[KH/FF] Treachery of Fate: Blood and Betrayal

Chapter 2

Water rushes against your face, and you wake up, deep within a forest. The birds chip, and the spring air is cold against your skin, drying the droplets of water. You curse under your breath and sit up. Your stab wound bandaged, and your clothes changed from your shinobi attire to ragged robes too baggy for your frame--only poor farmers wore this now, if they even existed anymore. How long has it been since you last awoke? Your daggers are gone, and so is your father's blade, and your mother's jade necklace. There's a scroll next to you, and you open it to the calligraphic letter.

'[Name],

I have given you a second chance at life. Leave the syndicate. It's my way of being a good friend and protecting you. Masayuki's assassination is on my hands now. Your stubborn composure has left me no choice, and well, I wish you the best of luck.

-Ryuushin Takahara'

'That asshole!' you thought, crumpling the paper and tossing it into the ground. 

He completely misused your trust--you should not have hesitated, no, you should have seen this coming. You knew there was a reason he was acting weird for the past few weeks, now this explained why. Though, not why; was it the independence, the title of leader for smaller factions? The distance you two had shared, and the observant looks he gave you always made you uncomfortable lately because they were not out of concern anymore.

In the midst of your pacing and kicking at the rocks of the river, you noticed now that there was a bag beside you. Inside, there was your mother's kimono, and a small baggy of a days' worth of food. You stood up, slung the bag on, and made your way through the forest, following the river upstream in hopes it would lead somehow. The shock you felt couldn't compare to the disappointment on how late you were to react the night before, and thinking about it numbed your steps. Maybe, if you had been in control of your emotions like you were supposed to be, this wouldn't have happened--at least that's what you told yourself. 

You sighed, and looked up: it was almost sunset, with the sky in the distance beginning to change in hue, and you had nowhere to stay for the night. If this was the same forest that you were trained in sometimes, then you'd be home within three days. If not, you'd be stuck here for who knows how long. After about an hour of walking however, you saw a well coming into view and you sat to take a break. 

You took off the bag, and laid it on the floor, laying your head on it and gazing at the sky. What were you to do? There was nothing you could do realistically, other than survive; this was out of your control, and in failure to prove yourself, you'd be lucky if you only got a finger cut off by the man who called for the assassination, not even speaking about what Yoshihara would do to you as syndicate leader. Otherwise, the quickest option, you'd be killed, especially as you went rogue. You closed your eyes and decided to drift to sleep- you needed your rest if you were to fight back for acceptance in the syndicate again.

The next day, you woke up at dawn and began walking again. Before going though, you changed into your mother's kimono and tossed the imperial clothes into your bag. You took water from the well, which had a light eerie green tint to it, and ate some of the food in the bag, then continued your three day journey. 

You had walked for many miles before coming to a dirt road. The scenery around you had now turned into one of small hills and bumps on the grassy countryside. You sighed a breath of relief knowing that if you had rested at all, you wouldn't have even been able to reach here until tomorrow. After stopping for a few minutes to eat what was left in your bag, you continued on walking, breathing in the pure air; the spring had brought incredibly relaxing weather with it this year.

It was only later that you reached syndicate grounds at dawn of the next day. Approching the large walled boarders, you were greeted by two samurai. They pointed their sharp swords at you and you raised our hands in surrender. They walked you away from the front gates, when you attacked. The first samurai had turned around when you hit a pressure point in an open space between his armor- he fell unconscious. The second noticed and as he lashed at you with his blade, you jumped on it and kicked him straight in the face, his weak armor breaking like tissue paper. Of course, he was knocked out as well. You didn't want to kill anyone, just knock them out, so you hid the two guards into a nearby bush; but before that, you put one of their clothes on, over your kimono, in order to keep from being sought out by anyone else.