Treasure: Chapter One
Treasure
Chapter 1:
Under Cover Mercy
Screams echoed throughout the once peaceful land. Smoke rose up and blotted out the sky. The sounds of gun fire and cannons shook the earth in a thunderous rage. Pieces of dismembered bodies festooned the castle lands, and village around the castle. All of a sudden all was quiet.
A young man no older than eighteen, lazily plopped himself down on the steps of (what used to be) a booming local eatery. His long raven braid (that accented his sun-kissed skin) was tossed in the wind as he leaned back. His deep cerulean eyes reflected a sense of disappointment as he sighed deeply. 'Well this is unfortunate... A bit too easy if you ask me.' He thought to himself.
He was Bankotsu, the leader of the Shichinintai; an army of only seven men that could do the work of a hundred. However young, Bankotsu proved himself to be quite strong. He was very skilled in martial arts. His weapon of choice was a large halberd (he called Banryu), that took three strong men to carry. (Bankotsu could heft Banryu with one hand easily.) Him and his team were greatly sought out by castle lords in times of war and desperation. They were most recently hired out to destroy an eastern lord's castle and all of its five villages. His team consisted of Renkotsu; he was fairly tall and bald. Renkotsu's expertise was in engineering of sorts, and he fought using fire and a hand cannon. Jakotsu was a feminine man, who wore women's clothing, make-up, and kept his brown hair pinned up in a bun. He fought with a snake like sword, that had many blades chained together. Suikotsu was of an average height but had a more muscular build. His weapon of choice was two claw-like weapons that he wore on his hands. Ginkotsu was part machine, part man, and was engineered by Renkotsu to look like a tank. Renkotsu called him ‘the perfect killing machine’. Mukotsu was an older, short and heavy man; he specialized in poisons. Lastly, there was Kyoukotsu, he was a giant man who devoured man and demons a like. "Ok, everyone!" Bankotsu called out.
"Fan out and look for survivors!" Bankotsu ordered his men.
Bankotsu motioned for Jakotsu to come and sit with him. "Did you have to kill all the women?" Bankotsu questioned him.
"You know I like to have someone around to pour drinks for us." He stated mildly annoyed.
"Well, it’s not like you ever leave any cute guys alive for me." Jakotsu said plainly.
The two busted out in laughter, and remained in front of the restaurant talking and joking. Bankotsu considered all of his men to be brothers. But Jakotsu, he loved the most. They had been friends since childhood and remained that way through all of their endeavors. From the looks of it, that wasn’t going to change any time soon.
Renkotsu was searching around in the dungeon, trying to find anyone they may have missed. A sly leer snuck across his face, as he could hear subtle rattling of chains. Though it was dark, he could still see the glint off of a set of chains hiding underneath a bench off in a corner. “Well what do we have here?” He asked snidely as he pulled a young girl (about 16) by the hair, out from under the bench.
He pulled her up to her feet, never letting go of her hair. Angrily, she swung the long chains (that were shackled to her hands) at him, hitting him in the face. Renkotsu returned her gesture by kneeing her in the stomach. He watched as she toppled over, holding her midsection. “You’re lucky I’m under orders to deliver any survivors to my leader.” He scoffed.
One by one, Bankotsu’s men returned to him. There were only two survivors; the young girl Renkotsu brought, and a guard that had been hiding inside to castle the whole time (Suikotsu brought him). The girl fought and struggled with Renkotsu the whole time. He finally pushed her down on her knees in front of where Bankotsu sat. "Well, it appears you didn't kill all the women after all Jakotsu." Bankotsu joked.
He looked down at the girl noticing her ripped up, bloody, clothing that practically hung off of her. He could see open wounds through the tares on her clothing, some were very deep. She was on the thin side, from a lack of food. She had long, light brown hair, that fell in messy spiral curls (all the way to the ground that she knelt down on). She glanced up at Bankotsu for a second, and he was shocked to see the most beautiful golden brown eyes he had ever seen. Or had he seen them before? She seemed vaguely familiar to him. Cleaned up, he could only assume she'd be quite attractive. He studied her for a moment longer; she looked a great deal like someone that he used to know. "Come on now, Renkotsu, did you really have to beat her half to death before you brought her to me? I wanted someone to serve us some drinks." Bankotsu said pushing the stray thoughts from his mind.
"Big Brother, she was like this when I found her." Renkotsu defended himself.
"I see...." Bankotsu said absent mindly, wandering what the girl could have possibly done to deserve that.
Bankotsu’s attention was reverted to the guard who was now practically crying and convulsing in fear. “You’re doing more whining than this girl here.” Bankotsu was almost disgusted with the guard’s cowardice.
He motioned for Kyoukotsu come. The girl and guard both turned as they felt the ground shake. Every step that Kyoukotsu took shook the earth he walked on. Kyoukotsu lowered his giant head and devoured the guard. The girl scrambled back in terror as Kyoukotsu looked at her and swallowed the guard. “My apologies, he was getting on my nerves.” Bankotsu said rubbing his head.
She looked up at him mortified. He didn’t think twice about having that giant devour the guard. What did he plan on doing with her? The other men of the group seemed to be amused by her reaction to what had happened. "Well, if you have no use for her Big Brother; I can certainly find a couple of things she'd be good for. You don’t have to feed this one to Kyoukotsu." Mukotsu said perversely, as he walked over to the girl and pulled on her shackles.
The girl jerked her shackles back from him in disgust. "I definitely wouldn’t mind burning this one alive.” Renkotsu stated, the spot on his cheek where she had hit him had already begun to bruise.
She shuttered at the thought of it all. Bankotsu walked over to the girl and pulled her up to her feet. "Awe, come on guys; you're scaring her." Bankotsu teased, covering up the fact he actually felt sorry for her.
He kept an uncomfortably tight grip on her upper arm as he spoke. She tried to jerk away from him, but Bankotsu was incredibly strong. "So, are you going to be a good girl and get us some drinks?" Bankotsu asked mockingly.
The girl looked away from him defiantly. "If not, everything they just said they'd do to you; can certainly be arranged." He said his arrogant smirk returning.
She reluctantly agreed seeing no better option. He let go off her finally. "That's more like it." He said victoriously crushing the shackles around her wrist with his hands.
" And hey, maybe if you fix us something to eat while you’re at it; when it does come time to kill you, I'll make sure it’s as quick and painless as possible." He seemed to enjoy taunting the girl.
She sneered at him before storming into the eatery. She rummaged around the bar area looking for sake and cups. Once she found some she returned outside, and served each one of them their drinks. They were all talking and joking with each other, discussing their new victory and things of the like; they seemed to barely acknowledge the girl. Returning to the kitchen, she looked around trying to find something to cook, and noticed a back door. Beyond the back door was a straight shot right to the forest. It didn't take long for her to devise an escape plan. She'd stay long enough to cook their food, but after she served it to them; she was running. She had no desire to spend any more of her life as a slave. There was a rack of fish just outside the back door, that looked like it had just been prepared to cook. She also found some fresh vegetables and rice. She balanced between preparing them food, and serving drinks. At last the food was done, and the aroma filled inside and surrounding area of the eatery. She served each one of them their food and refilled their sake one last time before heading back into the kitchen.
"That was one of the best meals I think I've ever had. Please elder brother, can I keep her as a wife." Mukotsu pleaded.
"Sorry Mukotsu, but I don't think the feelings is mutual." Bankotsu replied shaking his head.
He sat back looking at his finished plate. 'The food was pretty good. Having someone around to cook and clean for us could be beneficial...' He thought to himself.
The more he thought about it, the more appealing the idea was to him. Also he didn’t really want to kill the girl. There was just something about her that seemed so familiar. She bore the resemblance of a childhood friend, and he just wanted to keep her around for a little bit to make sure.
"Let me ask you guys something..." Bankotsu started, sitting back up.
The all looked at him curiously. "We are the Shichinintai, the strongest army in all the land. Don't you think it's about time we had our own servant?" He asked.
"Uh, Big Brother; you couldn't possibly be thinking about bringing that girl with us." Renkotsu objected.
"Yeah, who needs a woman around..." Jakotsu crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.
"Oh, come on guys; just think of how much easier it would be on us. She could clean and polish our weapons after battle, she could wash our clothes." Bankotsu persuaded.
"And no offense, but you all suck at cooking. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to eat good food? Don't you guys think that we the Shichinintai, deserve that?" He went on.
Jakotsu and Renkotsu still weren't completely convinced, but Bankotsu ignored their objections. He got up and headed into the kitchen. He was going to inform the girl that he would be keeping her around for a while longer. Disappointingly, when he got to the kitchen she was gone. He looked over to see the back door left open and the forest beyond it. He sighed irritated, and shook his head smiling some. 'This girl, has no clue who she's dealing with.'
The Phoenix
Chapter 1:
Under Cover Mercy
Screams echoed throughout the once peaceful land. Smoke rose up and blotted out the sky. The sounds of gun fire and cannons shook the earth in a thunderous rage. Pieces of dismembered bodies festooned the castle lands, and village around the castle. All of a sudden all was quiet.
A young man no older than eighteen, lazily plopped himself down on the steps of (what used to be) a booming local eatery. His long raven braid (that accented his sun-kissed skin) was tossed in the wind as he leaned back. His deep cerulean eyes reflected a sense of disappointment as he sighed deeply. 'Well this is unfortunate... A bit too easy if you ask me.' He thought to himself.
He was Bankotsu, the leader of the Shichinintai; an army of only seven men that could do the work of a hundred. However young, Bankotsu proved himself to be quite strong. He was very skilled in martial arts. His weapon of choice was a large halberd (he called Banryu), that took three strong men to carry. (Bankotsu could heft Banryu with one hand easily.) Him and his team were greatly sought out by castle lords in times of war and desperation. They were most recently hired out to destroy an eastern lord's castle and all of its five villages. His team consisted of Renkotsu; he was fairly tall and bald. Renkotsu's expertise was in engineering of sorts, and he fought using fire and a hand cannon. Jakotsu was a feminine man, who wore women's clothing, make-up, and kept his brown hair pinned up in a bun. He fought with a snake like sword, that had many blades chained together. Suikotsu was of an average height but had a more muscular build. His weapon of choice was two claw-like weapons that he wore on his hands. Ginkotsu was part machine, part man, and was engineered by Renkotsu to look like a tank. Renkotsu called him ‘the perfect killing machine’. Mukotsu was an older, short and heavy man; he specialized in poisons. Lastly, there was Kyoukotsu, he was a giant man who devoured man and demons a like. "Ok, everyone!" Bankotsu called out.
"Fan out and look for survivors!" Bankotsu ordered his men.
Bankotsu motioned for Jakotsu to come and sit with him. "Did you have to kill all the women?" Bankotsu questioned him.
"You know I like to have someone around to pour drinks for us." He stated mildly annoyed.
"Well, it’s not like you ever leave any cute guys alive for me." Jakotsu said plainly.
The two busted out in laughter, and remained in front of the restaurant talking and joking. Bankotsu considered all of his men to be brothers. But Jakotsu, he loved the most. They had been friends since childhood and remained that way through all of their endeavors. From the looks of it, that wasn’t going to change any time soon.
Renkotsu was searching around in the dungeon, trying to find anyone they may have missed. A sly leer snuck across his face, as he could hear subtle rattling of chains. Though it was dark, he could still see the glint off of a set of chains hiding underneath a bench off in a corner. “Well what do we have here?” He asked snidely as he pulled a young girl (about 16) by the hair, out from under the bench.
He pulled her up to her feet, never letting go of her hair. Angrily, she swung the long chains (that were shackled to her hands) at him, hitting him in the face. Renkotsu returned her gesture by kneeing her in the stomach. He watched as she toppled over, holding her midsection. “You’re lucky I’m under orders to deliver any survivors to my leader.” He scoffed.
One by one, Bankotsu’s men returned to him. There were only two survivors; the young girl Renkotsu brought, and a guard that had been hiding inside to castle the whole time (Suikotsu brought him). The girl fought and struggled with Renkotsu the whole time. He finally pushed her down on her knees in front of where Bankotsu sat. "Well, it appears you didn't kill all the women after all Jakotsu." Bankotsu joked.
He looked down at the girl noticing her ripped up, bloody, clothing that practically hung off of her. He could see open wounds through the tares on her clothing, some were very deep. She was on the thin side, from a lack of food. She had long, light brown hair, that fell in messy spiral curls (all the way to the ground that she knelt down on). She glanced up at Bankotsu for a second, and he was shocked to see the most beautiful golden brown eyes he had ever seen. Or had he seen them before? She seemed vaguely familiar to him. Cleaned up, he could only assume she'd be quite attractive. He studied her for a moment longer; she looked a great deal like someone that he used to know. "Come on now, Renkotsu, did you really have to beat her half to death before you brought her to me? I wanted someone to serve us some drinks." Bankotsu said pushing the stray thoughts from his mind.
"Big Brother, she was like this when I found her." Renkotsu defended himself.
"I see...." Bankotsu said absent mindly, wandering what the girl could have possibly done to deserve that.
Bankotsu’s attention was reverted to the guard who was now practically crying and convulsing in fear. “You’re doing more whining than this girl here.” Bankotsu was almost disgusted with the guard’s cowardice.
He motioned for Kyoukotsu come. The girl and guard both turned as they felt the ground shake. Every step that Kyoukotsu took shook the earth he walked on. Kyoukotsu lowered his giant head and devoured the guard. The girl scrambled back in terror as Kyoukotsu looked at her and swallowed the guard. “My apologies, he was getting on my nerves.” Bankotsu said rubbing his head.
She looked up at him mortified. He didn’t think twice about having that giant devour the guard. What did he plan on doing with her? The other men of the group seemed to be amused by her reaction to what had happened. "Well, if you have no use for her Big Brother; I can certainly find a couple of things she'd be good for. You don’t have to feed this one to Kyoukotsu." Mukotsu said perversely, as he walked over to the girl and pulled on her shackles.
The girl jerked her shackles back from him in disgust. "I definitely wouldn’t mind burning this one alive.” Renkotsu stated, the spot on his cheek where she had hit him had already begun to bruise.
She shuttered at the thought of it all. Bankotsu walked over to the girl and pulled her up to her feet. "Awe, come on guys; you're scaring her." Bankotsu teased, covering up the fact he actually felt sorry for her.
He kept an uncomfortably tight grip on her upper arm as he spoke. She tried to jerk away from him, but Bankotsu was incredibly strong. "So, are you going to be a good girl and get us some drinks?" Bankotsu asked mockingly.
The girl looked away from him defiantly. "If not, everything they just said they'd do to you; can certainly be arranged." He said his arrogant smirk returning.
She reluctantly agreed seeing no better option. He let go off her finally. "That's more like it." He said victoriously crushing the shackles around her wrist with his hands.
" And hey, maybe if you fix us something to eat while you’re at it; when it does come time to kill you, I'll make sure it’s as quick and painless as possible." He seemed to enjoy taunting the girl.
She sneered at him before storming into the eatery. She rummaged around the bar area looking for sake and cups. Once she found some she returned outside, and served each one of them their drinks. They were all talking and joking with each other, discussing their new victory and things of the like; they seemed to barely acknowledge the girl. Returning to the kitchen, she looked around trying to find something to cook, and noticed a back door. Beyond the back door was a straight shot right to the forest. It didn't take long for her to devise an escape plan. She'd stay long enough to cook their food, but after she served it to them; she was running. She had no desire to spend any more of her life as a slave. There was a rack of fish just outside the back door, that looked like it had just been prepared to cook. She also found some fresh vegetables and rice. She balanced between preparing them food, and serving drinks. At last the food was done, and the aroma filled inside and surrounding area of the eatery. She served each one of them their food and refilled their sake one last time before heading back into the kitchen.
"That was one of the best meals I think I've ever had. Please elder brother, can I keep her as a wife." Mukotsu pleaded.
"Sorry Mukotsu, but I don't think the feelings is mutual." Bankotsu replied shaking his head.
He sat back looking at his finished plate. 'The food was pretty good. Having someone around to cook and clean for us could be beneficial...' He thought to himself.
The more he thought about it, the more appealing the idea was to him. Also he didn’t really want to kill the girl. There was just something about her that seemed so familiar. She bore the resemblance of a childhood friend, and he just wanted to keep her around for a little bit to make sure.
"Let me ask you guys something..." Bankotsu started, sitting back up.
The all looked at him curiously. "We are the Shichinintai, the strongest army in all the land. Don't you think it's about time we had our own servant?" He asked.
"Uh, Big Brother; you couldn't possibly be thinking about bringing that girl with us." Renkotsu objected.
"Yeah, who needs a woman around..." Jakotsu crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.
"Oh, come on guys; just think of how much easier it would be on us. She could clean and polish our weapons after battle, she could wash our clothes." Bankotsu persuaded.
"And no offense, but you all suck at cooking. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to eat good food? Don't you guys think that we the Shichinintai, deserve that?" He went on.
Jakotsu and Renkotsu still weren't completely convinced, but Bankotsu ignored their objections. He got up and headed into the kitchen. He was going to inform the girl that he would be keeping her around for a while longer. Disappointingly, when he got to the kitchen she was gone. He looked over to see the back door left open and the forest beyond it. He sighed irritated, and shook his head smiling some. 'This girl, has no clue who she's dealing with.'
The Phoenix