Inside>Out! Ch4 A New Start Pt3 - The Setting Sun
The two girls had run themselves ragged already, but they were still sprinting at nearly top speed. They were on a mountain road about a third of the way from the peak, with a clear view of the village from which they had fled.
"Iwako...*panting*...I can't....run anymore...." Shinta gasped between the words of one of her usual complaints.
"Let's just get around that bend. We can rest after that." He never was much for exercise. But I'll bet even he would trade his gardening time for training hours right now. They sat on a boulder that was embedded at the height of the road's curve, looking to the sun as it started to shift to its golden evening hue.
"Iwako I...never thanked you for looking after me. I know I'm not the strongest, and that it irritated you sometimes that you had to urge me to do the masculine thing in a given situation. At least you won't have to worry about that anymore. But...thank you...for always being there."
"Shinta I look after you because...well because you're my friend. Other people don't like to see a female acting brash and strong. They feel like that's a male's role and that I should be 'demure' and 'reserved' like my mother. I could never be that way, and that disappointed people. But you...you saw me for who I was and you accepted me. And if it wasn't for you, Master Seijuko would never have taken me as an apprentice. I'm here for you because you're here for me. And as for coercing masculinity, I wouldn't worry. You'll probably learn the difference by the time we figure out how to restore your body to normal."
"O-oh. Yeah...you're...probably right..." Shinta trailed off and looked away.
"Shinta...?" Iwako was about to pick up her question when they heard what sounded like clapping. A slow, harsh clap.
"Well done girls. You've given me quite alot of trouble. But all of that is over with now." As he spoke, Leo's father strode around the corner that Shinta and Iwako had just rounded a few minutes earlier. "So let me make things clear. I will attempt to apprehend you both. You will resist, and force me to kill the freak. You, Iwako, I will bring back. Despite your father being a high ranking government official, I will see you sentenced either to death or to life imprisonment. My family reigns supreme. We have the most power of any of the noble families on the Council, and I will not see our reputation destroyed by anyone--least of all a weak and pathetic misfit such as yourself, Shinta."
"Leave Iwako alone." Shinta leapt to her paws.
"Interesting, but not unexpected. Why should I?"
"Because if you do...I'll let you have me. You can kill me here and now, if you don't make her watch. Take her home. Tell them I forced her to help me--anything. Just make sure she gets home safe and goes on with her life." Iwako rose to latch onto her best friend.
"Shinta no! Don't do this. Please! I'll get your sword. W-we can fight our wa--"
"No. This is the way it has to be." Her words stopped Iwako in the middle of her attempting to hand Shinta her sword. She had quickly removed it from their luggage pile and was about to give it to her but instead she grasped it tightly to her as if taken aback by Shinta's decision. Somehow though, she had been afraid this would happen.
"Oh Shinta...*sniffle*"
"Hmm...very well then. I will allow this, your dying request." The leopard drew his championship sword, mysteriously damaged, and leveled it at Shinta. "Prepare yourself for death, pitiful creature, and rejoice in fate's generous choice of your executioner." Shinta stood with her arm slightly out to her sides, and her eyes closed. Goodbye Iwako...please go on without me...don't let my memory weigh you down.
Without warning, a roar echoed from below them. The younger lion from earlier sommersaulted over the ridge at the edge of the road, knife drawn. This time, a tattered red cloak hung from him instead of the previous green one. It fluttered lightly in a momentary breeze as he stood between Shinta and and the leopard.
"Oh ho...very interesting indeed. Come for revenge, have you? I wonder if you've considered all of my soldiers waiting in reserve..." The lion nodded solemnly, and gave his knife a swift flick. Fresh blood spattered the leopard's garments.
"Ugh! How DARE you dirty my clothes with my own underlings' blood! I'm going t--" In a breathtaking golden flash, the lion moved forward and slew the leopard in a fluid motion consisting of three slashes. Two ran perpendicular across his torso, and a third had interrupted most of the blood flowing through his neck. As he collapsed to the ground in a heap, Leo's father made his last sound: a pathetic gurgle through his severed throat.
The first thing Shinta did after the release of the tension was to wrap her arms around Iwako and begin weeping. Iwako in turn held her friend close, rubbing her back. Thank the heavens. I don't know what I'd do without her. He...she...is my whole world now--the only one I'll be able to depend on...
"The debts are settled. I will be on my way, now." The girls turned in shock and surprise to look at their lion savior, who was catching some of the dead leopard's blood in a vial. After he finished, he spun to see the girls still staring at him, mouths gaping. "Is there a problem?"
"No. No, not at all. We just...thought you..." Iwako stammered her answer out.
"That I couldn't speak? Well, it is better for someone trained to be an assassin not to speak too often, lest he be noticed before his mission is complete."
"Wh-what?"
"In any case, I suppose that, since my master is no longer with me, I must give myself a name."
"I guess...so...but why didn't you have a name in the first place?" Iwako continued to speak over Shinta's sniffling and her attempts to regain composure.
"It is traditional for my clan to be trained until 17 without a name, only a given number. I inherited the number 8 from my father. But now I will go by a new name. But...what should that name be?"
"Ryuzaki...*sniffle*...I like Ryuzaki." Iwako glanced at Shinta, surprised that she had been the first to offer advice. Well, she always did have a way of naming things that stuck...
"Ryuzaki...yes. I like that name also. Perhaps, after I finish my training I will add another name to that."
"So...where are you going now?"
"I shall travel the mountains. There is a special training ground hidden in this mountain range. Despite the rest of my clan being deceased, there is knowledge recorded there that will impart to me the final secrets of my training. After mastering secret techniques of the highest order, I will make a new start, much like I assume you will be doing."
"Well Ryuzaki, I was happy to meet you. Perhaps well see you again someday." Iwako released Shinta from their long embrace to allow her friend to extend a paw. It was returned with a small grin from their new friend.
"Count on it." With those simple words, he turned away, and strode off back in the direction they had come.
Shinta let out a sigh and sat back on the boulder once more. Iwako got down next to her, and put her arm around her best friend.
"What is it?" Shinta looked out over the town, back to their own village past the forest. It was just visible over the tree tops. The setting sun bathed it a reddish glow that made it appear so foreign compared to the halcyon place she used to think it was.
"We can never go back...can we?" Iwako's gaze went momentarily to the leopard corpse, and then back to her hometown.
"No. We can't."