Noble Views

Chapter 15: Breathe

The rustling of maple leaves surrounds the scarlet-eyed man, he seemed calm as he listened to his surroundings. The unnatural silence of the birds and animals made him acutely aware of other people's presence.

The soft clanking of weapons wasn't very hard to distinguish as whispers could be heard in every direction, the man knew it was an ambush without even opening his eyes. He just had to make out how many were hiding in the area, as he was about to finish a sound that ripped through the air headed toward his head. 

He dodged the arrow gracefully as he sighs, "you're so impatient." He didn't turn his head toward the attacker, but he had opened his eyes aware of the footsteps approaching. "Kaedehara Kazuha, stand down!" The bushes rustle around him; many of the soldiers appear ready to attack with a simple order, "In the name of the Raiden shogun, surrender your vision or suffer the consequences!"

The young man narrowed his eyes, watching the soldiers in front of him glare in his direction, "what if I refuse?" Many of the soldiers ready their stance, some ready to strike others shook their heads in disapproval.

"Then you will be punished. Men, confiscate his vision now!!!" 

Kazuha stood up, his hand hovering over the hilt, ready to block any blow that might cause him harm. One of the soldiers passed out from a quick strike from behind, panicked they had all turned to see the unexpected guest.

"I thought you weren't going to show up?" 

"Man, kazuha are you really doubting your friend to abandon you in these trying times" 

The young man would have laughed if it weren't such a dire situation, "alright fine but you shouldn't let your guard down just yet." 

Kazuha's blade was already brandishing a soldier's neck, he was quick on his feet. Every tiny movement he made so as not to get hit by other soldiers' weapons was successfully dodged. The air around him felt light just like his feet, "Fallen leaves… adorn my night."

As he had blinded the soldiers, kazuha grabbed his friend's arm pulling him out of the whirlwind he had created. "Come on tomo, we don't have time to chat." His friend was disappointed about something but kazuha didn't have the time to question him, he could only wonder what had upset his friend. 

Away from the chaos of the soldiers, the pair of friends are finally able to breathe normally once again. "Man kazu, here I was to save you but I ended up getting saved instead," Tomo seemed a little upset but wasn't serious about his words. "Tomo? Why are you upset about that? Shouldn't we be celebrating that we even made it without a scratch?"

Kazuha knew that he wasn't in any real danger, especially since he was only there to meet with tomo after they started wandering to other islands a month ago. 

"I guess you're right but wouldn't we be celebrating a little too early for that?" Tomo points towards another group of soldiers closing in, "why must we lose our lives for an item that the gods themselves gave us?"

Kazuha contemplated this for as long as the silence let him, this vision was something that was given to him by the gods above but now his own God wanted to strip him of his ambition. "Kazu we better keep moving, I don't think they'll stop until they get our vision or we die trying to stop them," tomo wanted to make sure his friend was safe but he made it hard when he started spacing out in the middle of armed soldiers.

Purple lighting flashes in between tomo's fingers, rushing toward the soldiers at speeds that make him undetectable by them.

Each one falls with only a touch of his finger making contact with a soldier's neck, he had only shocked them enough to paralyze them for a couple of minutes.