It was over pathetically fast. She never got a reply about why they had captured her, but again, what would one expect bandits to do with captured women? Most stories about that usually ended up in sex slavery of some sort. Kazui had to stop herself from imagining what awaited her now. Days, possibly weeks of captivity, likely death in the end. You don't kidnap someone then just let them go with an accurate description of your face and the like. Then again, it didn't matter overmuch, as they had bigger things to worry about. Surely attacking a caravan was a more serious crime. That said, the caravan might be as lost as she was. All she knew was that she was in the land of fire. Hopefully, If she was close enough to the ninja village, a shining would be dispatched to investigate the wreckage left after the attack. Kazui sighed. No wonder she had been so lucky. Fate had needed to give her good luck in other matters that day to balance out this atrocity of bad luck. Fate was a cruel thing. That said, Kazui didn't truly believe in fate or destiny. She believed that you made your own fate. That said... In this case hers lie in the hands of others for a time being.
What would they do with her? Could she play nice and hope they trusted her enough to give her an opening? That was her only plan at this point. Best to give in and bide her time than get herself killed here in a fight she couldn't hope to win. The bandits loomed up over her as she squirmed, attempting to get q good look at them. "Heh, she d'int put up much of eh fight ey Ryuji?" what had they expected? She could put up a fight, but ensnared as she was it would be pointless. That said, hopefully she would get a chance soon. But that itself worried her. Here, there were but 2 of them. She had hope of escape if he legs were not ensnared, perhaps, but not too much hope in her condition. There... There could be a dozen more bandits... 2 dozen. There was likely no real hope of escape at all. Kazui kicked herself. The whole thing had been decided the moment she was startled and stumbled into the net. She fought back tears with only mild success, feeling both rage and fear rise within her. The part that wanted to kick and scream was already formulating plans to send kikaichu into the privates of any man who would attempt to rape her. She was also kicking herself, no, closer to assaulting herself for being weak enough to get captured. She had failed to adequately protect her families caravan, and now she had failed to protect herself.
At least she had one of their names, as the other had been dense enough to acknowledge it and reprimand the other about giving real names. Not that it mattered really. What help was a name going to be? Dimwit 1 and Dimwit 2 were fitting enough anyway. But that said, they had managed to capture her, and if they were dimwits, that just made Kazui queen dimwit here. Granted She was tired, wounded, and hungry, but Kazui was too furious at the herself to see reason regarding those points. Kazui was grabbed and heaved up and onto one of the bandits, and carried off. The primal, instinctive part of her wanted to squirm and thrash, But the half logical part of her was furiously stopping that, as she needed all her energy, and wasting it thrashing about was just stupid. Kazui's eyes leaked hot tears as she was carried off to who knew where.
- - - - -
Soon she could hear more around her, and the creaking of a wooden gate. As she was carried past it she saw the size. This was no tiny group of bandits, but a true encampment. Her heart sank as she was dropped, still bound. Some big ugly beast loomed up in front of her, carrying some massive weapon she couldn't fully see given her vantage point. Kazui squirmed and managed to get a good enough vantage point to see the slimy grin across king ugly's face as he looked her over. Her rage had cooled during the hike here, and she had some semblance of calm. There were no tears, only determined resignation in her eyes. Her rage had cooled too. Like a red hot Canon, it had cooled and red into a formidable weapon, no longer fighting to control instinct, her logical mind had reinforced and tempered the cannon that was her rage.
Loud noise and talking came then, as someone approached. A red person, or rather, someone in red clothing, had approached.
"That's as close as you'll ever come to a girl before you die," someone was here! Could she truly be that lucky today? Someone who felt confident enough to threaten an entire encampment of bandits. Lord, Kazui hoped he wasn't boasting idly, but had the wherewithal to back up the threat. But there was a running, followed by a sickening sound. A badly forged blade fell near herb almost cutting her. She began getting to work, rubbing the netting binding her against the blade in an attempt to weaken the net. More fighting, it sounded like a massacre really. She heard arrows land, yet not the stranger falling to them. Slowly, She managed to wriggle a hand free. Then she managed to grab the blade and get to work with the net.
With a last, desperate attempt, she broke loose, and sat up just in time for king ugly to fall to the ground beside her. She watched in awe as the man's weapon contracted into a sword shape. What an amazing sword! She wanted to become a great swordsman, but this man had massacred an entire bandit encampment without taking any real blows.
"They won't be bothering you for a while," Kazui stood as quickly as she could and looked down at the blood soaked dirt around her. He began leaving already.
"Please! Don't leave me!" Alone and recovering from a rather dire situation she needed someone, anyone to be near her. Even this dangerous man She didn't know. He could cut her in half, but the thought of being left in this bloody land alone was so horrifying she couldn't help herself.
"...please...I don't want to be alone here..." Kazui bent down and grabbed one of the blades... Holding it in her hand, like it was a precious relic, gently yet firmly in her hand, as if she aimed to use it. At the same time, she eyed it with obvious distaste. She whispered:
"They had no taste in weapons..." it was a bare whisper. Yet the thought of being without a weapon in this blood soaked place was as frightening as the idea of his swordsman just leaving her there.
"I know I have no right to ask you not to leave me alone... But please..."Word Count: [1,199]
Total Word Count: [1,199+1,608=2,807]