The Lost Shadow

Chapter 2 - Village in the Mountains

Footprints led to Hideaki who walked with one of his arms lying numb on his side while the other carried a bag that was hanging off his shoulder. Drops of blood were falling out of the swords sheath which was firmly attached to his side. Shaking with every step he took, Hideaki stopped for a moment and then gradually his vision started to fade. He fell on his side, hitting the ground which made him lose consciousness.

*Drip* Something cold started to fall on his face. *Drip* There it was again. Hideaki started to gain consciousness. His eyes slowly opened up. What he noticed was a blurry vision of a pink flower. He shut his eyes and then opened them up again to see a clearer view of what was in front of him, but what he saw was a woman in a pink kimono walking away. Hideaki began to get up. When he finally got up he started to walk towards the woman, but he got surrounded by two men who held theirs arms out to stop him from going any further. The woman walked into a group of men that started to walk away from him. The two men also joined that group. "Samurai, do not follow us. Our young mistress helped by waking you up only because she is a kind person. Also, if you look behind, you will see some food that she has left for you, but this is all she will do, nothing more."

Hideaki quickly turned his head and saw a basket filled with two loafs of bread. He turned back and saw a glimpse of the woman. White hair. White hair was all he could see. He smiled at the group and bowed as a sign of gratitude. The men started to get further away from Hideaki with the woman. He sat down and pulled his bag towards himself. He put one loaf of bread in the bag and the other was placed in front. The sheath was pulled out and leaned against his shoulder. Then he picked up the loaf and broke it in half. He took a big bite and munched slowly on the piece to savor every moment. As he finished the first half, Hideaki got up. The sheath was placed back on his side and he carried the bag on his shoulder so he could eat the other half. Since his left arm was numb and broken he could not use it so all he had was one arm. It wasn't as hard to get used to the idea of one arm because he knew that it was not permanent.

While he was lazily walking, he kept staring at something, then averting his eyes. He was always suspicious of things. Even if it is a rock he would look at it for a while until he knew that nothing was wrong with it. He usually walked with his chest up and both of his arms behind his head, but since he only had one arm he couldn't do that. After walking for a bit, he sat down. He finished his other loaf of bread very quickly. Hideaki was not someone who liked to walk for a long time so he lied down. He kept staring at the clouds out of curiosity. When he felt sleepy he got up. He did not want to sleep unless he knew it was safe. So he continued walking.

As he was walking, he noticed that there weren't any people around and that he hadn't seen a single village. He got really worried and thought that he was lost. But, just when he was about to lose hope he saw an old man with a stick walking towards his direction. He was a little suspicious to see only one man around and no one else, but since he was new to these areas he let go of his suspicion. Hideaki decided to confront the old man and ask if he had seen any villages close by. When he got close he noticed something strange about the old man. He saw cuts all over the man's body. Not old cuts, but fresh cuts that seemed like they were made recently. Worriedly, Hideaki asked what happened. "Old man, what happened to you? You're covered in cuts!"

When the old man looked up he took a step back. He fell to his knees and started to beg for his life. "Please, please dont hurt me. I haven't done anything wrong. You took over my village, what else do you want?"

Hideaki did not know what was going on. What was he talking about? Taken over a village? This was the first time he was in these areas. "Old man what do you mean? I haven't taken over any villages let alone ever been in these parts. What happened to you? Tell me!"

The old man was surprised. As he stood up he grabbed his stick. The old man walked closer to Hideaki. The stick dropped on the ground and the old man gripped both of Hideaki's arms. "If you are not from around here then you couldn't be apart of the group of samurais that have taken over my village? And if that is true then you must help me. Samurais are supposed to protect people so please come and save my village."