weakerlink (weakerlink) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2011-09-22 23:11:00

Entry tags:

Moonlight duels? What could be more exciting!
Kayura should have been more careful. She should have watched from further off. Or done more research on her computer at home. Things would have gone better. She realized that she was very lucky to be limping into the area reserved for training the next morning.

She didn't feel it. Normally she would dress in demure calf-length skirts with big shapeless tops not wanting to look too pretty or too eye catching. Besides, it was comfortable to dress that way. Today was a pants day though.

And the first time she was going to ask someone for assistance dealing with the supernatural since she had taken over her father's duty. She feels a touch of shame she has to ask for help.

"Hajime-sempai?" He has been here longer than her, he deserves that respect. "May I speak with you?"

She was glad it appeared that they were the only ones here this early in the day. She hadn't slept much after her defeat last night.

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get_medieval
2011-09-23 05:27 am UTC (link)

"Very good. A fight is no different than any other test." he taps his head with two fingertips. "The fight is as much about steel as your test is about a pencil. If you are prepared, and know you cannot lose, and your purpose is just... then you must win. If you do not go into it to win... you have already lost."

He stands. "Show me to this place, we will rest and talk there and wait for him."

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weakerlink
2011-09-23 05:38 am UTC (link)

She nodded and got up gathering her things as she did. She would leave these some place safe and get them later. Probably the next day since she'll need to sleep after this is done.

She takes him there. It takes very little time because she knows how to get all over the city very quickly. There is a near by park with a small man made stream running through it.

It is very dark out here tonight even with some near by street lights.

Kayura searches for a place they can sit and wait using a flash light that is on her cell phone to guide the way since they're in a pretty dark part of the park.

And she has a back pack with her not wanting to have to worry if she has to transform into her armor and ends up loosing ALL of her clothes. This has happened before.

Not fun.

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get_medieval
2011-09-23 05:43 am UTC (link)

He follows her, then moves out to the bridge across the man-made stream. "He will come here." he muses aloud. "Yes, this is a good place. And the stream will be happier when it is no longer haunted."

That said, he kneels on the bridge, and instructs her to do likewise, before closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.

"Yes, much happier. I do not think this place likes the ghost... out of balance."

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weakerlink
2011-09-23 05:51 am UTC (link)

She nearly tripped when he said that.

"You mean... you can feel that too Sempai?" She was shocked. She had only recently gotten used to the ability to feel when things were wrong.

The armor had granted her that gift. It let her track supernatural hotspots much easier. "This place... it's not like other places I've been to. But I can feel it isn't as it should be."

She had knelt down beside him and checked her clock.

They still had time.

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get_medieval
2011-09-23 05:58 am UTC (link)

He smiles. "Put the clock away. Even if I miss it, your armor will tell us when it is time." he replies, calm and serene as before, keeping his eyes closed.

"I cannot feel it like you do, with your magic. But a samurai must be balanced... follow the code, know the 8 lessons, keep mind, body and spirit in harmony, and keep all the five elements in balance.

The world is the same way. It wishes to be in balance. The right amount of fire, water, metal, earth and wood. If you are in balance in a place that is in harmony... you will feel it. So too can you sometimes tell when the world is not right."

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weakerlink
2011-09-23 06:08 am UTC (link)

She wasn't going to ask how he knew. She put her phone in the back pack though.

"It's more than that. I was trained how to see signs of things since I was little." She shakes her head.

"Father believed in making sure I knew how to see things because he thought I'd be much older when the armor fell to me and I had to be able to defend myself if something happened. The armor just makes it much more certain because I can feel it."

She knew that if a ghost asked someone a question directly to not answer it directly in most cases.

"Though you are right. I have seen people shy away from places I know for certain are not right, they don't seem to know why, they just feel uncomfortable."

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get_medieval
2011-09-23 06:14 am UTC (link)

He answers without being asked. "I can hear you shifting. There is a trial coming, you should be relaxing, and focusing on the task at hand. It will come when it comes." he replies, in regards to the time.

"Your father was a wise man. And yes... the kami speak to us all, some just choose not to listen, or are so far out of balance with the world they cannot hear. It is part of why I prefer places like this over the city. Too much fire and metal, and all the water and earth are trapped. Definitely not enough wood."

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weakerlink
2011-09-23 06:24 am UTC (link)

She finds it so hard to stay still. She clasped her hands together tightly and put them in her lap to help herself focus on that.

"He was.... I wanted to be just like him," she admits. "He wasn't just wise. He was smart. And a kind man too."

She had also seen as reserved as her father could be in public, in private he had loved her mother very much. She can still remember hearing sloshing water and her mother giggling in the kitchen whenever her father tried to 'help' mother. The memory leaves her aching and her mouth tasting of ashes again.

"It is why parks are built in cities. To return some of the green. I read somewhere that it is good for a city to have 'green spots'. That it helps the people in the city who can't leave to enjoy the outdoors." It makes sense to her anyways. Parks like this are nice and she is willing to bet it's pretty here during the day.

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	get_medieval 2011-09-23 06:27 am UTC (link)
	"I am still getting used to them. Once upon a time, there was far less city, and far more... park. As for wishing to be like him, you are already very smart. Wisdom comes with time and experience. You can choose to be kind... so you are well on your way." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

weakerlink
2011-09-23 01:14 pm UTC (link)

She would point out her intelligence comes from so much studying. But she knows her father also studied and if the stories of grandfather are true he had been forced to be much more disciplined than he expected her to be.

He was a much nicer teacher apparently.

"Thank you Sempai." She felt something tug at her senses so she silently peered looking for something different.

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	get_medieval 2011-09-23 01:35 pm UTC (link)
	Either he senses it as well, or he hears her shifting. In no hurry, he stands up near the center of the bridge, and moves his hand to his belt, not on his sword, but near. "This is my bridge now, you cannot use it." he tells the darkness. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

nextgen_misc
2011-09-23 04:33 pm UTC (link)

It shouldn't be happening this way. But down the path there is a faint white image that becomes more clear. It is a man.

He is rather handsome despite the fact he is dead. His uniform is neatly presented. He would look the picture of the perfect guard except or an important fact, he is dead and there is blood spots from where he had been stabbed.

He approaches the bridge then stops not setting foot on it.

"I ask you to leave please. I do not wish to involve you in what must happen tonight." He sees Kayura too but does not choose to acknowledge her for now.

"And take your charge with you. They do not belong out here alone, it is dangerous I would not see them harmed," he says again in a firm tone but choosing to not speak directly to Kayura and deciding she is not a warrior either.

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	get_medieval 2011-09-23 04:37 pm UTC (link)
	Hajime shakes his head. "People have died. I am already involved. This is my bridge, you may not cross it. The girl is my student, she is here to learn. She is otherwise no more involved than you make her. But I will hear your tale, and your name, if you will tell it. It is good to know who one faces." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

weakerlink
2011-09-23 04:40 pm UTC (link)

Kayura really isn't surprised by this. She has witnessed that spirits don't always remember what has happened since they died.

She gets the impression she should be offended though. She was called Hajime-sempai's charge; not his student which is a huge difference in her mind. But in a case like this she'll stay silent.

Plus Hajime-sempai had made it clear she was his student. This made her wonder if she should be calling him Hajime-sensai. She really does think too much.

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nextgen_misc
2011-09-23 04:54 pm UTC (link)

"Then you have heard about the recruits dying," the captain says looking none too surprised.

"I... my story?" He looks cnfused nut then kneels across from them not setting foot on the bridge.

"Gomen. It last been a long night, I am Ishii. Captain Ishii. For the last three weeks I have been loosing recruits. Four a week. We find them stripped of their clothes by a bridge." He looks at the one Hajime is sitting on.

"I's like this one I think. I must have gotten turned around." He thinks he is still alive.

"My little sister is--- was supposed to get married next month. Her intended transferred to the Imperial City so she would not have to leave the place she grew up so close to. He was brave but foolish and went to see why men were dying alone. He survived until dawn and my sister is heart broken now, I do not think she will recover from this. I will not let this stand. No other family will suffer this pain, tonight I will put a stop to it. No more."

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get_medieval
2011-09-23 05:01 pm UTC (link)

Hajime nods, then kneels on the bridge, in keeping with polite conversation between military men. He gestures for Kayura to do likewise. Just because they must kill the man a second time is no cause to be rude.

"A noble purpose. I am very sorry that our duties conflict, but I understand.

I am kensai. I have travelled far to get here... to learn that in the process of your rightful seeking of justice, you have killed an innocent... by accident, surely... and injured a girl of an important family of protectors.

As such, I am sorry, but the honor of that family, and my duty to protect the innocent stands, and we must conflict.

However, if you will give me the name of your sister, and her father, that I might learn of them - and the name of her intended, I will swear to you that if you rest quietly when I have killed you, I will do my best to make sure that nothing more remains of the cowardly killers. As I understand it - thieves and assassins."

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	weakerlink 2011-09-23 05:16 pm UTC (link)
	She had understood. This man is still a warrior and deserves respect. Besides he is rational acting right now. So she kneels as well and listens. There is nothing else she can do right now. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

nextgen_misc
2011-09-23 05:24 pm UTC (link)

"I thank you," he says bowing his head.

He is ashamed that others may have died because of this. "It am sorry that I failed to recognize an innocent. I did not mean to hurt the girl either. I have no memory of this. I only remember the blades of the thieves and assassins."

He considers what Hajime is saying though. "But if you make sure my sister Emi, my father Haru, and her intended Aoki Hayato... just learn of them. And please, justice must be served from the dead or I dare not rest. I can not rest knowing they may not have paid, kensai. If you defeat me I know you are capable of seeing the rest of this through and you will hear of me no more.

I swear this to you. My word is my honor and I will bind myself to it."

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get_medieval
2011-09-23 05:30 pm UTC (link)

Hajime nods, glancing back to make sure Kayura has the names.

"This is your project, my student. While you heal from your wounds, research those names. If there is any trace left of these killers... we are honor bound to end it. A crime against honor has taken place... and while I regret to kill a good man, it is my duty.

Captain Ishii, I wish we could have had time for tea, but the hour is late. If you wish a minute to recite a final poem, or a note to your family, my student will transcribe it for you.

And then, I must ask you to show me your stance."

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weakerlink
2011-09-23 05:44 pm UTC (link)

Kayura had actually written the names down. She wasn't trying to look rude but she wanted to be sure to get the phonetics for how the ghost had said it just in case that effected who the people were.

"Hai Sensai. I will do this," Kayura agrees referring to him as her teacher for the first time. It was easy to think of him as that. Especially since it had become pretty clear she was his student in his mind.

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nextgen_misc
2011-09-23 05:51 pm UTC (link)

Captain Ishii recognized now that Kayura was Hajime's student. It started to come together that he had hurt her last night.

That he had been dead. It did not shock him as he was not that strongly connected to anything past his sense of duty and justice.

"Tell them.... Tell them simply this. I did my duty to my guards. I hoped to do my duty for them. I am sorry I stumbled and fell and hope they do not hold too much sorrow. I will be at peace soon and hope that they share the same peace with me when the time is right," he said seriously.

Then he stood up knowing his uniform was not a mess and put himself into a tachi-ai posture that spoke of formal training and a sense of honor. The guard would not dishonor Hajime in any way during this fight and just nodded to the kensai to let him know he was ready and waiting.

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get_medieval
2011-09-23 05:58 pm UTC (link)

Hajime nods, settling into stance.

His hand rests comfortably on his blade. One way or another, iaijutsu duels tend to be quick. Most often, one or the other acknowledged the superiority of the other, and it ended with no blood. That cannot be the case here - so it is to who is fastest.

He waits serenely, totally still for as long as his opponent does, waiting for his opponent to lose nerve and start to draw.

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	nextgen_misc 2011-09-23 06:11 pm UTC (link)
	The trees rattle in the breeze. It isn't quite fall yet so they don't have that bone like quality that would make the night creepier. But the moment drags on. The wind shifted again and it was unnatural that the uniform of Captain Ishii wouldn't shift. He looks like he might move at some point. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-09-23 06:13 pm UTC (link)
	Hajime locks eyes with his opponent, waiting for that flicker of movement. Hajime doesn't need to look to his sword, or his target. 700 years of training with the kenku sadists made sure his form was perfect. But almost any other has some sign, that first flinch. He does not move until he sees it, barely seeming to breathe. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nextgen_misc 2011-09-23 06:21 pm UTC (link)
	This is different for the ghost. He wants to look at his target but does not want to be seen as weak either. That makes this complicated for him. He knows that one of them has to move. Then it stops mattering because if he looses, this is okay. He is already dead. The choice is made so he is prepared to draw his sword now. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)