Baiken's Wish

Wild Encounter

The sun trickled through the branches of the trees. It was a cool day in the rural villages of the Japanese countryside. Crows cawed and rang out their tune confirming it was indeed autumn. There was never much to do this time of year. A gap between festivals and events meant a break from all the festivities of a village. You stared at the sky and peered at clouds. Your eyes wander the beautiful landscape of tall grass and hills on the outskirts of the village.

On the hill in the distance you see a person. They have long hair done up in a ponytail. A set of robes and what looks like katana. *Must be a ronin* They turn to look in your direction before walking down the hill and in the direction of the village. You sit up under the tree. The ronin walked down the path you had taken to come out this far.

*Not many people visit around this time of year. There's nothing better to do so I might as well say hello.*

You get up and start on the path back to town. The path leads through a patch of trees. It's in this patch of trees that the leaves rustle above you. The only thing you see is a spiked metal bat before you vision turns to black.

When coming to you strain to get off the floor. A thick rope is tied around your arms and legs

(y/n): nnngg huh

You struggle and groan. Your head is wracked with pain. It's hard to get up. *What happened?*

(?): You awake now bastard?

(y/n): Wha- ? Who?

A strong calloused hand grabs your collar and pulls you up. You come face to face with a woman. Her left eye scarred and covered with a goggled eyepatch.

(?): Who sent you? *shakes you roughly*

Your head whips while she tosses you around. Your eyes struggle to focus and you pant rapidly.

Your body is thrown to the ground and a solid kick lands straight into your side.

(y/n): Hey! *haccc* Stop! I don't even know you!

You roll over onto your back to get a look at your surroundings. It's about mid day and you believe this is the patch of trees you had walked into. In front of you is the woman. Her robes tattered and single glaring eye resonate with intimidation. A katana strapped to her side and you now notice, she's missing her right arm. She jumps at you and before you can even attempt to dodge she already has her foot planted firmly on your stomach. You're winded by the sheer force of the impact.

(?): Were you sent by **That Man**?

(y/n): Get- Get off me!

You struggle and shift around to get her foot off your stomach. The woman glares at you with narrowed eyes. She steps back and you finally get to take a deep breath. Coughing, you try to sit up.

(?): I don't think someone this pathetic could possibly be sent to kill me. Who are you and why were you following me?

(y/n): I'm (y/n). I'm an origami artist from Tabe village. And I wasn't following you. I was just going home.

(?): Liar. I saw you sitting under the tree. You left as soon as you thought I wouldn't notice you behind me.

The woman places a hand on her katana's pommel.

(y/n): I-- Okay. I was following you. But I didn't have any bad intentions! It's just very quiet this time of year and I was excited that an interesting looking person showed up. I thought you were a ronin and perhaps I could show you around town and m- maybe interest you in some art. I could also get you a place to stay if you wanted to wait till the next festival.