The Cool Brazilian Wind Blows through the Garden

Arrival

Sam falls to the ground holding the large slash on chest. He had been bested by Raiden. Fate had made its choice. As the world around him began to go dark, he took one last look at Blade Wolf. He smiled and winked at him. After that Sam collapsed as he drew his final breath.

Sam began to feel calm and at peace as he began to accept his new reality of complete darkness. It felt strangely cold in the afterlife. Sam was brought out of his trance after being pecked on the head.

Sam groaned as he sat up "Ow. Peck someone else would you." And shooed off the bird.

Sam's eyes began to adjust to the brightness and his surroundings began to appear. Sam saw that he was in a forest that was covered in snow. He wasn't in Colorado, that's for sure.

Sam stood up from the pile of snow he was in and looked around still confused on how he ended up where he was. He put his right hand on his head and noticed that it wasn't the robotic arm issued to him by Desperado. It was his real arm. Sam was revelling in this when he noticed something hanging in the tree infront of him. It was hard to make out, but as he got closer he realized what it was; his trusty Murasama. Sam jumped up and grabbed his sword.

He smiled to himself as he inspected it. "Seems that life enjoys giving me second chances."

Sam fastened his sword to his hip and began to walk through the forest. "I need to get out of this cold. It's colder than Jack out here."

He chuckled at his own bad joke and continued moving. He began to hum to himself to clear some of the silence. He was a bit lost in song when he noticed a cabin out in the distance. He began to pick up his speed, closing the distance quickly.

He noticed something was wrong. The front door was open and a bit of snow leading in. There were also large tire tracks going to and from the house. He drew his Murasama and slowly made his way into the house. As he made it  through the hall, it was eerily quiet. He turned the corner into what appeared to be a kitchen and saw something that made him sick. He saw two bodies with pale skin and hair, blood pooled around them with bullet casings everywhere. They appeared to be a man and a woman and they were embracing each other.

Sam averted his eyes from the sight. "I wonder what bastards did this."

Sam then heard a sound coming from upstairs. He began to slowly walk up the stairs and approach the room he heard the sound coming from. Now that he was closer, he could make out what it was; crying. He pushed open the door to see a destroyed bedroom. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and turned towards the curtain.

He moved over to the curtain and caught a glimpse of someone looking back at him.

He placed his sword back in the scabbard and began to move towards the curtain. "Hey, can you come out from behind the curtain?"

The person in question pulled the curtain closer. They were petrified at the sight of Sam. He moved closer to the curtain again and the person moved back again, but they tripped and pulled the curtain off the bar and fell. Sam winced a bit at the thud and lifted the curtain up and what he saw made his heart sadden. It was a little girl, no older than ten. She had similar features to the man and woman downstairs and had bright, carmine colored eyes.

Sam moved closer to her, but she quickly tucked herself in the corner and began crying.

Through her crying the little girl said. "P-please don't hu-hurt me."

Sam reached out his hand to her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

The girl replied back. "Y-y-you l-look like the b-bad people wh-wh-who killed Mama and Papa."

Sam made the connection almost instantly. The people downstairs were her parents.

Sam looked at her in the eyes and said. "I promise you, I am not like the people who killed your parents."

The girl was hesitant at first, but took Sam's hand. Sam helped the girl to her feet and wiped her tears off of her face.

Sam smiled and said. "There we go, much better. Do you have a name by chance?"

The girl whispered. "Mary."

Sam pat her on the shoulder. "That's a pretty good name. My name is Samuel, but you can call me Sam."

Sam brought himself down to Mary's level. "Say, do you have anywhere else to go?"

Mary shook her head no. Her parents were all she had.

Sam frowned for a second, but brought his face back to a neutral look. "Well, would you like to tag along with me?"

Mary looked up at sam with her eyes wide. "Really?"

Sam nodded ."I'm not just going to just leave you here by yourself."

Mary hugged Sam tightly which caught the samurai off guard. "Thank you."

Sam was surprised at first, but then chuckled. "It was no biggy."

Mary released Sam from the hug and Sam stood up and began walking out of the room with Mary. When they got outside Mary began to walk ahead while Sam turned back to the cabin.

Sam stood still for a few seconds. "I may not know who you both were in there, but I promise you that I will take care of Mary.  I won't lose sight of what's important again. I swear on it."

Sam then turned away from the cabin and began to catch up with Mary. What awaited Sam in the future, untold.