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Never Gentle	By : MidoriBond Category: +S to Z > Samurai 7 Views: 1588 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Never Gentle

by Midori Bond

Chapter 2

It was another
three days when a messenger came to Miroden. Lord Ukyo was now the
Ambenashi, and one Shimada Kambe was to be executed for the murder of
an imperial envoy. Nari sat under the night sky as lightening jumped
from cloud to cloud. She stayed quiet the entire day. Between Shido
and Momotaru, the village seemed to run as soothly as ever.

She hated the
fact that her mind kept wandering. She had a village to protect. Just
because the Nobusari were quiet, didn't mean that they were gone. In
fact, she was sure that she could smell their oil on the sea breeze.
She lower the brim to her headdress as rain started to fall. The rain
always seemed to comfort her.

"Are you
going to come inside?" Shido asked from the ground. He held a
simple umbrella over his plum colored hair. "It's a lot dryer."

"No
thanks," she said turning her face up to the sky. She wasn't
going to shed tears for that bastard. After all of these years, she
wanted to believe that he actually died in battle. That he hadn't
returned because he was too injured. But the truth was more painful.
He broke his promise and never came back. And what was worse, there
was another samurai, a virtual stranger here to witness her
breakdown. "I actually like rainstorms," she said trying to
keep the tears out of her voice.

Shido heard
them, but chose to ignore them. "You'll be useless if you catch
a cold," he said reasonably.

With practiced
ease, she jumped from the tree and landed on the soft grass next to
him. "I'll be fine," she said before walking towards the
docks. She knew he was following her. It was irritating. She was an
adult. She didn't need an escort when walking through her own
village. The thought, along with the thoughts of her father's pending
execution was enough to make her scream. As Nari turned to her
second, she heard it. The unmistakable whirl, the smell of hot oil in
the air. Nari pulled the umbrella out of Shido's hands and listened
to the rain. "They're here," she said lowly.

Shido's eyes
widened as he looked out along the coast. He could hear the faint
sound of machines. He turned and looked out to the forests. In the
distance, he could also hear trees starting to fall. "Oh my
God," he whispered. "They're trying to surround us."

"They
aren't trying," Nari said coldly. She looked at Shido with
serious eyes. "They have us surrounded." She looked at the
pathway to the mountains and frowned when she saw the all too
familiar shapes of a pair of Raiden fighters. "Go to
Grandfather. Tell him they're here, he will take care of the rest."

Shido turned
without question. Right now, Nari was his commander. She would do
what was best for her village, and she would find a way for her
troops to survive.

Nari stepped
out onto the pier and closed her eyes as the leader of this peticular
squad of bandits. "Hello, Tsuki-sama," she said
respectfully. "We didn't have word of your arrival."

A restless
hand waved in the air to silence her. "That bastard betrayed
us," he growled. "Now we have to run and hide like cowards."

Nari frowned.
"You were betrayed?" she asked tilting her head to the side.

"Tsuki-sama!
There are weapons here!" one of the Raiden's yelled out.

Nari kept her
eyes locked on the Nobusari in front of her. "Lord Ukyo sent out
samurai to drive you from the various villages you plunder." She
kept her tone reasonable, as if finding weapons in a fishing village
was an everyday occurance. "The troop that was sent here built
all of that."

"So you
were planning on betraying us as well?"

"I can
defeat them all myself," she said, continuing her reasonable
tone. "There was no reason to believe that they would not listen
to the one that holds their lives."

The large
Nobusari looked at her. What she said was true, no one wanted to
cross someone with more power, yet, none of his troops knew exactly
how skilled she was. Only one man did. "Remember girl, I
hold your life," he threatened.

Behind her
cowl, Nari smiled. "I hold my life," she corrected. When
she heard the equivilant to a growl coming from the machine, she drew
her sword. "I decide when it ends, not you."

"Put that
away," Tsuki ordered. When she made no move, he started to
approach her, his own sword drawn. "We did not come here to
slaughter a village."

"You came
to hide away from the hunt your precious Ambinashi has ordered."
When Tsuki swung his sword at her, she jumped into the air and landed
on the blade. She ran up the sword, intent on taking out the leader
before all hell broke loose. She caught a glimpse of Tsuki's
targeting system and slid across the metal finish of the blade. As
she neared the edge, Nari jumped to Tsuki's collar. As she drove her
blade into the Nobusari's finish, she heard cannon fire errupt around
her. She ripped open Tsuki's chest and barely dodged the laser blast
that drove the Benigumo into the water. Nari regained her footing and
ran up to Tsuki's neck. Just as a large hand went to grab her, Nari's
sword severed Tsuki's head.

As she fell
into the water, Nari felt something cut into her leg. She looked down
and saw a number of lesser Nobusari swimming towards her. She
surfaced and fought her way to the pier. Just as she neared the wood
planks, a heavy hand pulled her up by the scruff of her neck. Angry
gray eyes looked at Momotaru. "What are you doing here?"
she spat.

"Saving
your ass, gracious leader," he said sarcastically. As she looked
at him, he smiled. "I get what you mean about being small,"
he said in a low voice. "If we survive this, I'll take you out
for drinks... Nari-sama."

Nari was
silent as she pulled off her headgear. With it being so soaked, there
was as much of a chance of it drowing her as hiding her face. She
looked at the large warrior. "I think I'd like that, Momotaru-dono."

* * * * *

The morning
sun did little for the village. The docks, and most of the boats were
destroyed. There were only a handfull of foot soldiers left, while
the villagers were hiding in underground passages. Nari looked at her
home with mixed feelings. While the Nobusari was crushed, there were
still casualties on her side as well. A number of men and boys she
had known for years were slain, as were five of the ten samurai that
originally came to Miroden. The Raidens thought it would have been
good to burn the village to the ground. She would have to explain why
so many homes were destroyed. She felt her lips press in a thin line.
Now she knew what her father meant when he told her he never won a battle.

"Nari-dono,"
Shido called. As he walked over to where she stood, he held his arm
tight against his ribs. "I gave Shen and Kei permission to
retrieve everyone from the tunnels."

She slowly
nodded. She would have to face the villagers. The people she loved,
knowing that she ripped their families apart. "That's fine,"
she said in a hoarse whisper. During the fight, she shouted too many
orders. Trying to be heard over fire, rain and machines was nearly
impossible. Her eyes closed as she started to feel her strength fade.
She would face the village. It was her only choice. One that she
would make with her head held high.

"Elder!"
a voice called out.

Smoke eyes
snapped open. A small distance away, the final foot soldier was
rushing at Jiro. Without thinking, Nari ran to her grandfather's
side. As she drew her sword, she saw one of the robot's black talons
pull back. Both combatants swung their weapons, resulting in a
silencing clang.

Jiro stood
horrified as he looked at Nari's back. A single, bloodsoaked claw was
protruding from it. "Nari," he whispered.

She looked
into the scanner the Nobusari used as an eyes. The talon in her chest
seemed to slip between the two blades of her sword. She twisted her
hold on her sword and winced when the talon broke off of the robot.
As it moved away from her, Nari sliced the Nobusari neatly in two.

"Nari!"
Shido and Momotaru called out. They both saw the way she stumbled as
she slowly turned to the village elder. With no thought of their own,
they ran over to where she was now on one knee.

"Grandfather,"
she whispered as she looked at the old man in front of her. As he
approached her, she noticed the blood splattered on his face.
"The village is safe," she said blinking heavy eyes. As
Jiro shook his head, she dropped her other knee and nearly fell face
first to the ground. "But the cost was higher than I expected."

Jiro fell to
his knees as well. "There is no need for your apologies."
He gently touched her face as Shido pulled her into his arms.
"You have done us all proud."

Nari shook her
head and the world started to spin. As she started to pass out, she
felt tender arms lifted her. "Too many losses," she
whispered into warm skin.

Momotaru
looked at Shido as he held her in his arms. A deep frown crossed his
face when she passed out. "She's loosing too much blood,"
he said seriously.

Shido nodded.
"Get her inside. I'll go find Sara and Hotaru."

Jiro stood as
he felt tears in his eyes. "Yes, and after that, I would like
for one of you to take a trip to Kanna Village."

Both Momotaru
and Shido looked at him. Shido placed his hand on Nari's forehead and
frowned. She was already starting to run a fever. "Get two
mounts," he told the elder. "We'll go as soon as she is settled."

* * * * *

In the
distance, Kei was scouting along the stream that lead into the
mountains. He knew there was no need, but he couldn't face any of the
villagers. He needed time to think about what had happened. He never
intended to fight, but his sister asked him to.

The youth
sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He would have to find a way to get over
the deaths he'd witnessed, and caused. His eyes fell to the river and
the frown on his face deepened. There was a trail of blood in the
water. He turned up river and felt his eyes widen. A body was slowly
following the current. He ran into the stream, hissing at the cold
water against his skin. As Kei grabbed the slim figure in red, he
realized that the man was covered in blood, and barely breathing.
Without a second thought, he pulled the heavier man out of the stream.

Kei gingerly
lifted the man onto his shoulder and sighed. He needed help, and no
matter how much Kei didn't want to go to the village, there was no
other choice. He would not allow someone else die for his mistake.

Just outside
of the village, deep in a passage of caves, Shido looked around in
stunned awe. There were a number of machines, and tubing all lined up
for use. He looked at Sara as she opened a large tube. "What is
this?" he asked.

She looked
over her shoulder and gestured for Momotaru to lay Nari in the tube.
"Medical equipment," she said simply. She went over to a
console and started to type in instructions. "Nari convinced the
Nobusari into a pretty decent trade off," she said as a number
of small tubes and wires attached themselves to Nari's prone form.
"We would willingly supply them with our fish and grain, in
return, they give us any medical equipment that we need."

"And it
worked, just like that?" Shido asked in disbelief.

Sara shook her
head as she went to Nari's side. The talon in her chest would have to
come out. She stepped closer to Nari and grabbed a hold of it.
"She spoke with a man named Tetsuho Jin. She reasoned that it
would be more benifical for us to have the equipment, and supplies
than to not have them. If anything severe happens to anyone in the
village, we would be able to treat them instead of letting them die.
Thus negating the need to find a new village to ransack and bring
under control."

Momotaru
nodded. "She's got a point," he said lowly.

Shido frowned
as he shook his head. "There's more to it than that," he
said lowly.

"He is
obsessed with my granddaughter," Jiro said from the passageway.
"The last time he was here, he wished to inform me of his intent
to court Nari."

Sara felt
tears in her eyes as she ripped the talon out of Nari's chest. She
roughly tossed the metal aside and slammed the lid on the tube shut.
"Nari can barely stand the sight of him," she said lowly.
"But he would use the village to get anything he wanted from her."

Jiro nodded as
he watched the tube Nari was in quickly fill up with green fluids.
"We are still in danger once he learns of our betrayal. There is
no telling what he would do."

Shido looked
at Momotaru before turning his gaze back to the old man. "Then
what would you have us do?" he asked. "Stay here and fight
all of your battles for you? Or allow this man to slaughter a village
because of some woman?"

Jiro kept his
head high, knowing he deserved each angry question. "All I ask
is for you to go to Kanna Village, and tell Shimada Kambe what has
happened here. After that, if you choose to stay, we will welcome
you. If you choose to go, it is with our blessing. You and your men
fought a proud battle."

"They
were her men," Shido said leaning against one of the cavern's walls.

"Sister!
I need a Medical tube," Kei's voice called out.

Sara's eyes
widened in horror. She had just seen her brother, and he was fine.
Now his voice sounded strained and weary. She was about to go to her,
when Momotaru placed a hand on her shoulder. Her heart softened when
he motioned to the other tube in the chamber they were in. As she
went over to it, he left to go meet Kei.

Shido felt a
small smile cross his face as Momotaru left. It appeared that the
bear of a man was now tamed by two women from a small fishing
village. He straightened and walked over to Jiro. "I will leave
Momotaru and the others here. I will leave for Kanna village right now."

Momotaru
returned with a man in his arms. "This looks bad," he
announced. "There's even more blood than with Nari."

Sara looked at
the injured man and frowned. "Shido-dono, please take Hotaru
with you. I don't want her in the village until this man is
gone," she said with a bitter tone.

Jiro's eyes
widened as he saw the man being placed in the tube. "It can't
be," he whispered.

"Kei,
take Grandfather home. He doesn't need to see him in this condition
either," Sara ordered. As her younger brother went to Jiro's
side, she started to cut off the man's red jacket.

Shido frowned
as he stepped closer to Sara. "Do you know him?" he asked lowly.

Sara was
furious as she found the mortal gunshot wound. He had sworn that he
would never return to Miroden. The life of a fisherman was something
he didn't want. He would rather take after his dead father and become
a samurai without equal. Blue eyes were hard as she looked at the
injured man's pale face. His departure nearly destroyed her cousin
and grandfather, and now she had to save him, to spare their pain.
"His name is Tayama Kyuzo. He's my cousin."

TBC...
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Never Gentle