Blade Song

Chapter 24-Blood Soaked Sands

The company of Hitomi, Mei, Yoshiko, Fuyuko, and even Jin over dinner kept me distracted for a little while. They were all very curious about him, and although they were a little hesitant to ask him questions about the circus, once they figured out he didn't mind talking about it, they had trouble stopping themselves. It's not as though life at the circus had been all roses, but compared to our time with Masahiko, it was a welcome change. Slaying beasts wouldn't satisfy me anymore, but that was all Jin ever knew, so to him, it wasn't half bad.

Hours went on, and the group quieted, even the children. Pretty soon, I was the only one left awake, which wasn't new, but without the fox to distract me, all I had was that damn window. He still hadn't returned from where ever it was he went. Neither had the twins for that matter, not that this really bothered me. Hidetaka and I would probably be alright, but it's hard to maintain the same relationship with someone who thinks you should have been killed. It was too bad, really. I'd grown fond of the twins.

I tried to focus on the book that Kiyoshi gave me, but I'd finally made it through all the stories and reading the same ones over again didn't keep me quite as entertained as I needed to be, especially for this night. My eyes kept shifting from the book, to the window, to the door. Would anyone really know if I slipped out for a second? The air was thick in here. It felt hard to move, harder to breathe. That stupid noise in my head was getting louder. Killing the ringmaster wasn't nearly satisfying enough. It'd been far too long since I heard any sort of decent song.

Just when I thought the noise might actually make me scream and dash out the door, a handful of lights in the distance caught my attention. I squinted at the bobbing bunch of approaching lights, trying to make sense of them. The corners of my mouth pulled themselves up into a huge grin. Torches. Oh, lady luck, have you smiled on me again?

Some nature enthusiasts out on a night time beach stroll didn't seem very freaking likely, which only left one thing: trouble; fantastic, sweet, fulfilling trouble. I had half a mind to march out there myself. It didn't really matter to me how many there were. The more I had to myself, the better. But I felt that might cause some friction later, so I went over to where Mitsuo was sleeping and shook him gently.

"Hey, blondie, I think we've got company coming."

He sat up with a groan and rubbed his eyes. "What?"

"There are some torches in the distance coming this way, or were you expecting a welcoming party?"

He muttered some curses under his breath as he got up and quietly woke Fuyuko and Takahiko. I sighed and folded my arms. Great. Now I was going to have to share with more people. He blew his whistle as well, but said it might take a little while for Kiyoshi to make it from where he was, if he was even close enough to hear it at all. I thought about taking Jin, but decided against it. He was already walking a thin line between beast slayer and murderer. The world didn't really need more people like me.

The four of us retrieved our weapons went outside to meet our torch wielding friends. Fuyuko and Takahiko walked out in front, hoping they could be reasoned with, a hope that was entirely on their end. My hope was that this thing would go sideways in a real bad way and I'd get to see how sand looked red.

Mitsuo and I stopped a little short and let the other two go forward. My eyes moved around the group, counting roughly thirty men. I suppose maybe it was a good thing I hadn't come out by myself, not that I wouldn't've loved the chance to try thirty by myself. The odds weren't looking great, but I knew the four of us were of a higher caliber than most of the street thugs we got back in the mercenary guild. In a battle of skill against numbers, how would it play out?

No one had drawn their weapons yet, but things were certainly tense. My fingers brushed against the leather bindings of the chakrams, just waiting for any excuse.