(Mature) Overrun City

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu heard stomping. It startled her, but she immediately realized it was horses when she caught site of them between the trees. She went to them, giving each a gentle pat in the neck.

She waited tensely for Kyosuke, but the longer she waited the more frightened she got for his safety. She searched the saddle and found a short curved blade in the saddlebag. Shinobu slipped it in between the fabric around her waist at the small of her back. Encase there were more.

[Kyosuke]

With a grunt, the guard slams Kyosuke's head into the ground a little harder. Now that he knows Kyosuke's not a woman, it seems he doesn't care as much about ruining his pretty looks. The blow is finally enough to knock the samurai out though, and he cuffs him, just in case. Then he half lifts, half drags Kyosuke along the ground, heading back to the horses. It's a bit of a walk though, the two scouts had chosen to hide their mounts to sneak up on the two, just in case they were hostiles. Good tactics on their part, as it turns out they were.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu heard someone coming. "Kyosuke?" she asked, before remembering that it could be danger. She clamped a hand over her mouth, before peeking out behind the tree.

"No..." she breathed after spotting the soldier carrying Kyosuke. Her mind raced for what to do without the advantage to sneak up on him.

[Kyosuke]

Kyosuke is alive at least. The scout wouldn't be dragging him back if he wasn't. After all, he doesn't care enough about his dead to even bury his partner. Unfortunately for Shinobu, she shouldn't have called out. The scout breaks out into a grin. "So you're still around here..." he says to himself. The samurai is dropped to the ground with a solid thump, and he begins to search the area, looking for the woman.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu covers her mouth tighter, clenching her eyes shut. She crouches down slowly, her mind racing as she tries to figure out what it is she should do.

Finally she swallows, feeling the weight of the weapon at her back. She stands up slowly and moves out into the open where he can see her, careful to keep her back out of the line of site. Her pretty face is pale, her eyes wide with fear. She focuses on the weight of that weapon, knowing it could be both their salvation.

[Kyosuke]

"I see you're gonna be nice and cooperative then," the scout says, though he affixes Shinobu with a lewd gaze. "Now come over here. And be quick about it, or your friend here might get it." His long sword is drawn and the man pats at Kyosuke's cheek with the flat.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu's eyes fall on Kyosuke, and then she meets the soldiers gaze. "Please," she whispers stepping forward. "Don't hurt him." She steps closer to him until there is merely a two foot distance between them. She's panting, her heart leaping from her chest. "Let us go. We won't be any trouble to your army."

[Kyosuke]

"Sorry, but your buddy has already caused us trouble. Killed a scout. He'll be tortured, then executed. Or maybe he'll die while he's being tortured," the scout says with a shrug. "You on the other hand... well, I just don't want to let you go. And you'll live." He reaches down to fumble for his spare pair of cuffs, pointing his weapon away from Kyosuke for a few seconds...

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu takes her chance. She reaches behind her quickly and draws the dagger, swinging it out towards his chest. It scrapes across his skin. She redirects the next sweep for his neck. The strike makes purchase, and he drops to his knees, clutching at his throat.

Shinobu waits until he's dead before she searches his body for the keys, moving to unlock the unconscious samurai. Her hands are shaking as she removes the cuffs and throws them off to the side.

[Kyosuke]

The last blow really had been quite hard, and Kyosuke doesn't show any signs of waking up. Still, after ten or so minutes, the samurai manages a groan, his eyelids twitching a few times before they reopen. "Wh-what happened?" he asks, sounding rather disoriented.

[Emora Deen]

"The soldier hit you I think," Shinobu told him, brushing her finger tips across his brow. "I took care of him," she told him rather proud of herself. "You should probably lie still for a little while."

[Kyosuke]

If Kyosuke needed a bath before, he needs it even more now. He has a few more splatters of blood on him, either from the first scout or from some of his own wounds. His face is also covered with quite a bit of dirt. That doesn't matter too much to him though, as he sees the dead scout... and is overcome with a wave of guilt for putting Shinobu into danger like that. He should have been able to take care of that man. "I er... thanks," he says quietly, meaning it, but his emotions shine through clearly on his face.

[Emora Deen]

"Don't worry," Shinobu tells him gently. "You did very well...." Shinobu glances around to make sure there are no more enemies. "Can you walk? I'll get one of the horses and we'll go back to the clearing for the food? Maybe you should wash up... We could steal their clothes for you." Shinobu's mind was racing still, not having come down from the high of her near-capture experience.

[Kyosuke]

At the moment, Shinobu's words don't quite reassure him. Still, he pushes that guilt off to the side for now and smiles at her. They have to survive for now, he'll feel guilty later, when they have time to rest. "Let's just take both of the horses back," he says, also shaking his head to the bath. That can come later, when they aren't in an area patrolled by Arken scouts. "Let's just head back and grab what we can." Idly, his stomach growls, a reminder that they STILL haven't had a chance to eat.

[Emora Deen]

They led the horses back to camp, and found that the food they'd been cooking was charred black, save for a few small peices that they could salvage. Shinobu quickly pulled them off the fire and let them settle on the cool rocks by the river. "We shouldn't stay here very long, won't someone come looking for them?" she thought aloud. She gathered what she had with her, which was nothing more than her sandles and the food before going back to the horses.