Chapter Text
Leaves lightly brushed past your cheek, as you stumbled further and further down the faint trail in the forest. The sun had long since set, covering the forest floor and what it might be hiding in a thick blanket of black. Your bare feet lightly pressing into the soft ground. Speed wasn’t your priority, it didn’t matter how fast you moved if you twisted your ankle, or worse, slipped off the edge. Off the edge of the path was a steep hill, the thick bushes covering up how far the fall was, and you weren’t about to find out.
The soft moonlight shone through the small gaps in the trees onto the floor, making the road just visible for you to stay on track. The humid air and sluggish texture of the ground made it hard to keep balance, your feet making imprints in the mud as you tried to not lose sight of your target.
On the topic of which, you had now realised, had been so far either oblivious or unbothered by your constant presence. You were quite the distance away but you were sure that your ragged wheezes and attempts at keeping your breathing stable would surely be heard on the other side of the country by now. Had your intuition been wrong? You’d been following the mysterious man’s form for quite some time, so far he hasn’t stopped for even a second. His broad shoulders and hair being illuminated by the moonlight from time to time, giving you a glimpse of his features in a reassuring sort of way.
It was a peaceful walk.
Probably the most peace you’ve felt in a long time. The forest had been so far deserted, other than for you and the man ahead. The faint chirps of crickets and shuffling of the leaves filled your ears in a soothing melody that almost forced a faint smile on your dusty face. You had always loved nature. Its tranquility and stillness. It was the sort of seclusion and freedom you had dreamed of since you were little.
As the day dream flooded your mind and clouded your vision, your footsteps became more and more uncoordinated - clumsy. Feet slipping, legs wobbling. Yet, what finally snapped your mind back into focus was when you had misstepped just enough. Just enough to slide your leg, and yourself along with it, down the hill. Letting out a yelp your arms flew out, attempting to grab at something - anything, that would stop you from tumbling to your, most likely, death. There! Your hand just brushed past something rough but solid. Quickly grabbing it, you managed to stop your fall. You forced you body up, attempting to balance and push your feet off the slimy mud, gritting your teeth as you did so. After what felt like a lifetime of trying and failing, you had finally managed to climb your way back up to the surface. Your ragged clothes were covered in brown goo, that clung to your body, your arms and legs were no different.
“What do you think you’re doing brat?”
The sudden words bringing you back to your senses. It came from not far away. Too close almost.
Shit, you had completely forgotten what you were here for. You couldn’t turn your head, it was as if it had been held in place. Your heart pounding in your chest once again, the fear keeping a hold of you - chained to the ground, unable to move. Your throat ran dry, your eyes wide and your nostrils flaring. You couldn’t breathe. No, you can’t breathe. You could feel him, his breath on your neck, the sheer aura around him enough to break your back in seconds. It was foolish of you to come come here. What kind of delusion could’ve possibly made think following him would be a good idea? If you turn your head, you’re dead. That was final.
“I don’t like to repeat myself”, he spat again, the words making your chest tighten only more.
This is your chance, you gritted your teeth, come on, you need to speak.
“I want to come with you”, you finally managed to squeeze out. This man is a monster, no doubt about it. The silence dragged out. You couldn’t tell whether he was thinking of ways to kill you or genuinely considering if he should accept you offer. Gods know you hope it was the latter. With your back still turned to him you were practically at his mercy and any attempts to break out of the chains that kept you frozen had proven useless. All you could do was await your death, close your eyes and hope that it was quick and painless. A slash across the neck? Or possibly straight down the middle? The more you thought about all the grim ways he could end your life here and now made your head spin only more. The exhaustion began to catch on quick and the pressure from the air around you didn’t seem to weaken.
A low chuckle broke your endless trail of thought.
“Turn around”
Not a suggestion, not an offer but a command.
Eyes springing wide, teeth gritting and fists clenching you gathered what felt like last bits of strength and began to twist your body. It felt like pushing against a wall - a wall that was probably the size of a mountain. Your body was begging you to stop, to give it up, your senses screaming at you that you would die. You pushed them aside, you had to do it. All you had to do was face him.
Your eyes were met with a robust body, big, much bigger than you could’ve ever guessed or seen, that is. He was heavily built, could easily crush you with a slap to the wrist if he wanted to. His muscles rippled across his body, on top of them was a series of tattoos. They seemed to almost resemble spikes that trailed around his shoulders and over onto his back, as well as his abdomen. He wore a large dark grey hakama that was held up at the waist by a dark blue obi. It was a simple outfit, rather uncommon even for your poor eyes. Your examination of the man infront of you stayed below the shoulders. You wouldn’t dare look him in the eyes. You knew that if you did, you’d die.
“You should be grateful I’m in a good mood today, girl” he spoke, you could practically hear the large grin on his face. “I’ll make you a deal, if you manage to even touch me once, I’ll consider taking you up on your offer”, his speeh was now monotone, you couldn’t tell whether this monster infront of you was being serious or just toying with you to see how far you’d go.
“However”, he breathed into your ear, his face now right next to your ear, “If you don’t, I’ll be maming my move, take it as warning, brat.” he whispered, each word laced with dark amusement.
Your body was trembling, you couldn’t tell if it was the exhaustion finally getting the best of you, or the excitement of this new opportunity. You weren’t stupid, you knew - no, you saw what this monster could do, you knew this was most likely going to be a lost cause. He’s just toying with you, watching you like a rat that was ready to do anything for even a scrap of food. But you didn’t have much choice. You would die if you returned there’s no doubt about it, with the village now just a pile of ash and blood, you would probably get eaten by a pack of wild wolves in the forest, or whatever else lurks in these woods. You’d much rather die without adding coward to your, already long, list of disappointments in this life. The adrenaline surged through your veins as you began to come to terms with your choice.
“I accept”
* * *
You fely the chains lift off of you as the man began to step away, and his face now was finally in your line of view. It was sharp, just as robustly built as the rest of his body. The same dark tattoos that were on his body were also on his forehead, down his jawline and on his chin. His soft pink hair was ruffled by the wind, you could still see some remiains of the massacre left in it through dry drops of blood on the ends. However, what caught your attention were his 2 pairs of eyes, one a normal set and another smaller just below the other. Yet, this was still far from the strangest thing you could see. A large, dark auburn mask covered the right side of his face. It seemed to grow out of his skin like a horrible burn, its harsh edges rippling across its surface. He truly was a freak of nature.
A loud clap of his hands snapped your mind back into focus. A large grin spreading across his face, one of ecstasy and anticipation.
You had to give it your all.
Letting out a soft breath, you looked around your surroundings. You didn’t have the skills of a noble warrior, but the life on the streets taught you a thing or two about stealth. The trees were tall and large, you were deep into the forest so they were thick and frequent. Bushes and thickets overlapping around them and the tall grass that reached to the knees at least promised some sort of cover. You were both still stood on the clear trail, you needed to get him deeper into the woods to give you at least some sort of chance. Yet, moving such a large beast even an inch seemed impossible. You had to think of another plan, one where you could ambush him. From behind? No, too obvious, anyone would see through that trick.
The steep slope that you had once slipped on caught your eye. Thick bushes and large branches would give you a flawless cover, but once again the true length of the fall was a mystery and you weren’t sure if plummeting to your death was a risk you wanted to take. Then there was the other side of the hill to your right, it was once again steep and went up, the tall grass would give you a leverage to jump or pounce on your target, but once again it seemed just too obvious of a choice. You opponent wasn’t just another boy from the streets, he was a real fighter, with real expertise and very real four eyes to track your every move.
You needed to act.
Your legs moved towards the slope as you began to slide down into the thicket, your eyes still on the man. You needed to move fast, you had an idea but you needed to be quick; needed to be agile; needed to be swift. Making sure to keep your footsteps light, you moved across the rocks that pertruded out of the hillside. Thankfully, you had managed to slide far enough to be covered by the leaves and the branches, so you were out of sight. It’s sound you had to worry about. Sliding around the branches, moving your arms between the leaves, doing what you can to keep the shuffling to a minimum. He couldn’t know your position.
It wasn’t long before you felt the familiar chill up your spine again.
You had reached him.
You couldn’t jump at him though. You needed to be patient. Slowly making your way back up, pushing the branches softly back and out of your way. When your face had finally reached the surface again, you shifted your eyes to your tagret, his back now facing you. Had he not noticed you? Or was this just a part of his game? It didn’t matter, that wasn’t your priority as of now. Your priority now was proving yourself to this man. You stayed low as the rest of your body made it out of the thicket and onto the cleared path. Crawling across it and into the grass on the hill infront of you. It wasn’t tall enough to cover you standing up, and any large movements would cause too much of a commotion so you had no choice but to stay on your stomach. Not the best idea, but it was your only option.
Crawling up the hillside, once again focused on keeping your movements slow and soft, you couldn’t disturb him, or it was over. Finally you had reached a high enough point, you were just above him.
This was your chance.
You had stood up into a crouch, your legs bent in and your arms forward onto the ground. Flexing your legs, you leaped off. Your arms were splayed out hoping to reach as far as you could, to at least have some sort of a possibility of grazing him with a single finger. As you were in the air time seemed to slow down, it was then that you noticed one of his lower eyes move. He saw you. Somehow. It widened for what seemed like a second before his back began to bend backwards, ready to dodge your futile attemp at attacking him. Your arms moved in his direction and when he seemed just out of reach, it was then that you felt it. The faintest of touches, just past his right shoulder.
You grunted as your chest and chin made contact with the ground, scraping against the rocky floor as you stopped. Pushing yourself up back onto your feet, breathing still heavy from your jump and the ambush you had just carried out. A small sense of pride seemed to simmer in your heart as the realisation of what you had done became more and more real. You had managed to do it. You managed to touch him. Just for a split second. Your knees began to bend and your pushed hands against them as your breathing became more and more rapid, before slowing down into small, incompletely breaths. Your vision blurred at the sides into a black static that had slowly spread from the corners and around, until all that was left was a small window of light at the centre. Your knees bent in under your weight and just as your vision disappeared you felt your body go limp, dropping to the floor.
You manged to do it.