of the customers and overhears their conversations. "What's taking so damn long?" a man said frustratingly. "Cmon kids, we're going some place else," a woman said angrily. "I and my husband are not getting any younger," an old woman said while raising her walking stick in the air. Maya started walking towards the doors of the restaurant with the bag of groceries in her grasp, only to be slapped in the face by an uncalled-for slap. *SLAP*, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Maya yelled. " "DAMN IT MAYA YOU SCREWED US OVER TODAY! WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!!!" her mother shouted at her while pointing at her bitterly. Maya knew she couldn't rat out the fact she was with her aunt or else her mom would be even more furious. "I..." she stammered. "I GOT LOST!" Maya cried out loud. "LOST???" her mom interrogated. "HOW MANY TIMES, HAVE I SENT YOU TO THAT SAME STORE AND YOU'VE GOT LOST?! HUH?! HOW MANY GOD FORSAKEN TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU??!" she shrieked. "oh I know... you're seeing a boy". "what?! no, I-" "NOT IN MY HOUSE YOU DAMN WRETCH!" she said as she almost strikes Maya again with her hand, only to be grabbed by the wrist quickly. "This isn't important right now, Dolores," Maya's dad said calmly. "you have customers outside waiting". Her mom jerks her arm back and walks away, mumbling in fury. Maya's father walks behind her yet turns his back around to speak to Maya. "Don't let it happen again," he scoffed at her. Maya then began to slowly sob, yet ceased herself by taking in deep breaths and walking towards the kitchen. once everyone started to get tired of waiting, they were about to leave when all of a sudden Maya's father kicks the door wide open with a bunch of food bowls in his clasp. "WAIT! THE FOOD IS READY! " he shouted out to the leaving customers. They all turned around, and the patrons began to flood back into the store. while everyone was eating, an old drunk man started to holler out for a waiter. "HEY, WAITER!". "CAN I GET SOME DAMN SERVICE AROUND HERE?!". "uh? excuse me," Maya said while waving her hand in front of his face. "Oh, a girl..." he muttered. "I asked for a waiter, not some damn brat," the man grunted. "I am the waiter," Maya said while resisting her vexation against him. "you can't be the waiter". "you're just some kid. Now piss off before I beat the shit out of you; I need a REAL WAITER, HAHA!" he cackled drunkenly. Maya then noticed he hadn't touched his bowl of soup in front of him, and when he was laughing hysterically". she whistled to the side while eyeing down the bowl of soup and pushed it, causing it to spill all over his lap. "AHHHHHHH!!!!" he wailed in agony. "SON OF A BITCH! AHHHHH MY BALLS! GAH!". Maya walked away with a held-in-laugh look on her face as she was about to enter the restaurant corridors. once it was closing time, she and her family headed off back home for the night and when sunrise came up again, Maya got ready to go buy more food. as she was about to head out, her mom scolded her. "AH AH AH! listen here young lady, you'd better not do the same thing you did to me and your father yesterday". "you had better be back in time or else". "sure" Maya scoffed before closing the door behind her. while she went through the city, Maya didn't see the kid who usually plays his ball game in the streets. "Maybe he found a new place to play at," she murmured. She finally then reached her destination and bought her items in a hurry back home and just in time. "I'm back!" Maya said exhaustingly, with the door open and a bag in her hand. "Finally you did something right in your life Maya, I'm proud of you," her mom uttered in relief. "yeah... thanks" Maya nervously chuckled. She then went on about her week, but over the days felt bad that she wasn't visiting Aunt Otori as much. all that changed when she decided to visit her on Friday. on her way back from the market, Maya spoke to herself. "Maybe I should visit Aunt Otori just this one time, I mean... not to brag or anything, but I have been doing a pretty good job this week". "maybe I need to take a break for a moment and visit her". "yeah I'll do that," she murmured to herself. on her way to Aunt Otori's house, Maya realized she was in a different part of the forest. "Hold on a sec, am I bugging out or am I going the wrong way?" she questioned. "No...that can't be. I swear I remember this being the right path". Maya began to search everywhere in the forest until the sunset for the day. "damn it, it's almost closing time back at the shop and I still haven't found aunt Otori". "and to top it all off, just my luck... the sun went down". in frustration, Maya sat down next to a tree out of tiredness; however, something began to bother her. *sniff sniff*. "AH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SMELL?!" she groaned with her hand over her mouth and nose. Maya walks through thick and thin in the direction of the foul smell, only to reach a certain spot that seems familiar. Once she made her way throughout the forest, she stumbled upon a footprint in the grass with the shape of a paw. the rotting smell got even worse as she got closer. Maya then opened her eyes from the putrid smell, only to look up in complete and utter terror. she saw Aunt Otori's house in complete disarray. the shoji window panes had been torn apart, and the smell got even worse. "No..." Maya whimpered as she ran towards her aunt's house in fear for her aunt's safety. Maya barged through the unbroken door, and what she saw put her in a completely dreadful state. "no...please... I'm begging... this has to be a nightmare," she sobbed in distress. Aunt Otori's rotting body was lying flat on the floor with a sword stabbed in her back. Maya rushed her way over to her aunt but was stopped in her tracks by buzzing flies zooming around her late aunt's rotting corpse. Maya soon moved back in her steps, fell to her knees, and started to grab her head in a panic. "wake up Maya... WAKE UP DAMMIT!" she grunted as she punched the blood-stained floor with her knuckles. "if only I was here for you". "this is all my fault, if I was here you would still be alive" she sobbed. Maya then cracked out of nowhere and shrieked and the top of her lungs. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!", she screeched loudly before standing up to see the sword with an emblem on the side of the blade. it had an eye of some sort of beast on it. in her stunned state, she ran away back on the trail that leads to her home. Maya dashed through the pitch-black forest as branches began to scratch her. she kept tripping constantly in a sob and was trying her best to reach home. when she finally reached the front of her house, she limped her way towards the door to open it; when all of a sudden, she heard her parents screaming at each other. "STUPID CHILD!" her mom shouted. "ALWAYS GETTING INTO BULLSHIT!" she yelled loudly. "WHY GOD! WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE BLESSED ME WITH A SON INSTEAD!". "THAT FORSAKEN CHILD HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING RIGHT IN HER LIFE". "SHE CAN'T EVEN PICK UP SIMPLE GROCERIES LIKE I ASKED HER TO," she shouted as she threw many heavy objects across the kitchen. "if she takes as little as one step in this house after what she did today... I'LL DO AS MUCH AS KILL HER WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!". Maya moves her hand away from the unopened door and begins to silently cry a load of tears. "honey please calm down..." her husband murmured. "CALM DOWN?! DAMN YOU TO HELL ALONG WITH THAT DEVIL TOO! HUH? HOW ABOUT THAT!" "YOU'RE ALWAYS TOO EASY ON HER, HOW ABOUT YOU GROW A PAIR AND MAN UP! ". she kept shouting at him as her husband's patience grew thinner and thinner with every insult being thrown at him. *SLAP!* "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TO DO WOMAN!". "IT'S ALWAYS SOME BULLSHIT WITH YOU!" he yelled. "YOU NEVER HAVE CARED FOR ANYONE ELSE BUT YOURSELF!" "WHY COULDN'T YOU BE MORE LIKE YOUR SISTER OTORI!" "AT LEAST SHE HAS SANITY IN HER LIFE!" he yelled out. "DAMN THAT WITCH TOO!" Maya's mom shouted as she held the side of her red-colored face. "IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF HER THAT WE'RE STUCK HERE!" "MY PARENTS ALWAYS WHINED AT MY NECK TELLING ME TO MOVE TO JIKAN LIKE MY DEAR SISTER OTORI", she shouted as she mocked them. "I'M DONE WITH YOU AND THAT BITCH! TO HELL WITH YOU BOTH!" she screamed as she stomped up the stairs. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!" he faintly said as he ran up the stairs. Maya was too scared to even come back home and had nowhere to go that night, so she walked away into the night sky with a pounding headache and tears in her eyes. all of a sudden, Maya stopped to see the bird tree she once walked past by a couple of days ago. she saw the birds were mourning one of their dead members. right next to the birds tree, was a larger tree with a hollow hole in it that could fit maya's entire body. she then enters the tree and sits down to talk to herself. "What did I do wrong... why does everyone hate me? " were some of the few words she mumbled to herself while crying her eyes out. Maya then stayed at that tree for the night, as she had no place to go. the only person who ever actually cared for her was dead by the hands of the unknown, and the two people who she lived with most of her life would throw her out if she went back to them... or go to ends of hell to kill her.

current time... in the town of Sābisu, Voza.

the old man continued off after talking to Maya and ended up in the small town of Sābisu. While walking through the town, he starts to see all the town's people carrying out their daily lives. "This town sure does remind me of better days," he says to himself before being interrupted by a rolling ball. "A Temari Ball?". "Hey can you pass that over here?" a voice called out.