I had landed again. No bag, handful of dollar bills, and a photo. Honestly I was just glad my pockets kept there stuff. Maybe I should have gotten a bag before this. I stumbled drunkenly, trying to find where I was. I saw wasteland around me. I saw a short sword beside me, which if I remembered Jacobs lectures was of European descent. I picked it up. I wasn't a great sword user or anything, but it was better than a fist. I looked over my street clothes. A hoodie in plain black, jeans, and my set of combat boots. I sighed and hoisted the sword to my shoulder. I looked around. I was gonna miss Sensei, he was a good teacher. I tried to move around my energy, and felt it slow. "Really, no magic just after I figure it out?" I flinched. I had just said that out loud. I turned around. Okay, time to move. I picked a random direction.

I had been walking for an hour, and was thirsty, and decided to distract myself with singing. I was halfway through some Jason Aldean song, before I found something good. I looked at the small spring in front of me. I knelt down quickly, and began shoveling water into my mouth. I was ecstatic, until some ass placed the blunt edge of a blade to my throat. I froze, and heard someone speaking a language I didn't know in my ear.

I took a moment to process what was happening. I knew some words, namely shi meant death. I thought anyways. "Damn moonspeak. I shoved the blade away, hoisting the sword I held up. There was a samurai in front of me. I did not want to cross blades with a trained fighter. I tried to slowly back up, and he advanced. I sighed. Okay, what had Sensei told me about swordplay. Mostly don't be in it. But we had sparred. I pushed out the blade, giving him an easier target as he eyed me. I was desperately hoping he took the bait. he did, his sword flashing into mine, pushing it aside, and leaving him open to an errant shoulder check from me. I felt the nail in my arm dig in, but I ignored it. I then threw a kick into his gut.

He rose up and spat. "Hazubeki!" I smiled. No clue what he said, but he was pissed now. That was probably. bad. He charged in, and I was suddenly embroiled in clashing blades. It was like a dance, each swipe and slash countered. I wished I had the ability to write, this would make a good poem. Both of us fought like wounded dogs, not much beauty, giving way to a natural beauty. I felt my arm buckle under an overhead slash, then slipped to the side. I kicked out once, knocking the samurai to his knee. I followed it up with a straight up sucker punch to the head. I heard a clatter as his blade fell. I glanced at it and kicked it away.

And thus the tableau was set. Me, sword raised, staring down a kneeling samurai. He looked to his blade once, and lowered his head. I was there, dumbly waiting for a cue. I slowly lowered my sword. He looked up at me. I held a hand to my chest. "Angela."

He stared at me, and then put a hand on his chest. "Yasumori." Well, introductions done. I kicked the sword to him and sat down. He looked confused, but made no move towards it. I nodded and looked at the spring. I took another sip. Then filled up my hand and offered the water to Yasumori. He eyed it for a while and stood, grabbing his blade he sheathed it, and took his own handful, He nodded towards me. I smiled at him, and I saw him smile back. I looked around again. Oh my, that was another group. I tapped his shoulder and pointed. He grunted and stood. He shook himself lose and grabbed the hilt of his blade. I followed suit. I saw four people charging. I could hear there war cries on the wind. Axes in hand, with the front runner holding a short blade and shield. Yasumori got lower. He said something in moon speak, but I could discern it's meaning. Here comes a fight.

The fight was harsh. I felt every muscle in my body strain as I deflected another strike, using the momentum from their swing to power my own hit with the cross guard of my blade. I felt a crack as the woman's nose broke. I shifted my sight to the next one. A man with two hand axes reared them up for a two hand strike. I angled my blade to catch both, with the point forward. I was jarred when they hit, but I slid the blade forward. I felt the blade slide between ribs, and I let my body fall forward, jamming deep into his side. I then pulled back. The man behind me fell, and I saw the woman take a step back. I glanced at Yasumori, who had just manged a solid slash against some huge, axe wielding, man. As he fell I saw the shield guy grab him by the back of his head.

I charged, using my blade to push the woman out of the way. It was a decidedly fatal way to move her. I felt red blood drip down my head. I saw Yasumori fall forward as the blade sunk into his neck. I yelled. There were no words in it, but I knew the damn murderer heard me. he never got a chance to respond. My blade flickered across him. Small cuts peppered his arms, and his weapons fell. He stared at me, and I kicked him in the head. he fell back, but I could see him breathing. "I JUST MET HIM!!" I gestured to Yasumori, who wasn't moving. "I MADE A DAMN FRIEND!" My blade shook in my grip. I took a deep breathe. "Sensei said mortals deserve a chance...." I looked over at the bleeding man on the ground, and raised my sword. "But I'm a bit more draconian than him." I put the blade above his gut. "I hope this hurts."

I jammed the blade down, feeling the man try to struggle. I turned, leaving him pinned to the dirt. I walked to my dead friend. He looked peaceful. I found some parchment with some Japanese writing on it. I pocketed it and grabbed his blade and sheath. "Sorry friend." I closed his eyes, before hooking the sheath into my belt. I moved quickly, looting the dead, and finding both food and water. I peeked at the small shield. I took a knife from the fallen warriors and pried out a nail. "Well, about that time."

I wiped the new wound on my arm, binding it in some bandages the warriors had. I picked up Yasumori's sword, looking it over. I grabbed his sheath, and tied it to my belt with the clothes of the fallen. I stared at the corpse for a moment, before bowing to it slowly, and turning my back to him. I needed to get away from here.

Author's Note

Well, google translate to the rescue. According to is Shi means something close to the fear of death, while Hazubeki means dishonor. If you know better translations pass them my way.