My Samurai

Chapter 8: Strange Encounter and The Treasure of Heike

After everyone woke up, the four of you decide to continue on your way to Nagasaki. The sun was going down and you noticed that Mugen hasn't said much all day, which was unusual because he normally argues with Fuu at least three times before they you guys get to your next destination. You decide to ask him what happened last night.
"Hey Mugen," you say quiet enough for only him to hear, "what happened to Sara?"
   He gave you a bored look then signed. "She let her guard down on purpose when I attacked her. Before she died she said something about knowing her son was dead all along and being manipulated by the government."
   At that point you didn't know what to say. You thought she would leave but you never expected her to let Mugen kill her. "Wow...who knew she had all that stuff going on."
   Mugen shrugged at your comment and continued looking towards the sky. You could tell that the situation really bothered him so you decided not to stay on the subject and just admire the sky like everyone else. A shooting star went by and Fuu stops to make a wish on it. Choosing to do the same, you close you eyes and wish that you'll remember where you came from, but your thoughts get interrupted when you hear the sound of someone falling.
   To no surprise you see Mugen who fell while trying not to step on a mushroom.
   "Hey these are Autumn Mushrooms, they're known as the mountain jewel and are worth a lot of money." Fuu explains to the group. Mugen, not listening to what she was saying, picks the Mushroom and eats it, then starts to look for more. Before we knew it, Mugen and Jin had eaten then them all.
  "You guys! ugh never mind," Fuu sighs and decides she wasn't even going to try to scold them considering all the mushrooms are gone anyway. "Fuu didn't the horoscope say to beware of mushrooms?" You ask.
   "Now you tell us," Mugen grumbles and before you know it the ground starts to shake. Fuu grabs onto Mugen and you grab onto her so you guys can get out of the way but the ground caves in under your feet and the four of you fall through the ground.
                             ***
    Surprisingly, you guys landed unharmed in a cavern underground. Opening your eyes you can only see the shadows of  three people so you assume its Jin, Mugen and Fuu. Suddenly, you hear Fuu scream and two unfamiliar mens' voices scream as well. You feel a breeze as Jin and Mugen run past you and Mugen cuts off one of the men's arm. Thankfully the men run away screaming and the fight doesn't last too long.
    "Who were they?" You ask feeling around for Fuu. Instead Mugen finds you and begin dragging you along by the wrist as he walked. "No idea," he says, "but who cares, let's get out of this cave." Fuu and Jin follow and you all walk out to see a bunch of men who appear to be digging for something.
    You spot the two men that you guys encountered in the cave and Mugen throws a man his arm back. He had cut it off during their fight but something was weird. The man wasn't bleeding and attached his arm back like it was no problem. Before you got a chance to bring it up to Mugen a man starts to sing.
    He had long black hair, a torn red robe and a yellow scarf. His eyes were wide and he sang about corpses. To you, he looked crazy but everyone else just looked slightly confused at his actions. Finishing his song, he jumped down from the rock he was standing on and addressed you four.
    "Well, well, what have we here?" You didn't know what to say but thankfully Fuu spoke up. "Um...what is it that your doing here?" He ignored her question and continued to talk about the sun, the moon, and the stars but the whole conversation just confused you even more.
    "Who the hell are you?" Mugen asked. Eventually he said his name was Shige and how the blood of Heike flows in him. At that point you really wanted to find a way out of there. Everyone here was giving you a strange vibe. Noticing Mugen was still holding your wrist, you decide to move to stand closer to him.
      "I have taken it upon myself to excavate the buried treasure of the Heike." Shige tells you four, but this place didn't look like it had anything valuable in it. You zone out and begin to look around. This place looks just as bland as the people do. There can't possible be any treasure here, how long have they been digging?
     "The treasure of Heike is buried here in the land of Kyushu." Shige starts explaining using a map written in invisible ink over a family tree he had. "I have a bad feeling about this," Fuu says turning around, "let's go." She was clearly irritated but where was she trying to go? You had no clue if there was even a way to get out of here. Before Fuu leaves, Shige makes an offer.
     "We've been digging for 5 years and we were just about to find the treasure," he begins, "perhaps you would care to assist us since we are shorthanded at the moment." Working here was the last thing on your mind but you guys did need the money. "What'll you pay us?" Mugen asked turning to him.
     "Ten percent of the treasure once we find it," Shige says with a smirk. Mugen and Jin considered it while you and Fuu weren't on board yet. "We have to get to Nagasaki, we don't have time for this!" Fuu argues.
    "You'll need it all the more if your going there," Shige says trying to convince her.
     "I guess you have a deal then," Mugen says to your surprise. You weren't sure you trusted this guy yet, what if he's lying? Shige left us with the men we had encountered in the cave whose names were Sabini and Fuupa and you followed them to see where you guys had to do.
    "Mugen are you sure about this?" you ask him, "that Shige guy doesn't exactly look like a trustworthy person."
    "You worry too much, everything will be fine," he says calmly, "besides we need the money we might as well." You sigh knowing that you probably wouldn't be able to change his mind so easily. "Ok well let's just hurry up so we can get out of here."
    "Whatever you say (Y/n)." He says smirking at you and you guys continue following Shiges workers.