(Mature) Overrun City

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu shook her head fiercely. "No," she told him firmly. "I don't want you to do that. Don't even think about it. We'll run together, and if we are overtaken, then we are overtaken... But, I will not let you do that." She touched his cheek gently. "If we have too we can lie low somewhere until nightfall?"

[Kyosuke]

Kyosuke didn't think Shinobu would go for that, but he tried. She was important enough to him that he wanted her to be safe at least. He also valued his own life enough to argue. "You probably guessed that my leg isn't really up for running," he admitted. "I would only slow you down if we ran now." He wanted to give her one more chance to run by herself. "But I also can't think of anyplace to hide." Like Shinobu said, they didn't know the city very well. And even if they did, Kyosuke wasn't one to search for hiding spots.

[Emora Deen]

"Then..." Shinobu sighed. "We'll wait here? Until your leg is better?" She didn't want to think about leaving him and running to save her own skin. It made her feel like a coward. She gave a heavy sigh. "We'll wait here..." She sat down between the crates, drawing her legs up to her chest, and shifting into the corner to make room for him to sit.

[Kyosuke]

It wasn't the most hidden of hiding places, but they hadn't been discovered yet. That was a plus. Kyosuke peeked out from around the crates briefly. One end of the alley was a dead end. That was both a plus and a minus. They wouldn't find themselves flanked, but they didn't have an escape route upon discovery. Then there were the bodies. They would draw suspicion to this area... if they were discovered quickly. Kyosuke could only hope they wouldn't be. With no other option, Kyosuke nodded, but grabbed a crate off the top of the pile first, tossing it on the ground next to the other crates so he could extend his leg without it being visible. Only then did he slump down against the wall. He reached back to unsling his nodachi from his back, only to remember that the long weapon had been broken during their journey. He would have to replace that when they got back to Ongoreth.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu stretched out legs out too. She pulled on the Ighten clothing she wore, the blood soaked cloth sticking to her skin. She turned up her nose in disgust. The screams grew louder before they grew fainter, and ask dusk started to settle, so did the cries. That's when the fires started.

Shinobu tried to keeping her coughing to a minimal as the smoke started filling the streets, but it began to get increasingly harder to breathe.

"Did you hear something?" a voice muttered over the roar of flames from down the alley.

Shinobu covered her mouth and her eyes locked with Kyosuke.

"Check it out," another voice muttered.

[Kyosuke]

..Were they planning on completely burning this city to the ground? Kyosuke was a little surprised as the fires started, and he tried to cover his mouth with his sleeve. But there's too much of it and he can't muffle Shinobu's cough.

His mind races as the man gets closer. There are at least two of them. From the sound of the approaching footsteps. Two were approaching. He peeked through a gap formed between two crates, something he had wiggled free in the time they had been sitting there. Two approaching, one hanging back. Grimacing, the samurai tested out his leg. It can bend again, not at 100% yet, but it'll do for now. He shifts himself up into a crouch, right hand on a katana hilt. As soon as they get close enough, he'll strike.

[Emora Deen]

OOC: Feel free to take control of the soldiers.

IC: Shinobu watched Kyosuke as he readied himself, and she did the same, holding her dagger tightly in the palm of her hand. Shinobu peeked out from behind the crates, spotting the two men. These were dressed in Arken leather, wearing the insignia of the kingdom upon their breast.

She turned her eyes back to Kyosuke, brow furrowed.

[Kyosuke]

Kyousuke took a knee, letting his bad knee rest on the ground. The less abuse it got the better off he'd be. They'd be, because Shinobu would be unlikely to abandon him. Unfortuantely, Kyosuke would have been better off jumping out, because they looked over the crates instead of walking into view.

"There's someone here!" he shouted out, as Kyosuke whipped his sword up to decapitate him. Then he leapt up to intercept the second one, quickly locking blades with the man. He was a trained soldier, and had already drawn his sword as the first man shouted out. They struggled against each other, clashing blades several more times, the samurai ignoring the pain in his leg the whole time.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu watched, heart thudding, as Kyosuke fought the Arken soldier. She covered her mouth with the long sleeve of her shirt as the smoke grew thicker. It was hard to breathe, and the smoke made her eyes water to the point of tears while she focused on his fight.

She kept a distance, not wanting to get in his way, and praying that no one heard the first soldier. Strands of long silky black hair hung before a beautiful pale soot covered face.

The Arken soldier commanded a strong knowledge of swordsmanship. He went back and forth, switching seamlessly between offence and defense.

[Kyosuke]

The Arken soldier was larger than Kyosuke, and the samurai found himself losing in the power struggle. On a good day he wouldn't have one, and today he had an injured leg. After breaking apart from a few more clash of blades, the samurai drew his second blade, then jumped back in. With two blades at his disposal, he managed to make quick work of the soldier, deflecting the Arken blade with one, then running him through with the other. By the time he was finished though, the third man was gone, probably off to look for backup.

"C'mon, we gotta go," Kyosuke said, reaching his hand out to Shinobu. With all the smoke and fire, this was no longer an effective hiding spot anyway.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu nodded, and took his hand quickly. They ran, and the streets were filled with heat and the flames of the burning town. Not all the buildings were set fire, and it seemed random in the placement. Bodies littered the streets. She wasn't sure where they should run.

"Should you be running?" Shinobu asked Kyosuke, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

[Kyosuke]

"I'm fine," Kyosuke replied cheerily, returning the squeeze. Though after a few minutes of running, there was the slightest bit of a hobble in his step. He was a samurai though, hardened through discipline and training. He'd just have to deal with it. "I thought they were trying to take the city, not burn it," he commented with a hint of a frown. "Hepian seems too valuable to burn." Then again, maybe they weren't trying to burn it to the ground. If they were it probably would have been easier to open up the invasion with it.

[Emora Deen]

"I rarely think Arken makes any sense," Shinobu muttered as they passed a cluster of burning bodies. She covered her mouth, trying not to breath in the stench.

The city gate was coming up, and there was a cluster of guards gathered by it. Shinobu peeked out from behind the wall. "I don't know if we can get passed them," she whispered to Kyosuke. "Could we go over the wall? No... not with your leg. I don't want you to strain it. You're light I'm sure, but I don't think I can carry you."

"Maybe a distraction... What would distract them?" She racked her brain for what could lead the guards away from the gatehouse.

[Kyosuke]

Even Kyosuke can't smile away the sight of the burning bodies. He just gave Shinobu's hand a reassuring squeeze and continued to press on. Thankfully, it seems that they went in the right direction, as the city gates come into view. Unfortunately, he isn't quite sure if he could make it past the guards either. At least, not with his leg injured as it was. Fresh, he would have a much better chance.

"You could try seducing them?" Kyosuke joked, looking at the group. Of course, that wouldn't end well, not at all. "Or we can force our way through. I can take two or three of them out, pretty sure."

[Emora Deen]

The idea revolted her, but she couldn't help contemplating the option of it.

"I can try to take two," she muttered, looking back... She sighed. "I could draw them away from gate, and you could sneak up from behind? Maybe take more if they are distracted?" She pressed her back flush with the wall, coughing. "Do you think that will work?"