Fan Fiction ❯ White Reflections ❯ Chapter 2

Series: Soul Calibur

Rating: R

Authors: Sephira jo (sephirajo@yahoo.com) and Cap'n Dampeal (capndampeal@lycos.com)

Story: White Reflections

Part 3/?? (the prologue counts as a part)

Archive: With Permission only

Disclaimer: We don't own this game! Namco does! If we owned it, the characters would be seriously fucked. 'Cause we like to mess with characters minds. Oh yeah. ^-^

Authors' notes: There's some serious angst in this chapter. But we both hope you enjoy it! Remember, it will all work out in the end.

* * ^_^ * *

Seung Mina's feet were sore. The effects of a day's travel with no horse were quick to catch up to the young woman. "I wonder if you're laughing right now, Daddy," Mina sighed, "at the fact that your brilliant and talented daughter didn't think to take a mount." She sulked for only a moment; it wasn't like her to let the little things get her down. Horses could be easily bought or bartered for.

She stood up straight, ignoring the burning pain in her feet-after all, her Chinese master had put her through worse than this-and gazed down at the walled fortress of a city that lay in the valley. Carts drawn by horses rumbled back and forth down the nearby road, carrying goods and food to market. If it weren't for the large groups of foot soldiers on the path, a person might not realize that Korea was at war.

With a quick stretch and a bounce to wake her aching feet, Mina started back on the road. The walk to the walled city took a little longer than she expected, as it was very crowded. Despite having lived in an isolated dojo in a small village all her life, Mina felt relaxed in the throngs of people that crowded the road. Her mother had been from a large city like this one, and had imparted her knowledge of city life to her daughter before Mina had first run away.

"You there, girl!" A loud voice broke the reprieve of Mina's thoughts. She stopped and looked in the direction of the voice. She stood before the city gates already; the voice belonged to one of the armed guards.

"Yes?" Mina answered.

"Why are you armed, girl?" the guard asked, stepping toward her. His manner, Mina thought, was very rude.

"Because the weapon is mine?" she intoned. The joke in the reply was lost on the guard; he and his companion moved closer to her, their armor blinding her in the light of the dying sun.

"Besides that fact that no one is allowed to bring arms into the city, what need does a girl have of such a weapon?" the other guard demanded, reaching out his hand like he was expecting a gift. "Hand it over, girl," he finished, reaching for the zanbatou. Mina easily dodged the man's grasping hands and those of his fellow.

"No," she said simply, then smiled, adding, "In case you boys haven't noticed, this country's at war. You wouldn't want a girl walking around defenseless, would you?" Merriment bubbled in her voice and sparkled in her eyes.

"You little bitch!" the first guard shouted, lunging for her. She gracefully danced away from his attack, leaving him to fall face-down on the road as he lost his balance. Cheers rose from the crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle. Apparently, these guards were not very popular with those who did business in the city.

The second guard did not think the show was over yet, however. But as he drew his sword, Mina observed from his weak stance that he wasn't a skilled fighter at all. She laughed and held out her zanbatou.

"Look," she said playfully, "mine's bigger than yours-not that it would take much." The crowd laughed and the guard's faced flushed crimson. He ran forward boldly, only to trip over the rising form of his companion. Mina grinned and took a step backward, and bumped into something hard. Startled, she turned around to look up into a face that seemed extremely familiar, yet whose identity Mina could not quite register.

"What's going on here?" the man asked. At the sound of his voice, Mina recognized him at last. She grinned even wider. The two guards scrambled to their feet, almost tripping over each other again in their efforts.

"Sir!" the one who had rushed her spoke, "She tried to come through the city gates armed, and she wouldn't give us the weapon, sir!"

"She then taunted us, sir!" complained the other. "We proceeded to disarm her, but she evaded our attempt. Now that you're here, sir, this miscreant won't get away!" As he finished speaking, he joined his fellow in glaring fiercely at Mina. She almost laughed.

"Oh really?" their captain said, raising a single eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me two of this city's fully-trained guards couldn't take a stick from a girl?" The two guards remained silent, their faces turning crimson as the crowd erupted into a new bout of laughter.

"Really, Kwang Jin, could you ever take the stick from this girl?" Mina asked of the captain, spinning to face him. Kwang Jin, former student of the Seung dojo, looked down at her and laughed-a loud and booming sound she remembered well from his days of training at her father's school,

"No, I guess not!" he replied. The guards looked baffled.

"Sir?" one of them asked, confused.

"You two stay here," Kwang Jin ordered, placing a hand on Mina's shoulder, "This one can pass, she's with me."

Though neither of the guards looked happy, they both reluctantly agreed and moved back to their post at the gates. Sensing that the show was over, the people gathered in the crowd dispersed and returned to their own business once again. Mina continued through the gates, too, following Kwang as his gesture.

"So," Kwang said, "Little Seung Mina has run away again. What's her father going to do with her?"

"I didn't runaway this time, Kwang," Mina said. "Daddy let me go."

"I'll believe that when I see it," he replied, shaking his head and chuckling softly under his breath. "Whatever you say, Little Seung."

Mina chuckled, too. She shouldn't really be surprised to run into a former student of the dojo here. After all, most of them had jobs in the military now. And Kwang was….

"Kwang, you're in the same unit as Hwang, right?" Mina asked, dancing around the people in the busy road to jump in front of him. "You both left the dojo at the same time. Is he with you? Can I see him? I can't wait to tell him that Daddy let me leave, so he won't have to chase after me again!" she blurted out all at once.

Kwang stopped in mid-stride, his smile hardening into a cold, grim visage. Mina felt her stomach clench and cold fear flood her heart.

"Kwang?" she asked, her voice squeaking at the sudden onset of these emotions. Kwang Jin looked straight at her, his eyes suddenly distant and sad.

"Little Seung, come with me. There's something you need to hear."

Unable to answer around the lump in her throat, Mina nodded. The oncoming evening suddenly seemed very cold as she followed Kwang Jin into a small building. As her eyes adjusted to the musty, candle-lit interior, she observed that it seemed to be used by the Korean army as a tavern for the soldiers. The stench of liquor burned her nose. Men dressed exactly like Kwang lounged around tables with cups of the vile liquid. These were other members of his and Hwang's unit, she realized. She looked around, hoping to catch Hwang's face in the group. But he wasn't there, and her growing fear spiked. The other men all stared back at her, confused.

"Hey, Kwang, you know we're not supposed to bring the women here," one said.

"Yeah," another agreed, "we don't want to get in trouble just because you can't wait another few feet to your cot."

"Shut up," Kwang replied harshly. "It's not what you think. This girl is Hwang's…." That silenced the whole tavern. The atmosphere suddenly soured into a dark depression, as if Kwang had poked everyone in a wound that had yet to heal.

One man chuckled, a laugh thick with other emotions as he reached out and gently-almost too gently, Mina thought-took her hand.

"Well, you're certainly not what we expected of Hwang's girl. To hear him and Kwang talk, we all thought you must have fangs ten feet long and fire shooting out of your mouth."

Mina smiled, but somehow it didn't seem right to laugh. Kwang took her arm and led her to a table in a corner of the tavern. Seating her first, he then took a seat across from her. The room fell deathly quiet.

"Kwang, what's going on?" Mina asked, her voice shaking.

"Little Seung, this isn't going to be easy for you, but you have to listen to me," Kwang said, taking a deep breath. "A week ago, we fought a major battle against the invading Japanese. Their forces were strong, but we managed to defeat them. Barely. In the end, it was more like a slaughter on both sides than a real battle." He shook his head, as if to clear it from a bad memory before continuing. "The casualties were heavy for both sides… do you understand what I'm trying to say, Little Seung?"

Mina shook her head. For some reason, none of this was making sense to her at all. Kwang hung his head, and reached out to take her hands within his.

"Hwang fought bravely beside us all, Little Seung. I've never seen one man cut down do many before. In the chaos of the battle we lost each other. When it was finally over we weren't even able to find his body…." At this, Mina turned white and began to shake violently.

"No," she said, striving for calmness. But the peace only lasted a moment. "You're lying!" she screamed at Kwang, leaping to her feet. The world spun around her. "Where is he?! This was his idea, wasn't it?! Get him out here right now, Kwang! This type of prank wasn't even funny when we were children!!"

Kwang stood up then, too, and placed his hands on her shoulders. Mina continued to shriek.

"Get him out here! This isn't funny!" She then broke away from Kwang, turning away from his solemn face and whatever words he was trying to convey to her.

"Get Hwang out here, now!" she ordered another solider. He simply backed away from her, casting his eyes on the floor. "Someone, get him out here!" she repeated to the room in general, but no one answered her. Another soldier promptly ran outside.

"HWANG!" Mina screamed, looking under tables, behind the bar. "Get your ass out here! This isn't funny! Hwang!"

Kwang grabbed her again, and in his left hand was something that the running soldier had returned with. Hwang's vest. It was covered in blood stains, and had a large rent in the back. Kwang handed it to her and, as Mina took it in her hands, her world collapsed around her.

She fell to her knees, her shaking legs no longer able to support her. Tears blurred her vision as she held it up to her face. It was the vest that Hwang always wore. Mina knew this piece of clothing as she knew the man who had worn it; she had known that man as she knew herself.

When she felt Kwang's hand on her shoulder, the touch felt distant-it was as if her body was in a completely different world than her.

"I'm sorry Little Seung," whispered Kwang, his voice choked with sorrow. "Hwang is dead."

Mina began to scream.

Mina woke up on a hard cot, the cold night air washing over her in a chill breeze. She closed her eyes again, suddenly remembering that she didn't want to wake up. She didn't know if she ever wanted to be awake ever again. She wanted to dismiss everything as a nightmare. But deep inside her, she knew everything Kwang had said was true. The blood-stained vest she clutched to her chest was all the proof she needed that her nightmare was very, very real, indeed.

When Mina blinked her eyes open again, they burned. All their moisture had been lost to tears. She heard movement next to her, and tried to sit up too see what it was. She just barely made out Kwang's face in the darkness.

"Kwang, how did I get here?" she asked softly. Her throat burned, too.

"You passed out," he explained, "I thought it best to bring you here to the barracks to rest, Little Seung."

"Oh. What time is it?"

"Early morning. The sun will rise soon."

"Oh," she said again. "I should get going, then." Mina tried to rise from the cot, but Kwang held her down.

"Where are you going this time, Little Seung, that Master Seung has let you run off on your own?"

"White Storm was stolen," Mina whispered. Somehow it didn't seem important anymore. "I have to find the thief and take him and the sword back to the dojo."

"You'll need a horse and supplies for that, Little Seung."

"I suppose," Mina replied, choking on rising tears, "But it doesn't really matter anymore." She clutched Hwang's vest to her breast. "Nothing really matters anymore."

"Seung Mina!" Kwang exclaimed and Mina looked up, shocked by the use of her full name. "What would Hwang say to that? He loved your father's school, loved the weapons there. Do you honestly think his spirit can rest while White Storm is missing? Most of all, he loved you. Do you think his spirit can rest while knowing that his fiery Mina has been reduced to just another crying girl?"

Mina blinked once, then again. Her eyes still burned, but that didn't seem to matter. She smiled.

"You're right," she said, "I do need a horse. And supplies. I want to leave before the sun rises." Kwang smiled.

"A horse and supplies are all ready for you, Little Seung," he said. "Anything else?"

"Can I keep this vest?" Mina asked, holding Hwang's vest tightly to her.

"Of course you can, Little Seung. That way, Hwang will always be with you. And you wouldn't want to go off with out Hwang close behind you to watch you, would you, Little Seung?" Mina smiled, a smile closer to her true smile.

"No I wouldn't." She stood up, still holding Hwang's vest tightly. "I don't feel right in running off if the great Hwang Sung Kyung isn't a step behind me at all times."

Kwang smiled, and showed Mina to the stables. He had readied a horse for her, and more supplies that she thought she would need. When she asked, Kwang told her to think nothing of it. The stallion had been Hwang's, the supplies part of a surplus. The stallion's coat was chestnut brown, a color not far from Hwang's eyes. Kwang didn't know its name, so she named the horse Kyung, Hwang's given name.

Mina left the city as the sun rose over a drastically changed world. Riding hard, she only knew that she had to find Yun Sung and White Storm before trying to decide how to live her life without Hwang. Wrapped around Scarlet Thunder was Hwang's turquoise, white and plum vest.

As she rode into the mountains, the early morning air took the sting off her grief, and determination rose once again within her. She was so engrossed in the trail that she never noticed the eyes watching her from above.

The beast watched the six-legged animal travel along the path below. Food had been extremely scarce since the violent warring of the humans had driven most of the wildlife deeper into the mountains. The beast needed to stay near the walled human habitat, however, for it was wounded and weak. Humans were about the only creature slow and weak enough for it to successfully kill….

Or so the man who called himself Assassin surmised. He had stalked the huge beast all morning. Though it was wounded, it was extremely dangerous. It looked like a bear that had been twisted into the shape of--Assassin didn't even know what--something unnatural. Its muscled, stocky body slinked along the ground on massive, sinewy legs that ended in short claws. It had a pronounced mane, like a lion's, the hair matted into dreadlocks. And embedded in its forehead glittered something dark and metallic. A shard. For this reason, Assassin followed the creature. The beast was intent on stalking its prey, distracted enough that Assassin had been able to draw steadily closer to it without the creature detecting his presence. Soon, he would strike and claim its shard-perhaps when it was indulging in its own kill, when it would be completely off-guard.

Assassin found himself watching the creature's prey, growing impatient for the beast to attack. It was a girl dressed in red clothing and carrying a long, bladed stick. She rode a large chestnut horse; both girl and horse seemed completely oblivious to their impending deaths. The beast drew closer the girl and her mount, and Assassin followed eagerly. Her features were becoming clearer, now. She had long, brown hair, braided and also pushed back from her face with a red headband. She was slight of figure, but nicely curved-this he could see because of her rather revealing, split skirt. His eyes trailed back to her face. She might even be pretty, but he doubted that he would get close enough to see before the beast marred her entire body beyond recognition.

Assassin felt a pang in his neck and rubbed his shard. Recognition…. There was something he recognized about the girl. It seemed impossible, but… she seemed familiar. Was she… the young woman whom he sometimes saw in his dreams? In another few minutes, he would never find out.

Assassin broke from the tangle of his thoughts and closed the distance between himself and the beast. He launched himself on its back, just as it hunched back on its hindquarters to pounce down on the trail below, throwing its balance off. The beast snarled and stopped its leap short. Assassin tumbled off its coarse-haired back, but not before delivering two sharp slashes with his sword. He rolled quickly to his feet, and felt the sting of the beast's claws to his chest in repayment for the bite he had delivered with his weapon. The force of the blow knocked him back against a rocky outcropping. The enraged beast came at him again, but he dodged its swipe and hacked at its sinewy legs. It stumbled as it lurched at him again. Wounded before, it was now seriously hurt. Black blood poured openly from its back and its legs, matting its fur and staining the rocky landscape. Assassin delivered a final blow to its bear-like head, removing the shard there and putting the beast out of its misery in a single blow.

For a moment afterwards, he just held the gleaming black shard in his hands. What was he supposed to do with it? How could he draw upon its power, now that he had collected it? His heart throbbed, and suddenly he knew. Spreading open the wound in chest, he thrust the shard into his body. His chest seemed to close up around it, instantly healing the rent in his flesh. It still hurt, however-even more so than before. He touched the cold lump in his chest, telling himself that the pain would fade as with any other wound. Then, wiping smears of his own blood onto his dark clothing, he peered down at the former prey that traversed the mountain trail.

Whoever she was, she didn't know how lucky she was. And yes, yes she was pretty. Her face was round and her eyes were dark. Perhaps it was the face that taunted him at night after all. He touched the shard in his chest, and seemed to recall that her weapon was a zanbatou, called Scarlet Thunder. She had wielded it against him many times…. His chest throbbed with the memory of the pain she had inflicted on him.

Assassin became enraged. Why had he bothered to save the life of someone who had been enemy to him? Why was his enemy the only piece of his past that he remembered? Frustration and anger roiled inside of him, until he almost leaped down onto the trail to finish the killing that the beast had aborted. But he stayed himself; he couldn't be sure that his girl was the same young woman from his dreams. He needed to get closer, to see her face, without her becoming aware of him. That would be best accomplished when she slept.

To Assassin's extreme disgruntlement, the girl continued to travel well past dark. Keeping up with her was tiresome work, as she had the advantage of a horse. Weary and frustrated, he again considered killing her. At least the horse would provide a good meal. Then he would rest, and forget all about the great inconvenience she had caused him. Again, he stayed himself.

He only had to wait another half-mile before the girl brought the horse to a halt. She moved off of the trail into a wooded hollow, an ideal shelter for the night. But then she was pushing through the brush of the trees.

"What are you doing, stupid girl?" Assassin whispered angrily. He lost sight of her beneath the treetops. He bounded along the rocks above her, no longer concerning himself with remaining hidden behind them, until a break finally showed itself in the trees.

The girl had removed her clothing and now stood before the swift-flowing waters of a stream. She dipped a foot into it tentatively. Assassin stared at the perfect curve of her leg, then traced it all the way up to her shoulder blades. He couldn't help but stare through the treetops, wishing desperately that she would turn around so he could see the other half of her perfection. An instant later, he chided himself for the wish. If he became too distracted, he might accidentally give away his presence.

The girl worked her way slowly into the water, until half of her body was submerged by the mountain stream. As Assassin watched, she released her long hair from its braid and let it float across the surface in spidery tendrils. She looked like a river goddess. He gasped softly, then stilled himself to complete motionless as she glanced up over his shoulder. Her eyes scanned the trees around her, but never once did they drift up to his hiding place. He slowly relaxed, and the girl gradually lowered her entire body into the stream. The current churned around her round breasts as she moved her hands across her body. Bathing, Assassin reminded himself, but the mundane event was extremely interesting. Even… arousing. He felt feverishly warm.

The girl arched her head back into the stream and worked her fingers through her hair. Washing it, Assassin told himself, but he felt that she purposely displayed her body in the most alluring of angles. She appeared to be composed of pure softness and curves, but even from this distance he could see the solidness of her arms. She had the strength of a fighter.

He wanted to watch her forever, and was disappointed when she stepped from the stream to redress. But he knew better than to linger here, where her fighter's instincts might finally alert her to his presence. He slinked away silently from the treetops, back to the rocky shelter of the mountain. When she slept, he would finally see her face in detail.

I must remember….

Seung Mina was exhausted. A full day's ride had worn her body, not to mention her still tattered and bruised emotions. But, on the upside, she didn't have to walk the distance, so she had progressed much, much farther than she would have ever traveled on foot. And the cool bath in the stream had done much to relax her-for the most part.

However, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been watching her the entire time. Feeling uneasy, she had rushed her bath. The feeling still clung to her, as well as the feeling that some of the trail's dirt still soiled her skin. Had someone from the city followed her? Mina found that unlikely; the only people who knew which direction she traveled were the members of Hwang's unit and Kwang, none of whom had any intentions of following her. It made no sense that anyone at all from the city would follow her.

Mina shook her head, swearing under her breath. She still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was close by. But she wouldn't be able to function without sleep. As it was, she was surprised that she had made it through the day with her grief still stinging and fresh.

Walking up to Kyung, she patted the chestnut stallion.

"You holding together, Kyung?" she asked the horse as she pulled some dried rations and rice cakes out of one of the large saddle bags. The horse didn't answer, but the sound of her own voice was relaxing to Mina. "Good," she told the horse, as if she had heard a reply, "because I don't know if I am." She took her comb from another bag. Sitting down on a blanket, she combed out the tangles from her hair and tidied her wet locks back from her face before she started to eat. She looked at Kyung again; the horse was happily munching on some grass.

"Today has been one of the longest days of my life," Mina said idly, "although, I suppose it was yesterday I found out." She started to eat, too, taking large bites out of a rice cake. "It's strange, that someone's life can change so much in a few minutes, isn't it?" She smiled.

Talking to Kyung, the horse, was easier than talking to Hwang, the person, had ever been. She choked back tears; she shouldn't cry now. Grief shouldn't be allowed until all was finished.

"Oh, it's so hard not to cry right now," Mina said quietly. Without thinking, she reached for Scarlet Thunder and unwrapped Hwang's turquoise vest from the weapon. The beautiful blue-green fabric had been marred by blood stains and the rend in the back, "Hwang," she said softly as she clutched the vest to her, hugging it close, "why couldn't I tell you how I felt? I almost did, the night you left," she laughed sadly, "It came out as 'good luck' and 'be safe' and 'kick their asses' instead. I was so mad at myself. Now I guess you'll never know.

"Damn you, Hwang! You always had to go off with out me, didn't you? See what happens when Seung Mina isn't a step ahead of you?" Mina lowered her head and her loose hair tumbled forward to obscure her vision. "I don't know if I can go on without you, after this is done. But I. . .I have to get White Storm back! This is the first time Daddy has ever let me go.

"I wanted you to know that, too, and to see your face when you realized that I could take care of myself… that I'm not a child anymore. That maybe, from then on we could go on grand adventures together," Mina couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "Why did you have to go, Hwang? Why couldn't you have stayed with me instead? Is the whole country that much more important to you than me?" Mina cried, burrowing her face into Hwang's vest. Even after all it had been through, it still smelled like him. She could almost imagine that he was close by, watching her.

The horse came up and nuzzled her shoulder. Mina lifted her face from the vest and hugged the horse in return.

"You, Kyung, are such a good listener, unlike the real one," she said softly. Mina wiped away her tears and managed to finish the rest of her meal. She then took a bedroll from the horse.

"Now, you'd better get some sleep, Kyung. We have to leave early tomorrow if we're going to catch up to that baby, 'kay? Remember, no one likes a lazy horse," she said. She could have sworn she heard the horse snort in reply. She laughed, feeling a little better.

Mina snuggled under the bedroll, not bothering to remove her clothing. At home she normally slept naked, a habit that had been killed during her first time away from home, when she had been attacked by bandits and had had to fight wearing nothing but her bare skin and Scarlet Thunder. Trying to put such idle thoughts aside, she pulled Hwang's bloodstained vest close to her and clung to it like she had an old rag doll when she was a child. She fell asleep easily, sung to sleep by the sounds of the early summer around her. The last thing Mina saw before she fell asleep was Hwang's face.

Hwang stood over her, his eyes glowing with a strange, metallic light. His chest was covered in blood, and torn by the claws of some animal. Mina called out to him, but he didn't answer. His eyes were cold. She called out again, but it was almost like he didn't recognize her. He stared at her blankly, as if he didn't know who she was. As Mina reached out to him, Hwang raised his sword to skewer her on his blade. In the distance, she heard an animal-like scream….

Mina's eyes shot open and she rolled out her bedroll to avoid the sword blow. She grasped Scarlet Thunder and held it in a ready position, crouched low to the ground. Nothing was there. She stared at the stop where she was certain a sword had threatened to strike her sleeping body, then looked to Kyung. The horse danced around, panicked, trying to break the rope that held him in place. Mina continued looking around the small camp site, but saw nothing. She stood slowly, still breathing heavily, still holding the zanbatou in a ready stance. Was there really no one there?

Aware to everything around her to the point of hyper-sensitivity, the feeling of being watched was now a hundred times stronger than before. Moving as fast as she could, she saddled and mounted Kyung, cutting the rope that held the horse in place, reasoning she could get a new rope at any village along the way, as long as she got out of there, now.

Seung Mina spurred the horse and rode hard for the rest of the night, holding Scarlet Thunder one hand and the reins in the other. Yet she was unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched.

As soon as Assassin had returned to the rocky outcropping above the trail, he heard hoofbeats pounding along the dusty path. His heart still racing from the frightening encounter-she awakened too quickly!-he hesitated only a moment before sprinting after her.

Shards, give me strength, he prayed as he pursued her. His legs carried him swiftly and silently, until his heart almost stopped from the overexertion. I just… can't keep up, he cursed himself as he stumbled to a halt. The dust from the horse's hoofbeats had long settled. He would have to make up the time and distance tomorrow. The girl was following a simply path through the mountains, making no effort to disguise her trail. He would catch up to her before she emerged into the desert beyond. But now… now, he must rest.

Assassin dropped to the ground and bundled himself in his cloak. There's no mistake that she is the same girl from my dreams, he reflected. He still couldn't remember her name, but he knew that her zanbatou was called Scarlet Thunder. It was strange… the girl was was so obviously a hardened fighter has also seemed so vulnerable, as she had sobbed and babbled about things that made little sense to Assassin. He did understand, however, that she was following someone. Someone whom she loved… she'd called him Kyung, or something like that. She had mentioned something about a "White Storm," a weapon, most likely, that her lover had stolen as well as her heart. So his enemy had a weak spot.

Images flashed in the dark reaches of his memory. He sparred with a young man… a mere boy, really, with eyes as big as a pup's. The boy threw down his sword before the round was complete and ran off with a scowl. Then the girl stomped up to Assassin and flung the blade of her zanbatou toward him. She mouthed something at him, and all of a sudden he was fighting a battle that he couldn't win. He could not even get in a single hit with his sword, before he was lying on the ground with the world spinning away from him.

Wretched girl, he thought angrily as the memory faded into mirk. Yet his hatred was tainted with hot jealousy. He suddenly was uncertain as to what he would do to the girl when he caught up to her. He wasn't sure what punishment he could force his enemy to serve, for taunting his lust as well as forcing him on an impossible pursuit for his missing memories.

I need more of my memories. That's the only reason I want her. Afterwards, I will kill her, he told himself before drifting off into the sleep of exhaustion.

Assassin woke before the dawn, his energy renewed. He felt stronger and faster than he had ever felt before. His two shards pulsed in time with his excited heartbeat, sending new energy to his muscles as he raced after the girl's trail. With the increased energy, however, came an increased appetite. His body needed food; his subconscious called out for more shards. As midday approached, he began searching for a source to feed both his body and mind.

He soon sensed fresh blood in the distance, beyond the taint of the girl's trail. Something was lying in wait in the mountains ahead. Man or beast, the girl would soon satisfy its wait. Unless Assassin made a quick meal of it first. He bounded ahead with increased speed, his frenzy for blood driving him as much as his desire to save the girl for his own purposes.

He overtook her a few miles later, but blew past her with barely a rustle of his dark clothing. If she spotted him, she would only sense that a large, dark bird had flown by overhead.

Assassin stopped his flight a few miles later. The presence of the shard was strong. He crouched down, panting through his veil for breath. Beneath him. He scrambled across the rocks until they dropped away in a short cliff. He leaped down, and spun around to find himself facing the dark opening of a cave. Within, the intoxicating aura of the shard was strong and sweet. He sniffed the air as if he could not only feel it, but smell it, wondering what manner of creature possessed it.

He did not have to wait long. A moment after discovering the cave, a man appeared at its mouth. He was a hastily designed human being, dressed in once-fine clothing that did not fit his large figure well and carrying a curved sword. No sooner had Assassin made this assessment than three other men appeared behind their comrade.

"Drop your sword and anything else of value you might have on you, before we cut you up and have to search your body ourselves," the first man commanded.

"Drop your swords, all of you. Fight me and your deaths will only be more painful," Assassin replied coldly. His words sounded strange to his ears… how long had it been since he had spoken to another human being?

"I think you misunderstand your place. We're the bandits, here!" cried the leader as he sprung upon Assassin with his blade. His hand was surprisingly quick; even expecting the attack, Assassin barely spun away from the blow, and he still suffered a slight cut from it. He countered with a slashing strike, but the man evaded it easily. The other bandits began closing in on Assassin, and he realized he would have to kill them first. His blood cried out for the shard that the leader carried, but the delay would only make acquiring it that much more sweet. Quickly, he let the first of the goons feel the length of his blade. It was a single strike that arced back to strike another, even before the man's bowels spilled from the clean slice. His new target staggered back, goggling at his disemboweled comrade as he fended off Assassin's blow.

The leader was not so distracted by the kill, and launched a new attack on Assassin. The man was unnaturally quick. Perhaps it was the dark shard embedded in his arm, or perhaps the bulky man professed an unusual amount of grace for his build. Assassin's only concern now was killing the man's two comrades while avoiding his swift blows. He guarded the man's blade, and the two of them were forced away from each other by the impact. Assassin recovered first, but saved his attack for one of the goons. He kicked the man's legs out from under him, then leaped up to avoid another blow from the leader. Assassin let his blade take the force of his gravity as he slashed down on the fallen man's head. He spun to face the leader again, but not quickly enough. The man's blows rained down on him, quicker than lightning.

Assassin moved away in a moment's reprieve, his own blood mixing with his fallen foe's as he rolled over it and braced himself for a new onslaught. The remaining henchman grunted and kicked him, but Assassin grabbed his foot with his free hand and twisted it. He then pushed the man back, forcing him onto the leader's blade. The bandit leader removed his blade, and with it came a bloody stream.

Assassin was well on his feet by now, and not about to let the leader close in on him with another relentless attack. He launched one of his own, striking out with alternating horizontal and vertical movements. The leader tossed the body of his man aside, and blocked each of Assassin's blows in a single fluid motion. He even dodged the low blow to his knees.

It's the shard. It had to be. He's so fast! Assassin thought in frustration. What couldn't the bandit leader block? What wouldn't he expect? It's in his arm. I have to get his arm, Assassin told himself. But the arm was too quick. He had to think one step ahead of the man, he warned himself as he blocked two horizontal strikes. Yes, that was it. The next would be a vertical slash. As the man finished his horizontal thrust, Assassin immediately countered with a horizontal strike of his own, and hit home. Just a few more, he told himself as the two men danced around each other with drawn swords.

But after just a few more, the bandit leader became wise to Assassin's game. He grabbed Assassin and threw him to the ground, impaling him with his sword. His arm. The thought flickered briefly in his mind, and then he held the severed limb at the end of his sword. The leader stumbled back, clutching at his stump of an arm. Assassin rose and beat the man over the head with his own limb, then kicked him to the ground. The shard was finally his. No man should ever be faster than him, now.

Mina rode her horse hard into the mid part of the day. She reflected on the previous night's events for the entire ride; part of her was still shaking from the combination of the dream and being awoken so suddenly, only to never see her attacker. She wished she had seen something. It was almost too much to believe that whoever had been standing over her had disappeared into thin air. What bothered her even more was the dream she had before hand-why would she be dreaming of Hwang?

Grief must be getting to me, Mina thought, chiding herself. Grief had its place, and it was not here. She had a task to complete and a pursuer to avoid, before she could allow tears to fall. It galled her to know that the tears she cried last night had been watched by someone with no compassion for her.

Kyung started to slow, and Mina realized that the horse needed some rest, lest she run the poor beast into the ground and send it to join his former master. Mina let the horse slow, biting down the temptation to spur it on again as a large black shape sped overhead, between the rocks above the trail. Just a bird, Mina, she told herself, trying to remain calm. Get a grip!

The stallion stopped, its need for rest obvious. Mina sighed. She couldn't force the stubborn beast on at the former pace. She dismounted easily and looked around her. She wasn't that far away from the end of the mountains, she felt sure. Her father's many lessons had not ended with swords and sticks. He employed a large army of tutors-a solider who could not write or read orders, who did not know geography, who couldn't find north on a starless night, was useless. And so Seung Mina had learned her lessons with the rest of her students, sometimes thinking that her father was a little harder on her than all the others. But at least she knew where she was going. She doubted Yun Sung knew that much.

Mina took a waterskin from its place on the horse's saddle and drank the cool, refreshing liquid. She looked over at Kyung and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry boy," she said softly, "I don't mean to run you so hard, but only a little break, okay? We have to get to Yun Sung soon."

The horse snorted, and again Mina was left with the impression that it had answered her. Had Hwang talked to it in this way too? The question poked her again in her wounded heart. Swearing under her breath, she grabbed Scarlet Thunder. Some practice was just what she needed, and would give the horse the rest it required.

Mina swung the well balanced zanbatou easily, the sound of the blade cutting through the air soothing to her. High swings, low swings, twirling the long dangerous blade as if it were nothing more than a child's baton she moved. When her mother was still alive, she had always likened the Kata to a dance. The further Mina progressed, the more of a dance it became. She twirled on the blade, jumping as she whirling it through the air and bringing it crashing to the ground. She finished with a favorite move that had taken years to perfect, and she had finally mastered complete control of under her Chinese teacher; a perfect balance on the edge of the blade, holding her body high in the air as if on one stilt, looking at the world upside down before crashing it into the ground in front of her.

She finished, shaking herself off and hefting the large weapon to rest easily on her shoulders. The practice had cleared her head, but not completely. She still felt uneasy. She wished she could find Yun Sung right away, and head back to the Seung dojo immediately. If she remembered correctly, the mountain range gave way to a desert. Small villages dotted the desert and surely there she would find some clue. That baby was sure to stop somewhere for a pampered rest in an inn.

Mina walked back to Kyung. The horse nibbled contentedly at some plants growing to the side of the trail. When she whistled, the stallion looked up and walked toward her easily, abandoning its snack. What a well trained horse, Mina thought as she mounted.

She continued along the winding mountain trail, no longer pushing the horse. She knew that if she killed the chestnut stallion, whoever was following her would have that much of an easier time catching her… a prospect that she didn't enjoy in the slightest.

Mina rode without event for the better part of an hour before the coppery scent of blood stung her nose. That was the only warning she had for the sight that greeted her just ahead on the trail. She gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Even though she had seen dead men before, indeed she had killed some herself in self-defense, she had never seen dead men quite like this.

One man was disemboweled, his innards scattered across the ground, painting the dirt and grass beneath him a sickly array of colors. One man's head was split down the middle, the wound hardly clean, bits of brain and blood across his face. Another looked liked he had been stabbed from behind, the wound running from his neck down to his chest, blood pooling beneath him. The last man was missing his arm, and from the looks of it, the arm had been taken as some sort of trophy, for it was nowhere around the carnage. The Severed-Arm man also sported a head wound and a large gapping hole in his chest. The sight almost made Mina vomit. Who could do such things to these men? True, they were most likely bandits… but no one deserved to die like this. Whoever had done this had not even taken the time to bury them and offer up the simplest of prayers. Not that there was much left to bury.

Mina looked around for a path around the bodies, not having the time or the tools to bury them. She did feel sorry for the men, almost as sorry as she felt for stumbling on such a sight, but she had learned quickly her first time away from home that the real world had little care for such concerns. Dismounting, she lead Kyung through a wooded path that wouldn't bloody his hoofs-Mina had no desire to make her trail more obvious than she was sure it was.

She offered a silent prayer that the men would find the way to the homes of their ancestors as she finished weaving around the carnage. She looked back, her face sad and disgusted; she hoped she would never have to see the creature that did such things, for surely no man would kill like that.

"Let's get out of here, Kyung," she said to the horse, spurring it on once more. Dirt rose from Kyung's hooves in clouds, leaving a fine dust covering over the dead men as she headed out of the mountain range and into the foothills. The foothills would lead to the desert. And from there she would find Yun Sung.

The village was so small that Mina almost overlooked it. If it weren't for the fresh graves in the sand, she would have simply ridden past it, looking aimlessly for the next town. A search that could cost her life in the desert.

She rode into the village slowly, looking around as she did so. It was obvious that the residents here had been through a large battle. Mina knew this town was closer to the sea shore, despite being a desert. It was very likely that they had felt the touch of the invading Japanese.

A villager approached her warily, and heavy and western style gun trained on her.

"Who are you?" he asked, his tone as harsh as the late day sun.

"My name is Seung Mina and I'm-"

"From the Seung dojo? In Chili-san?" the peasant asked, his tone disbelieving and relieved at the same time. Mina was shocked.

"Yes, how did you know that?" A crowd was gathering; Mina grew uncomfortable.

"A warrior from your dojo passed through here a few days ago. He saved us all," the man said, lowering his firearm, "Are you the owner of his school? You have its name?" he observed, apparently confused by the fact that she was a woman.

"The school is my father's," she answered. "Who was it that came this way?" she asked, holding her breath. It could be someone other than Yun Sung… her dojo had trained many fighters who were now out on their own.

"None other than the great Hong Yun Sung," The man answered proudly, as if knowing the man was a great boon. Unable to help herself, Mina burst out laughing. She looked down at the gathered crowd of villagers, each one of them eyeing her with strange looks.

"Would somebody here be so kind to tell me where the 'Great Hong Yun Sung' is? And what happened here?" she asked. The man walked forward; it was obvious now that he was the head of this village.

"We would be honored," he said. "It's a long story though, best told indoors away from the sun. We do have a tavern, if you would join us there…?"

"Gladly," Mina said, happy for whatever excuse she could use to get her out of the hot rays of the sun, even if only for a little while. A boy took her Kyung to be fed and watered in the village stable and Mina gladly followed the village head into the tavern. Over food and a cup of liquor, which Mina drank only to be polite, he unfolded the tale of the great Hong the Brave. It took all of her willpower to keep from laughing during the tale, but at the same time she couldn't help but be a little impressed. If he organized this, she thought, he's grown up some. That baby actually has some guts in him.

She let the village head finish his story of the Japanese warriors and the battle before asking her questions. The first thing out of her mouth was, "Is he still here?"

The village head shook his head a negative, "No, Lady Seung, he left shortly after the battle. In what is sure to be a great and prosperous quest for him, he told us he sought the Patriot Sword to save Korea from the invading Japanese."

At that Mina nearly spit out her food. Any respect that had bloomed for the young warrior quickly withered. That idiot! she thought, but didn't say it. It was obvious that the villagers here thought the world of Yun Sung and Mina didn't want to spoil that, especially since he had earned their respect honorably. He has no idea what the hell he's getting into. He'll be killed! And I'll never get White Storm back. Then Daddy will kill me!

"Did you happen to see which direction he went in? It's very important that I know, you see," Mina said, "I have an urgent message to deliver to him."

"He went north," The village head said without hesitation, "But surely you don't have to leave now? It would honor us greatly to offer you a place to sleep for the night, Lady Seung."

Mina bit her lip. The offer was seriously tempting. However, not only did she need to catch up with Yun Sung, but now she needed to look for that damned sword again-all the while evading whoever was following her. As tempting as it was to sleep under a roof tonight, Mina couldn't do it. She had to keep moving. She couldn't let whoever had stalked her last night catch up with her.

"I'm afraid I can't," she said, shaking her head, "but I thank you for your offer."

"In that case, let us at least offer you supplies. We couldn't send you away with nothing," the village head persisted. Mina looked around, observing that the village didn't seem able to spare the supplies they offered. She did need one thing, however.

"Do you guys have any rope? And a couple blankets? That's all I really need. I could even afford to leave some of my supplies here for you. You need them more than I do…."

"We couldn't take anything from you, Lady Seung," he said, "but we will gladly get you what you asked for."

"Thank you," Mina said sincerely, "Now, I really have to get going." She stood up.

"Of course," the village said, taking to his feet as well. "Your horse will be here for you in a moment."

"Great," Mina said, bowing quickly to the village head. While he brought her horse, she took the spare time to brush out and braid her hair-a task that, due to the haste last night, she had never gotten around to. The villagers gathered what she had asked for, and then Mina was off, the sun already falling below the horizon. She thanked the village head one more time from astride her horse before taking off to the North. She felt eyes on her once more, and the feeling lingered long after she left the village.