Act VIII: The Known Stranger
     Naitsuu is up before Keiji, Aritsune, and even his mother. For one reason or another, it
seems his mother has slept in, or at least has stayed in her room past her normal time because
Naitsuu is on the porch watching the sun come up.
     The village is still asleep or in their houses. It is silent. Ever since his childhood, Naitsuu
can remember acknowledging silence for it's use of being able to think to oneself. He ponders
his course of action for the day. Once everyone is packed and ready, they shall make their way to
the nearby city of Shoumu. Once there they must pursue trying to get a ship.
     The screen to the porch is opened to reveal Naitsuu's mother. She steps out and stands
next to Naitsuu.
     "I stood next to your father out here the morning he left. You were only four then, and we
were a young family facing many good years yet to come."
     Naitsuu stares at his mother. She sighs.
     "Your father never came back. I bought the townsfolk's ridiculous explanation of a curse
on the shrine and let it slowly waste away. I was a bit worried when you started working on it,
but I was never one to believe all of those tales. So, I let you do it," she drops her head. "And
now look what it has done."
     Naitsuu is slightly concerned at this last statement. He leans over and helps his mother to
sitting on a step and he kneels next to her.
     "Do not blame the shrine, or father, or even yourself. Blaming goes nowhere."
     Naitsuu's mother finally looks up at him and says with tears at the corners of her eyes,
"But that is what you are doing."
     Naitsuu stands up and takes a step back startled by his own realization. He has slipped
from defending the innocence from an emperor shrouded in peace to blaming the emperor for
damages. And for some reason, his father's death, although he does not know why.
     Naitsuu's facial expression changes from a startled one to a serious one. He lets his
mother grab a hold of his arm and helps her into the house and to a seat. Naitsuu can not think
now because of a hidden anger. He decides he needs to act out his anger in the form of practice
in the dojo.
     He leaves the house and quickly arrives at the dojo. He is surprised to find Kenji already
there, in his usual meditating position. Upon his entering the building, Kenji stands up and turns
to greet Naitsuu.
     "Hello, my prince."
     They just look at each other. Naitsuu's anger slightly subsides at the mention of his
princeship. He remembers that he is a prince of the Kintei. Ordained to end terror through
various deeds. And that the emperor is terror. He now again realizes his true reason for going.
Still, he holds on to the lagging thought in the back of his head about his father and his own true
motives. Kenji can sense this and grabs two bo off a rack on the wall and tosses one to Naitsuu.
     "Spar with me," he orders.
     Naitsuu gladly follows his teacher's command. The two engage in a rough sparring
session with Naitsuu going full force in a rage he can not explain. Kenji takes it in step
recognizing that Naitsuu needs a release. Kenji is stunned to find the incredible skill Naitsuu has
even in blind anger.
     Neither man falls for nearly three minutes. Finally, to great astonishment to both, Kenji is
taken down to the floor with a rough strike to the back of the head with the bo from Naitsuu.
     Kenji's bo goes flying across the room. With Kenji down, Naitsuu tosses his bo to the
ground and stands amazed at himself. Kenji slowly climbs back to his feet rubbing the back of
his head.
     "Good, good. You have surpassed me in skill, my pup-" Kenji decides to change his
wording. "My colleague."
     "No, Kenji. Sensei-"
     Kenji cuts him off. "No, just Kenji-san, or Kenji-sama."
     "No, I refuse to let you degrade yourself."
     "Degrade? My boy! If anything I am elevated by being your colleague. You truly
mastered that techniques that even blinded with rage, unable to remember your philosophies,
you can still defeat me."
     Naitsuu bows to Kenji and he returns it.
     "Ah, before you go," calls Kenji. "Here."
     Kenji hands Naitsuu a bo and hanbo.
     "You know few weapons, you should have access to those you do know."
     "Thank you."
     Naitsuu takes the staffs from Kenji's hands and bows to him. He turns and starts to exit.
It is a sad moment for both, because they both know it could be the last time they see each other.
Their relationship was the closest thing to a father-son relationship that either of them had.ever
had. It was quite nearly a father watching his son go off with what he has learned into a world
looking to destroy him. From Kenji's point of view it was just the boy's silhouette against the
orange-red sunrise of the morning. The scene was too much to take for even Kenji, and he
collapses, trying as hard as he can to hold back the tears. Naitsuu closes the screen without
looking back to give the man his respect, honor, and privacy. 
     Kenji stares up at the ceiling of his dojo. Looking at each individual knot in the wood
beams.He says to himself in his mind, All I have left to offer you is my hope for good luck. Good
luck, Naitsuu-sama.
     Naitsuu, now with his feelings heavy, heads back to his house with the two staffs. He
enters his house and places the staffs against the wall. Breakfast is ready and his mother and two
friends have already started eating. Naitsuu joins them.
     "Naitsuu, you are all sweaty," comments Aritsune.
     "Yeah, I was sparring with Kenji-sama."
     "I see you brought two staffs with you," mentions Keiji.
     "Yeah, Kenji-sama gave them to me. He said, ‘You know few weapons, you should have
access to those you do know.'"
     "Okay."
     The group continues the rest of breakfast in silence. They finish and they all help with
cleaning the dishes while letting Naitsuu's mother rest. They figure, she is sort of losing her son.
The least they can do is clean the morning dishes.
     They finish the chore. Akari and her mother come to the Hachimonguu residence. They
talk briefly and then all four gather what they have packed on the porch. Some of the
townspeople have gathered. They help the group carry what they have to the entrance of the
village. Each person picks up his or her packs. Keiji leaves with little more than a bag of
provisions the village provided. Akari has a bag with a few items, including her special weapon,
but she is not ready to reveal that to anyone yet. 
     Naitsuu has both staffs strapped on his back together. He also carries the two kunai he
always has under his right wrist. Yamaneko and Chuuwa seem to have been ‘talking' to each
other deciding what they are going to do. Yamaneko, having the better sight as a feline, is
guarding the group from any oncoming attacks. Chuuwa, having the better hearing as a canine, is
guarding the group from any attacks from behind.
     The group, all ready for their trek, departs to many good-byes and waves and some tears.
Naitsuu and Akari wave a friendly good-bye to the friends they had grown up with and their
friends do so back, jokingly promising to visit them in the palace someday. Once beyond sight
past the side of the mountain, the group relaxes and helps each other stay excited.
     At noon, the friends break out the provisions for lunch. Some friendly conversation is
exchanged.
     "So, what do you guys think the city will be like?" Aritsune asks.
     "Oh, I don't know," answers Naitsuu.
     "Could be fun!" proclaims Akari.
     "Yeah, I suppose so," is Keiji's answer.     
     The group packs back up and starts moving again. After awhile, when it has nearly
become late evening, the group sees down in a valley a bustling city. Naitsuu makes the
announcement.
     "There it is. Shoumu."
     At it's sight, the group is reinvigorated and quickly makes there way down to the valley
and the city outskirts. The groups starts to anxiously search for the nearest ship dealer to see if
they can buy a ship that will work for them. As they move through the town they see the many
interesting things seen in a city. The various types of people, the unusual stores they do not find
in a small country village. And alleyway upon alleyway.
     It gets to almost to dusk and they still have not found a dealership. The streets are mostly
empty. They turn a corner and hear scuffling from an alleyway. There is a man and woman
looking like they have been through homelessness facing an older man who has a large man next
to him. They hear their conversation.
     "Okay, this is last time I ask. Where is the money?" asks the old man.
     "We told you, the plan failed. Please, you know it was a risk when we informed you. Our
family has been through enough."
     The man starts to chuckle and then cuffs the man across the ear. The rings on the old
man's hand cut the other man's ear and it is bleeding badly down the side of his face. The
woman holds the man's ear.
     "Oh, and we do not even have insurance to take care of this. Now it will get infected."
     "Do you think I care?"
     The group is startled but do nothing. The two shabby-looking people seem as if they are
telling the truth, and it definitely looks like the old man is a loan shark. Suddenly, a young boy
drops down from the rescue stairway, landing on one knee in between each half of the four
people in the alley.
     "What's this?" asks the startled old man. "Get him!"
     The big man moves to grab the young boy. Suddenly, the young boy, no older than
thirteen, whips out two weapons the group has not seen before.
     The weapons have two long blades joined by a handle almost in the middle. The boy
thrusts the blades of one weapon into the big man, turns it, and rips it out in one swift motion.
The intestines of the big man spill out into the alleyway. The big man drops to two knees, and
then falls on his side. The boy then quickly proceeds to take both pairs of the weapon and slash
the old man's throat and stomach.
     The force tosses the old man's body against the wall of a building and it lands lifelessly
on the ground in it's own pool of blood. At first, the group seems excited, the two bad people
were taken out by this young boy. But then the young boy turns towards the couple. He threatens
them with his weapons.
     "You can not tell me you do not have something to give me for surely saving your life
right now?" he half states, half asks.
     "Sir, we are grateful, but-"
     "Ha! Gratitude is not what I am looking for. If you can not give me something, you are
not worthy of living, since you can produce nothing!"
     The boy starts to slowly walk towards the couple.
     "Hey! Stop it!" Aritsune shouts.
     She runs into the alley a few steps and sets up to attack with her power. The boy quickly
charges forward to attack here. Keiji starts running forward while commanding Chuuwa to
defend. Chuuwa jumps in front of Aritsune with growling teeth. The boy stops running and skids
to a stop. He still takes a swipe at Aritsune. He misses, but she falls back startled, landing on her
back without attacking. Chuuwa jumps at the boy. The boy knocks the wolf away with his arm
just barely missing catching Chuuwa with the blade of his weapon. Yamaneko starts to charge
forward. The boy braces to thrust his weapon. Naitsuu catches this in his sight and immediately
calls Yamaneko off. In midair, Yamaneko transforms quickly from panther to cat. The lack of
weight causes Yamaneko to lose inertia and fall faster. The boy thrusts but barely misses the
now cat form Yamaneko. Upon landing, Yamaneko darts away in wonder of why Naitsuu called
him off, not knowing the danger he was just in.
     At this point, Chuuwa is half knocked out on the side, Keiji, as usual, is practically
defenseless, and Yamaneko was called off. The boy starts to advance at Aritsune, who still on
the ground can not move to attack.
     "Back off!" shouts Naitsuu with bo in hand.
     The boy, all too eager for battle, turns his attention towards Naitsuu. The two circle each
other for a moment. The boy moves forwards and catches Naitsuu's staff in between the blades
of his weapon on his right side. The boy quickly moves to strike with the other one, but Naitsuu
has managed to let go of the bo with his right hand and has pulled out a kunai. Although small,
Naitsuu blocks the other attack with it. It now becomes a battle of strength. Even though Naitsuu
is older and stronger, the boy possesses the better posture and is on a powerful offensive.
     Finally, Naitsuu tosses the weapon in the boy's left hand to the side. Instead of moving to
attack Naitsuu with it again, he moves to the staff. The force of the blade snaps the staff in two.
The force of Naitsuu holding on to the staff against the boy's weapon and then having it cut in
half so that it was no longer held, tossed Naitsuu off balance and he fell. The boy moves to finish
Naitsuu off. He holds the weapon in his right hand forward to keep Naitsuu down and reaches
back with his left. 
     He starts his thrust and he suddenly finds his weapon caught in the corner of a blade and
a bar similar to his own weapon's style. Except this weapon that just blocked him is a bit bigger.
Without even looking up, the boy swings at this person with his right weapon. He finds his
strength quickly shifted in his left arm towards his right as the person pulls the left weapon
along, as it is caught, and as the person blocks the right weapon. Now the boy has both of his
weapons caught between a bar and a blade. The person forces the boy to either let go or stand up
straight. He does not let go and ends up seeing it is a girl he is up against. The girl speaks.
     "Either back off, or I disarm you and kill you," says Akari as cute and innocent as
possible, almost making a joke out of it.
     "I would not give you the pleasure of killing me. Ha! You are not worth the time spent
cleaning your blood off my weapons," the boy says very egotistical.
     The boy draws back his weapons slowly. He pulls out a red cloth to wipe the blood off
from the previous killings. Keiji helps Aritsune up. Chuuwa and Yamaneko, both in changed
form wait by their side as Naitsuu helps himself up. Meanwhile Akari stands ready with her
weapon. The group looks astonished about Akari's weapon.
     "When did you get that?" asks Naitsuu.
     "Yesterday," she happily answers.
     "And you wield it so well?" Keiji asks.
     "According to my mother, my ancestors control it, so I do not need to be trained to wield
it well."
     The boy stares half interested, half not caring.
     "The mythology surrounding your weapon is the same as mine. Also, the weapon design
is similar. Where do you come from?" asks the boy.
     "Not too far from here."
     The boy's face lights up.
     "Well, then you're family. Welcome to Shoumu!" he says earnestly as the group stares
confused and untrusting.
     The boy starts walking and the group follows. As they leave, the couple creeps away.
     "So, what is your name?" Aritsune asks.
     "Munenori. Munenori Jemu."
     The group looks startled once again.
     Akari speaks, "Um, my name is Akari Jemu."
     The two stare at each other.
     "Just as I thought," the boy says. "You are family. Sometime in the past are families split
over something. One family took the weapon I carry, the other took the one you have."
     "Really!?" asks Akari excitedly. "So, who are your parents? I want to meet my aunt and
uncle!"
     "Ah, sorry, they are both dead."
     "What!? How about cousins, besides you."
     "None."
     "Anyone else?"
     "Again, sorry."
     "So, you are here by yourself?"
     "Yes," he answers. "Do you think if I had someone responsible for me that they would let
me romp around out here at night. Or if I was responsible for someone why I would be out
here?"
     "No, but I do not know you."
     "Fair enough. Anyway, I do have a place to stay. You and your friends are welcome to
stay there for the night."
     "Thank you."
     The group follows the boy until they reach his place. It is simply a rundown house shared
by probably twenty other people. Some of which are probably on drugs or are prostitutes getting
ready to go out for the night. The group climbs up the squeaky stairs.
     "Yeah, human nature on the first floor is a little disgusting," comments Munenori. "But
here, past second floor, which is more of the same, and on to the third floor we reach a bit more
respectable part."
     The group passes through a hallway on the second floor and continue on another flight of
stairs to the third and final floor. There are maybe five other people just hanging out. Two guys
and three girls, dressed in black, as is Munenori, either smoking or sleeping.
     "Hope you do not mind a little nicotine in the air," comments Munenori again. "I do not
think you will be able to convince any of these guys to put out their cigarette. Trust me, though,
it could be worst. These guys do not do drugs..., often."
     "Well, I know I'm thrilled at staying here," Keiji comments.     
     Munenori escorts the group to a room separate from the others.
     He says as he lights a lantern and before closing the door for them, "Hope this will
provide enough light and privacy for you."
     They thank him and he leaves closing the door behind him. Keiji addresses the group.
     "Well isn't he a nice fella'?"
     "Ah, I guess so," answers Aritsune.
     Naitsuu speaks, "There is a one person bed, and bedding down here. I personally think
Akari should get the bed for saving us."
     They all agree, except for Akari who gives no answer. The other three move into their
bedding and Akari gets in the bed. They all fall asleep tired from the events of the day.