Legend of the River Serpent

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ichiro

I waited until Hoshi was out of sight from the bandits, I watched them for a little longer.  They were scavenging the huts; a man ran to block a bandit from taking his young child.  Time to go.  I jumped up and slipped away as the bandit hacked at the man.  I quickly raced off, not seeing the fate of the man. 

I raced through fields, and into the forest.  Running down a trail, I was invisible to the human eye.  I stopped by a large rock foundation, wasting no time, I made sure no had seen me and followed me.  Then slipped in between two rocks, which made a cave like place.

Inside was my Father’s katana, a bow and arrows, and an assortment of other things.  I strapped the sword on, swung the quiver over my shoulder, grabbed my bow, crammed some stuff in a sack and took off. 

The first place I went was to find Hoshi, I found her parents, and Hibiki.  They were huddled in some thick trees by a small stream.

“Where are the others?”  I asked.

Just then Chouko burst into the small hiding place.  “Where is Hoshi?” Her Mother asked, standing.

“I haven’t seen her since this morning,” Chouko replied.

“Where is Riku?”  I asked.

“He ran off after Hoshi,” Hoshi’s mother said, on the edge of tears.  This was looking bad.

“I’ll go look for them,” I said, turning to run off.

“I’ll go with you,” Hoshi’s Father said.  As we ran to find them, I noticed Hoshi’s father glanced briefly at my weapons, but didn’t say anything.

As we ran through the rice fields, we could hear the screams from the village.  From the distance, I could see that one of the huts were on fire.  I stopped and held my arm out, signaling Hoshi’s father to do the same.

“If you go north, I’ll go south, and we can circle around the village and meet on the other side,” I said.

He nodded.  “All right.”   

I took off through the fields, I went by Hoshi’s hut first.  No-one was there, but I could tell the bandits had been through here.  The place was ransacked, items strewn everywhere.   I stayed out of sight from the bandits, checking every place I could that I thought she would be.

By the time I got to the meeting place, the bandits had started to leave.  As I slipped up behind some trees, I heard a cry.  I looked out towards the sound, and saw I bandit dragging two struggling children from a hut.  

Without a second thought, I charged out.  I let out a yell as I drew my sword, raising it up.  The bandit, who was thickly built, and muscular, pulled a Tetsubo from his belt.   It was about as long as his forearm, and bottom half, had little silver pieces on it.

I dropped back into a stance, holding the sword out. 

“Run!!”  I commanded the two children.  They looked at me with wide eyes, and scurried off.

The bandit swung the Tetsubo expertly in his right hand, and charged.  As he swung the hard wooden weapon, I jumped easily out of the way, and swung my Katana.  The bandit ran backwards out of my sword range, and readied his weapon.

Suddenly his eyes opened wide, and he grabbed at his shoulder.  But he was too late.  Half of his brown garb slid down, he grabbed at it, pulling it up and trying to hold it there.  He charged again, swinging the Tetsubo. 

I brought my sword up, ready to defend myself.  When suddenly he froze.  His face was twisted on an odd expression, as he just stood there.  I sidestepped as he fell forward.  As he hit the ground, I looked up to see Hoshi’s father.