Your Father's Daughter || Mizu x Fem! Reader || ||Blue Eye Samurai ||

Chapter 9

Staring at the horse foot below you, you let your mind wander off to a distant place. You couldn't accurately count how many days or nights it has been since you had seen your father and wondered if he was beginning to grow worried. Had it been long enough for him to grow concerned? Had he sent others to look for you? Embarrassment flamed your face beneath the skin at the thought of having to be rescued. Of being an inconvenience to your fathers plan. It would never sit right within your spirit. You closed your eyes and let a sigh slip from your lips.

From a distance, a hushed conversation was being had. The blue eyed man had come back from his break behind the trees and he was greeted excitedly by his apprentice. Ringo and his master began discussing their next location. Well, more of Ringo discussing and the samurai listening. The samurai never spoke aloud where his next navigation spot was. The excitement in the apprentice's voice could be felt from where you lay as he tried to be discreet about the conversation you had with him.

"She told me! Just before you returned. I was starting to get worried you wouldn't come back...anyway!" he began his rambling again.

"I got her to eat and she liked it very much. I knew it would work. Everyone enjoys sweets, but not everyone enjoys fish."

"Not everyone can afford to be a picky eater." He muttered, loud enough for you to hear, before returning to his silent posture.

"I agree, Master, you're right. I'm glad I got her to eat and drink a little. She told me down the road there was another town. Where her father would take her to have sweets after training. Master, when you're finished with your quest and you begin training me, we should make that a tradition of our own. Sweets after training-"

"Her Father took her there? She told you this?" This caught the samurai's attention.

"Yes! She would have Dango after training as a child. The restaurant is close to where they lived so he would take her there..I'm thinking if we stopped by that town.." he leans closer to hide the surprise

"We could find more food that she'd like to eat! Sure, it isn't a home cooked meal, but the closer to home, the better."

"The closer to home, huh?"

You felt his eyes on you now, and you were sure to keep your eyes lowered to the ground. If only the sharpness of your glares could pierce his skull.

After a few moments of silence, he walked towards his horse with his busy apprentice following behind him. They both straddled onto their saddle but not before Ringo could flash another hopeful grin in your direction. Moments later, you felt the stare from his Master again. Watching you carefully before telling his horse to go forward.

The road was becoming familiar again. Every time you opened your eyes, you'd recognize the scenery more. It wasn't exactly how your father had introduced it to you, but nature shifts and changes every new season. When he brought you here, it was in the midst of summer where the leaves provided barely enough shade to shield from the blazing sun. Now many winters have passed since then and you're being escorted down the same path with no promising warmth of the sun but instead the cold air and colder stares from an ice eyed killer.

It is said that if you find yourself in the woods, and nature doesn't respond to your presence then it isn't a place one should be in. You've heard that talk from an Itako you had come across. Your father told you to take no mind to the women who speak of spirits, but you kept that information just in case. You were the first one to notice the birds had stopped chirping. The eeriness of silence. Patient silence.

Was it really a shot in the dark if you knew that you would hit gold? And was it a lucky move if it was calculated? Those questions came to mind as you stared at the horse foot below you. Now it was the samurai's turn to notice and he did, but it was too late.

From the trees of the mountain side came men sprinting towards you three. Men in armor, with swords that reflected off their vests. They positioned themselves around, squatting into a fighting stance and readying their swords. The samurai brought his horse to a halt, and you could hear his apprentice stop as well.

"Consider today your last, traveler." said the man in charge. His voice was authoritative, demanding fear and full attention. He was a good pick for commander.

The day your father picked these men to be the guards of his operation here, you were there. They didn't see you, of course, but you heard them all speak. This one who spoke was Okazaki Toshikuni. He spent time with your father, spending a few weeks with him as your father scoped him out. His background, his personality, his fighting ability. He was a strict man, as stern as he was large. He had seen you once, at a younger age, as you were slipping in from training.

He was here for one reason. To keep wandering travelers from interfering with your fathers operations. A few miles down the road wasn't a town, like you had promised the naive apprentice. Your father was removing important resources vital for his plans. Paying off important government and royal officials was the least of his worries. It was the people of the land who would find ways to make it a problem for him so he appointed these men to become his soldiers here. You recognized them by uniform. Disheveled, but recognizable amongst each other and those who knew who they were working for. They would ploy as thieves, except they wouldn't just take your belongings. They would take your life. Your father wanted no one to know of this operation; its discretion was important.

Not a word was spoken from the samurai. He instead removed himself from his horse and approached the center. Quietly. Calmly. His arms underneath his cloak moved and revealed his sheath, making the other men tense. He had announced that he would take all of them in a fight, and not a word was spoken into the air. The men were not used to someone as bold as him, but they were ready nevertheless.

The sound of a blade slicing the air had always been one of your favorites, followed by the sound of blades meeting. The ringing vibrated through the trees as the men fought. Here you were able to witness the samurai's skill. How he moved fluidly while he spilled blood onto the white snow, the effortless grip on his sword. There was no strain in his fighting, in fact at times he looked to be dancing. It was like trying to catch a river in the palm of your hands. He was water.

Swords clashed, bodies fell, and your hope began to decrease as less and less men stood to fight him. It didn't feel like there was enough time for you to do anything as you watched him take down these men one by one. You quickly glanced around, and spotted his apprentice who was watching attentively. His amazement was painted all over his face as he watched his master fight. He looked to be standing in the presence of greatness. What did he know about greatness?

Glancing down you noticed a sharp dagger to his side. You started kneeing the nervous horse's side in hopes to move closer to Ringo's. You just needed to grab it with your teeth. The apprentice would be too distracted with the fight to notice you, and you'd use it to stab into the horse's thigh making it react and hopefully buck you off. You would be able to escape. You began slowly.

A gunshot went off into the air, silencing all around you. Your least favorite sound. It pulled your attention quickly and you looked over to see who had shot it off. The commander had shot it into the air, standing before the samurai now. You guessed it had been given to him by your father. Bodies lay on the ground, but he and a few men still stood. He had every intention to fire a hole into the samurai's head if he wouldn't comply and though he was fast, he wasn't as fast as a bullet. You knew that, and so did he as he put his hands up in slow surrender.

As they took him, the apprentice, and the horses hostage, you looked over at the commander. Staring at him until he met eyes with yours. He glanced at you once over and then continued his walk ahead. Though you had recognized him from those years before, he had not recognized you. You began to wonder if you lead yourself into an even worse trap.