Saturday Special: My Georgie came a calling

"Wary be the humble traveller of biting tooth and slashing claw, and more so when in pilgrimage through ancient timber; yea be the dangers of the wood, O proud child, yea they be. But lo, does there exist any journey more terrible than those through the sulphurous cave, derelict castle, or coverless moor? Nay, for within such places dwell the most noble, mighty, and terrible of beasts: Dragons!" The knight below my claws shouted out in his plea for mercy.

"I swear that was what I read on the cave entrance." He strengthen his case for mercy. "I thought it was a Halloween joke from last year. Or years before that. I swear I had no bad intents."

I glared at him; puny human dressed without an armor and held no lance nor sword. I wondered when would they ever grow up. I took my feet off the 'merciful knight' and checked my claws. None broken or chipped. The knight got up and tried to escape from my cage. I reached out for the hidden switch and released the iron grate that was designed to hold these puny invaders in here.

"Argh! Let me go , dear Dragon. For the love of God, I had told you the whole truth and nothing but the truth." The knight was trying to squeezed through in-between the railings.

"I say, dear knight. You might do better if you had gone on that diet of organic growth. You current girth; may I placed it politely, is too obtrusive at the current dimension." I looked at my other feet claws. Then I shrieked out in agony. The poor knight went pale on the sight of my pain.

"Do you know how long it would take to grow your claws back?" I leaned down from my height to looked at him. The knight shook his head.

"I am sure you wouldn't. It takes years and the amount of manicuring on the stone walls to get it perfectly oblong." I spelled it out to him in the plain words. "Its agonizing."

It was then I noticed the trickle of water that was trailing down from the gate side. I stepped over and the poor knight cowed himself on his knees, trembling with fear.

"I am not fighting you. I am just checking the roof here. It could be leaking." No, there was no leakage there. I traced the leaks and found the source.

"Young knight, do you mean to tell me that you had peed in my cave? Do you know I had those bats banished for that offending smell, and now you are doing it." I glared at the young knight. "Do you want me to burned you to crisp with my flame?"

"Oh, mother of love. Please spare me. I had explained to you. I stumbled in here by accident." The young knight pleaded. "Here, I offered to wipe it clean."

The young knight took off his shirt and started mopping the floor. Gawd, I turned away. What manner of this knight, that he displayed his naked torso to one who is a maiden among the beasts. I stepped back to let him do his chore in peace while I looked at my surrounding. All I could recalled was I slept that evening as usual at the sight of the sinking sun. It was good for me to sleep early, it preserved my scales from aging beyond my time. Next I knew it was dawn and then his pesky knight was looking up my muzzle orifice. He was lucky I did not snort or he would be crisp bacon served on the plate by now.

"Hum," I sighed. The cave looked as it was not dusted for ages. I saw the dungs heap of the bats. Nasty creatures; hung by their legs and looked at you as if you do not exist. What mother would say if she visited me? Oh, she won't be coming. I heard from the owls, she had a tussle with a knight named St George. He impaled her hard and she died from the result. Nice way to go, knowing that you got it hard up.

"Hehehe..." I giggled. I looked up to the dark roof of my cave. "Sorry, Mum. Didn't meant that."

Gee, I must be beast crazy; I am imagining things that shoo shoo by Mum then. She once told me; Clarice my dear, you do not be naughty. Them beastly dragons are too eager but you wait your time. Don't rush like me. Your beastly father was a ...beast. He knew no love but for my bosom. So wait your turn, there would be a shiny knight one day that would come to seek your body and .....soul.

"Rest in peace, Mum. If he is here, I would tell you so." I spoke to the roof again.

"Who are you talking too?" The young knight asked while he wrung his shirt. Oh, he does have a six pack on his torso. Size eight perhaps far below. Anyway, he asked me a question. And its impolite for ladies not to reply.

"I was talking to my Mum." That frightens him off. They all do when I mentioned 'Mum's the word'.

"She's here?" The young knight went on his knees. "I did not do anything to you. Please tell your Mum."

"Oh, don't get your pants wet." Gee, did I said that. I knew the beasts used to chide me on that. "I meant to say Mum dead. She died when St George, you know..... " I did the scene of the impaled movement and then with Mum rolling over moaning 'death would prevail over her' looks.

"St George? Gee, that's long history." The young knight stood up. "My name is George too."

He does look ravishing. Gee, better than those bearded old man in the tin can suit. They needed the lance to show case their prowess.

"You looked rather ...big." The young George spoke to me.

"I am?" I blushed. I knew I grew faster than the others but it was genetic. Mum was huge. I side stepped to avoid his glare. It also showed my better profile. I been practicing over at the pool. It was then I remembered the pool was gone. It must had dried up last night or was it drained. There goes my moisturizing bath.

"Oh, oh. You are big." Young George complimented. I knew he would like to see the better part of me. Them butts are the best in my composure. I turned my head and looked at him.

"Tell me, George. How did you come in here? And in what tarnation made you wear that ugly drabs?" I was looking at his leggings; blue in color and tight hugging too. I can't deny the buttons looked stretched tight across. Must be the tailor' fault.

"Oh, I was hiking and then I saw the sign." Young George replied as he laid out his shirt to dry. He tucked in his hands into his back pockets, and straighten his back. I could had feigned fainted and let him have his way then, but I must be prudent. Mum said to check it out. Don't lose out to the loser.

"The sign that read that there was a dragon here. We ..... I meant I have never seen a dragon or even a cave. I walked in and saw you sleeping there." He looked to the gate. "I thought you were .....you know a statue or some graffiti on the walls perhaps, but you were real. I could had touched you..."

"You touched me...." I glared at him. "Where?"

I looked around my scaled body for marks of tear.

"I might had, as then was when you woke up. You chased me and placed your feet over me." Young George was trembling again. I had to admit, I was a grouch without my sleep or being disturbed in it.

"I did not mean to. It was just my curiosity." Young George looked down at his feet.

"Well, whatever was done cannot be ....undone." I sighed. I looked to the cave. I guessed it also time for me to leave here. I looked to young George.

"Tell me where is the castle of yours?" I asked him.

"Castle? I have no castle. I lived in a house at the city. On 17^th Avenue. Its a modest apartment." He reached into his back pocket and drew out the off looking black contraption. He did something to it and then showed me a scene of his room.

My, my. The rascal was rushing things. I could see the bedding and the dresser. Not too shabby but untidy. Then I saw the number there on the bottom of he bed. Its said "Class of Year 2013".

"Class of Year 2013?" I spoke out. "What year are we in?"

"August 2013." Young George replied. It can't be. I must had slept for over five hundred years. No wonder he looked different. The pond had dried in that many years. I am also lifted of my curse if I had cleared five hundred years.

I could be myself again. I leaned over towards him.

"Can you kissed me?" I asked him with my muzzle lips pouted out. He was not overly eager. I encouraged him with a slight snort of the flames. He did and then I felt myself twirling in the cave. It was all so fast and then I was back to myself.

I was back to my Princess body. Oh gawd! I was naked. I grabbed his shirt and covered myself. He was a gallant knight when he offered me a fresh shirt from his leather pouch nearby. He even offered me his spare leggings. We did not speak as there were hardly anything needed to said. Love was after all about feelings. It was only the words to expressed it vocally. I raised up the iron gate with the hidden switch before we left the cave.

"Can we come back here to spend some nights here?" George asked me. I nodded. I never did make it in a cave before. Nor on a bedding with the banner that said Class of Year 2013.

Nor was I ever been driven in a E- Class before. They sure have a lot of leg space.

Samurai; In the Time Rift 2.2

2.2

Bento, the Hohei checked his bow everyday without fail. To him, the yumi ( bow ) was his weapon of choice. It stands over over two meters, and surpassing the samurai holder by half a head. His Yumi was made from a combination of laminating bamboo, wood and leather, using techniques learned his father and his father before that. The upper and lower curves also differ, as the center of the Yumi was two third below the upper tip. A bamboo yumi requires careful attention. Left unattended, the yumi can become out-of-shape and may eventually become unusable. The shape of a yumi will change through normal use and can be re-formed when needed through manual application of pressure, through shaping blocks, or by leaving it strung or unstrung when not in use. The tsuru or bowstring of a yumi is traditionally made of hemp. The nocking point on the string is built up through the application of hemp and glue to protect the string and to provide a thickness which helps hold the nock of the arrow in place while drawing the yumi.

The arrows ( no ) are made from bamboo strips and can have different shapes; straight, or tapering, depending on the use of the arrow. The arrows are also balanced for trajectory that arcs more. These are also countered measured in the aesthetic balance of length and thickness determines the diameter of the arrow. The proper length is measured from the archer's throat to five centimetres beyond the tip of the outstretched left hand. The feathers should be about fifteen centimetres in length and can be the most expensive part of the arrow. Bento uses only the finest; the Sea Eagle. On his bow the nock ( hazu )was made from deer horn, while his arrowheads are mostly with conical iron tip but there are a few which are made for special targets. Those are kept in the personal baggage carried by the slaves.

Bento counted the arrows in the quiver. He had lost ten arrows from the thirty he had there, and felt the loss more than the others. He treasured all of it; even retrieved it when he shot it. But this place had taken ten of his arrows. He had tried to retrieved it but they are all damaged.

"Bento, here have these arrows." Sun passed to his friend the arrows given by the others. He knew Bento treasured the arrows but there are no materials here to make new ones.

"Arigato-mo, Sun-san. I am glad to retrieved them." Bento examined the arrows. They are some imperfection in them and he would rectified them when they rested. He kept them on his obi. They would not be mixed with his arrows until they are perfected.

"Bento, come forth." That was the Taisa Mori who gave him the order. Bento ran forth on his best of speed to the head of the column.

"Bento, I want you to scout the path ahead while the group rest here. Edo-san have assigned another to assist you. He is called Fudo." Taisa Mori pointed to the farmer standing next to him. The farmer held a pitchfork in his hand, and a sickle was on his waist line belt.

"Fudo-san, that's my name." He was also a man of the Taisa' height, but was packed with the fats than muscles. "I may be older but I have a keen smell on my nose. I can picked out any scent."

A dog place was in the yard of the house, and not in patrol with a samurai; those were the thoughts of Bento. He looked to his Taisa.

"Taisa, that task can be performed by myself. I am a samurai." Bento was irritated that he was paired to a farmer but the Taisa was adamant on the joint patrol. So he reluctantly followed the order and proceeded to ventured ahead. The path ahead was not much different from the earlier ones but they soon discovered something new.

"Do you smell it?" Fudo asked the samurai who was walking ahead with the bow in the left arm but the samurai was not responding to his question. The farmer bend down to the ground and took a sample of the dirt there. He smelled and tasted it on his tongue.

"Its bat guano." Fudo muttered to himself. Then he proceeded on to take more dirts, and did not noticed the samurai was rounding the corner ahead.

"But I also smell dead carcasses." Fudo spoke to himself. He looked for the samurai and saw the lighted torch carried by the samurai was fading. Fudo rushed forth to catch up but he missed the samurai.

"Where did he turned?" The farmer had passed through a narrow path with high walls of rocks on both sides and now came to a small clearing with three paths of high rocks walls. He was himself alone on his own path. He knelt down to see the tracks on the ground. It was how he tracked his animals on the farm when they are lost in the hills. He saw the marks of the sandals heading to the path on the left, so he choose that one.

He walked on and then he saw what may be some lights in front. He moved on as he does want to see what was there. He came onto a small ledge and leaned down to watch was over there. He had to stifle his own voice from shouting. It was not a sight that the others would even dared to see. He then felt the hand clasped over his mouth. It was Bento who also doused the lighted torch.

"Do not be alarmed." Bento whispered to him.

The sight was a clearing below not far down, with hanging from the ceiling of the cavern on vines with human corpses decayed on it. It could had been there for over a period of time and it was hanging over two dozen over large eyes; the sized on a cat-like creatures.

There was one egg which have cracked which its occupant had emerged and was feeding on one of the corpses. The newly born creature was with furred body of human like limbs, but the head was larger with its expression more serpent designs on it.

"Are they ....like us or are they..." Fudo asked.

"Hibagon, it could be them. I heard of them. Dweller of the mountains and killers. So we are still in land of Shogun." Bento replied but they noticed the young creature had stopped it gnawing at the body. It was picking its nose up and trying to track the scent.

"We need to get back." Bento pulled at the farmer but the later was looking at the young creature. It bared its young growing fang and spring towards the duo.

"The creature coming." Fudo called out and such was the creature swift in movement even at that early stage, it came leaping over the un-hatch eggs and rocks to jumped onto the path leading to them. Bento on reaction learned in the years of training, turned his body as he drew on his bow. The arrow notched there was pulled to its length on the taut bow string was released towards the small creature as he stood up to leaned the body downwards on the side facing the creature. It struck the creature in its left eye and pierced to the back of the head. It dropped down dead in mid stride while the other two men ran back to the safety of their numbers. Their run was on the semi darkness condition but they had acclimatized their sights by now the contour of the path.

It was Bento who suffered the first casualty of fall, when his leg tripped on a wrong footing and ended falling over a ledge. It was not any ledge but one that dropped into a deep narrow crevasse after it. Bento was quick to grabbed hold of the small outcrop of rock with his bow and avoided falling through.

"Samurai, where are you?" Fudo had stopped to searched for the missing samurai.

"I am over here. Look over the ledge." Bento hanging on by the bow replied his predicament. "I need some help to get up."

Fudo was soon seen staring over the edge and the dark recess below scared him. He tried to looked for anything to pulled the samurai up but there was none. He then remembered his pitchfork and lowered that down.

"Grab this and we would be fine." Fudo braced himself for the pull with his body stretched on the ledge. He was the mule in the farm when the ox was taken by some bandits. He plowed the land with his shoulders and limbs acting like a ox. Now his strength was to pulled the samurai up who had held onto his pitchfork with one hand and holding the bow with the other.

"Released the bow and use that hand to find some hold that can help you. I would pulled from my side." Fudo pulled his body back with the pitchfork held firm with both hands. He pulled and pulled while the samurai struggled to pushed up. Soon he had the samurai up but the later was adamant on fishing his bow out.

"Lent me your pitchfork." The samurai may had asked but he did not wait for the reply. He took the pitchfork and used it to reached for the bow still hanging on the rock. He got it hooked and dragged it up.

"Arigato-mo, farmer. I am in your debts." Bento bowed to the farmer.

"Fudo, my name. We were all in debt to each other. You killed the small creature and I saved you. We are equal." Fudo replied as he checked his pitchfork for damages.

"I think its best we relight the torches. This place is too dangerous to wandered in the dark." Fudo spoke out as he held out the torch he had used. Bento complied and re-lit the torches including his. He then heard the shouts and scream.

"The campsite. We need to rush back." Both of them rushed back to the campsite.

Samurai; Lost in the Time Rift 2.1

The Encounters

2.1

The cavern extended far in their journey with the group holding close to each other to avoid being snapped by any predators. They have not met any serpents but they did encountered many small creatures that hid when the lights from the torches reached them but their hiding were betrayed by their glowing eyes. They are not big creatures; more of cat sized but they lack the furs and tail. Despite that similarity, they were swift in their movements. One Hohei tried to grabbed one of them but failed many times. It was Gunso who did the trick well; he made a lasso out of some ropes and attached it to the yari. He had borrowed one of the dead samurai's yari and now was using it to bait the small creature. It worked as he managed to lassoed one of them. It created a commotion of shrieking and mindless jumping among the creatures.

"Gunso, what did you do?" Taisa Mori asked of his aide as he looked at the small creature now tied to the yari. It was build like a cat with the looks but this one ran on its hind legs. It showed its talons but the samurai was not impressed.

"A cat who walks on two legs; we are afar from our home." Taisa Mori sighed while the creature struggled to get itself released from the rope.

"I think its safe to eat. Shall we had it roasted over the fire? I doubt it would taste well eaten raw." Gunso Mita fancied the fresh meat to the rice cakes. He looked at the cat creature closer and noticed its snarling and then the lashing out with the talons.

"Its more fierce than my wife." That made the crowding Hohei laughed at their leader but Gunso swung the creature over them.

"Who laughs the loudest would get this creature to bed with?" That drew their laughter away.

It was then the group of men felt the stinging pelting from the creatures. They were throwing small rocks at the men; and it was not few but many.

"Curses to them! Why are they throwing these stones?" Gunso Mita sought cover with the arms but the stones are too numerous to shield. He dropped his yari and then the small creature there managed to escape. Once the creature ran off, the stones throwing also stopped.

The sounds of the shrieking creatures brought in more creatures and there was one who was eager to accomplished that the previous one failed. The large bluish green serpent slitter towards the commotion. The car-like creatures saw the serpent and went into the frenzy of more shrieks and jumping. The serpent had grabbed two of the creatures and fed on it before it went for the group of man.

"Torches to hold it back." Taisa Mori shouted out. "Sun, wet your arrow and burned that thing."

It was Gunso who tossed the large container of sake at the serpent before he rushed out towards it. He evaded the two swinging heads and lighted up the sake spilled on the body. The serpent recoiled back in pain but the samurai's were relentless in their arrows and then the thrust of the yari by Gunso into its flesh. The serpent was wounded and slitter further back but then the unseen before happened then. The cat-like creatures then stated their bombardment of the stones while shrieking out. The serpent stopped in its withdrawal and pushed for the cat-like creatures. It grabbed another two more but it bit into them and then discard the dead creatures. It went for the others but the cat-like creatures are retreating and those on the safer grounds are throwing the stones.

Taisa Mori had seen enough of these serpents as he charged forth with the katana raised. Edo saw the Taisa action and followed suit with the naginata swinging. He took on the right head which was still looking for preys. The naginata slashed at the lower neck and then thrusted in by Edo. He pushed hard at it slashing the flesh downwards, while the others of his group attacked the head.

Taisa Mori had his katana slashing into the wounded neck cut by Gunso while the later was using the yari to thrust at the lower jaws of the serpent. The other Hohei came to assist while Bento grabbed another sake container and threw it on the midriff of the serpent. He threw in the torch to light up the area which soon spread into consuming orifice. The serpent soon succumbed to the wounds and dropped dead. The group of men all cheered and no one noticed the arrivals of the large man-like creatures.

Satui held back its warriors as they watched the so named slaves jumped in joy on the slaughter of another Guardian. The second in command of the warriors; Zarin wanted to charged at the slaves but Satui stopped the warrior.

"They are not the same. These are armed." Satui cautioned the other. "We would study them before we attacked."

"The Guardian died. Not one but two now. They would soon be in the Temple. We cannot have that soiled by those who are uncleaned." Zarin pulled away at the arm that held it back but the dagger pointed at the neck was a more firm deterrent of action.

"Disobey me again, Zarin, and it would your blood on these sacred grounds." Satui pulled back his short dagger carried by it on the left side of the waist belting. "We would observed for now."

Zarin disgusted by the leader crawled back to the rear and sulked. Another of the creatures joined it at the rear.

"Satui is a fool. We ought to killed those slaves." Torib, the related by blood of Zarin muttered out to its own bloodline. "We can sneak in around, and do the tasks."

Zarin slapped the other for the silly idea. The shout by the beaten Torib was heard not by them but by the men paces away.

"Did you hear that?" Taisa Mori asked of the Gunso.

"Yes, I did. It sounded like man but it can't be us. We are all here." Gunso replied. The rest of the men are busying splicing up the serpent for its needed fats. The farmers are packing it so that it can be used.

"Shall I investigate, Taisa?" Gunso volunteered to go but Taisa Mori denies it.

"I am short of men power. I cannot afford any more losses." Taisa explained. "We would move but you bring up the rear with Iza."

Gunso Mita nodded and went to looked for Iza. He passed to Iza the yari but the later declined. He prefers his own bo.

"Who was the fool who almost exposed us all?" Satui demanded from his group of warriors. He looked at Zarin and then at Torib. "I cared not whom it was now. But do it again, and both would be punished."

The large creatures soon felt the pelting of stones by the cat-like creatures. They had seen the large creatures and turned on them now. Satui commanded its warriors to withdraw back from their line Across the cavern, Gunso Mita heard the commotion at the rear and wanted to check. But Iza stopped him.

"Your Taisa told us to guard the flank and not run after possible predators." Iza grabbed hold of the Gunso. "We were lucky with the last two serpents but what happened if its three or four of them against us all. I doubt the two of us can handle it or even all of us for company."

"Bah! You are a coward." Gunso Mita remarked back as he pulled his arm off the farmer grasp. "Even if five serpents are there; none would passed me."

"Samurai talks! They are as loud as my fart." Iza laughed as he took up his walk to catch up with the rest. Gunso Mita was not impressed but he soon followed on. It was then he noticed the little cat-like creature he had earlier captured sitting there on the boulder.

"You are a lucky one to escape my trap. I would get you the next time we meet." Gunso Mita took his leave but soon felt the presence of the small creature who tagged behind him. He paused and turned back. The small creature stood there and remained unmoving.

"Its your fate if I decide to have roasted meat again." Gunso Mita turned back and continued on the walk.

Fairy Tales; The day the Rat saved the Kingdom and damned the organic plants

"My Lord, we must defend the castle against the evil sorcerer." The nine brave knight of the kingdoms all bowed to their Lord while they state their stand. Lord Bane looked to his trusted knights and sighed.

 "Swords and shields I could master, but to fight the evil one who dabbles in the dark arts, I feared none of us have the skills to matched." Lord Bane reached out with his arms to pull forth the weary knights from their knees. "We wished we have a peer in that."

It was then the Lord's Hall felt the vibrations on the walls; the armor shields hung on it moved as if the Gods were invoked to the Hall. Then a squeaky voice was heard.

"I shall be your champion, my Lord." A voice that was loud to be heard if one were to leaned over to hear it. It was a rat, or more precisely one dressed in a red tunic and held a long stick with a needle at the end.

"I am Sir Rat of the Dungeons. I shall be your champion." The rate announced to the Lord. It drew laughter from the nine knights, and one even chose to stamped on the rat which had flee the danger with its nifty feet.

"Hold your attack, Sir Galad. I may be a rat but I fight like a lion." The rat raised up his improvised spear to leveled up at the knight but the other was adamant on squashing the rat. Sir Rat called on his allies, and by golly, Sir Galad never stood a chance. The hog came rushing and tripped him off his feet while the castle cat lunged at his face plate. While the cat was clawing at his face plate, the roaches ran into his armor via the open slots to make him squirmed like a contortionist on the floor.

"Pray stop..... Sir Rat." Lord Bane called on the truce in the battle. "Truly I am amazed at the nature of your allies and their strategy."

"Sire, none have the time to discussed while the battle raged on our land." Sir Rat bowed to the Lord. "Its with your permission, that I embarked on this perilous journey. If I shall not return, moan not myself for I am still a rat. But I need to declared to you, I did not partake in the tear on your royal robe. Its perpetrator was not of four legged but two arms and legs."

With that the rat rushed off to the battle field which was on the far side of the land but inside the borders of Lord Bane's land. The evil sorcerer had massed up an army of Orcs, dwarfs, and even dark Elves. No army of Man was their match in the battle; their strength and ferocity overwhelmed all resistance.

"Sir Rat, looked at them." It was the Hog who spoke. "I doubt we could fight that army."

The Hog was motioning to the line up of the army, that covered the whole hill from its foot to the top and over it. The roaches came with their families had also sighed.

"Papers and woods we would relished, but Orcs and Dwarfs, they are a nigh too tough to consumed." Paddy Roach spoke up.

It was the hounds who stood up to the challenge.

"Orcs and dwarfs are our patron's foes. We barked when we smell them, we bite when we attacked them. Its not about numbers, its about strategy. Ours was stealth and fleeting moves."

That drew up the courage on the dwellers of the castle. They did a in depth discussions and then scouts were sent out. The call of the hounds resonant into the dark skies, while the ones who could not sound, slink away into the darkness. After all, they were the dwellers of the dark.

The call of the hounds riled up the Orcs and dwarfs; they recalled the hunts and the savage biting. They too coaxed up their courage with the drums and howling. In turn the dark Elves used to the serenity of the deep forest were roused from their sleeps, rose up in irritation of the drumming. They in turned used their long trumpets to sound up the rest and shored up the morale.

But there was one who needed the quiet night to rouse the creatures with his dark arts.

"By the crows' feathers, how could I summoned on the spell if I cannot even hear them myself, let alone the evil ones could." The evil sorcerer marched to the three group of allies to quiet them down. When he was away from his tent, the roaches came up from the hidden grass and converged on the evil sorcerer's book of spell. They held a feast on the blood stained book while the hogs crawled up from the ground rampage the place.

"Hey, Hoggy. How did you think of the underground technique?" Paddy Roach asked.

"From truffle hunting." The Hog munched at the chair legging. Darned, these hogs eat anything anytime. Soon they left the tent back to be with their allies. Their allies have grown in numbers then, with the hounds call and the foxes lending a 'faux' to the cause, they got almost the entire wild and domestic population on their side.

"Do you smell the roasted hogs?"

"Did you hear them crunch the bones of our feathered fowl?"

"Urgh! The cries of our beloved ones dying at their feet. Rodents are you with me?"

More cries of revenge went up and soon the roar for the foes resonated into the skies. Across the field, the evil sorcerer lament on the loss of his spell book.

"What is a sorcerer without the spell book? I am doomed. I have not got my return of souls paid for it." The sad woes of the sorcerer was soon dampened by the cries of retreat of his army when the other army charged at them. It was mayhem, but a Lord was spared of defeat on his land.

"Sir Rat, how may I reward you for your gallant effort?" Lord Bane asked the new knight of his land.

"Spare us the slaughtering for one year. Go organic and we would considered all truce between us." Sir Rat replied. So the land lived happily ever after for one year when everyone ate organic food. Some left as they were sworn meat eaters like myself, but we still like to spin the tale of the creatures that saved the land that one day. We would be back soon after the one year of organic mass murder.

Samurai; Lost in the Time Rift 1.4

1.4.

The predicament brought the two groups into consolidation in strength, and also conflict in their daily needs. The samurais have brought enough food to last them for three days with the slaves having to do the same, but the farmers are without any supplies. Water was also in short supply as there was never a need to carry large tankards then. They have stayed for four days now, managing on a ration arranged by Gunso but that supply had dwindled to a level where they feared starvation would prevailed soon.

"Yai! Who had taken my piece of the rick cakes?" The Hohei shouted out when he discovered his piece of the food was missing where he left it. He looked around at those who were near to him, and then noticed the farmer was chewing something in the mouth.

"Thief! How dare you take my rice cake?" The Hohei charged at the farmer who had stepped back in fright. It was Iza, the one with the Bo staff that stopped the charging Hohei.

"Fool! Check the ground before you accused." Iza barked back at the Hohei. "Useless son of a ama."

"Hei! Who are you to curse the one who birth me?" The young Hohei had drawn his katana in defense of his mother's honor. He approached the farmer with the bo.

"Your feeble tooth pick is no match for my katana. It was sharpen by the masters then, for my grandfather." The Hohei raised up the katana over his shoulders, but Iza was swift with his attack. He had thrust the bo at the young Hohei in the nose and then with a twist of his wrists, he had the bo coming down hard on the arms holding the katana, before an upward swing to hit the Hohei over the jaw.

The young Hohei fell back but Gunso Mita was not one to allowed his students to be humiliated in this manner. Gunso had his borrowed yari lashed out in a swing towards Iza. Both long weapons clashed in the midair, before their masters retrieved it back.

"The dog's master comes to defend his slave." Iza laughed at the intervention of the Gunso.

"I did not come to fight, but to restraint my young warrior. He may had hurt you with his weapon thus my intervention." Gunso Mita replied with the sarcasm that he was well known with.

"The master hides behind his dog, yet tries to barked like one." Iza remarked back which earned the wrath of the Gunso. The later charged out with his yari thrusting at the farmer who had to backed up with the bo deflecting the attacks. That attack caused Iza to missed on his balance and fell backwards. Gunso followed through with the yari sharp end on the blade at the chest of the fallen farmer.

"Yield and I may still spare your life." Gunso Mita spoke to the farmer but the later was not a coward.

"I may be a farmer,but I feared not for my life. I dare you to kill me now."

Gunso raised up the yari, and stepped away from the farmer. He kicked at the bo away from the farmer. He saw his Taisa looking at him.

"The farmer needed some training in the use of the bo." Gunso Mita walked past his Taisa to the other side of the cavern. Taisa Mori walked over to the seated farmer whose ego was bruised by the Gunso. He asked the farmer for the whereabouts of their leader, Edo.

"I am here to take any challenge any of your samurai would like to take on me." Edo stepped forth with his naginata. He stopped in front of the Taisa, and looked at the other Hohei standing near the Taisa.

"I need to speak to you alone." Taisa Mori spoke to him and then walked to the far corner of the cavern. Edo followed him close and then they are now alone; far from the others so they can discussed in secrecy.

"Edo-san, I am concerned on the well being of the group." Taisa Mori spoke out in a low tone. "We are short in supply and we need to get out of here."

"I have searched the cavern. We are trapped here in half a day's walk from both of this end." Edo point with his hand. "On this other end, we have hit a high drop not too far away; a crevasse that we cannot cross nor can we climbed down. This other end, I have walked to the end of a day's walk and find it still stretched further."

"That is the reason I am here to speak to you. I intend to find a way of here. That is one way we can try." Taisa Mori replied to the leader of the farmer. "I have no food to spared with your people if they stayed back; which I hoped they would not. They can followed us and try our luck. We may find the way out or die trying."

"Taisa Mori, you are aware that in our search, we came across the serpents and other creatures. They only feared the fire sticks we carried. Yet you are telling us to stay behind while you go off with your samurai's."

Taisa Mori looked at Edo and smiled.

"So I would take that, your men do not wished to be left alone." Taisa Mori then turned to walked back to where the men are all seated. He looked at the spot which they had claimed their own; with fire places surrounding it. They had not eaten the serpent they killed but found its meat was material to burn on as it contained fats on it. Back on the island, they had used the fats from the large sea fish to burned as materials and here it was not different. They did not find the smoke from the burning hurting their eyes but floated well up onto the darkened ceiling and there it dispersed.

The skin of the serpent was found to be good for foot covers as the farmers had no geta to wear. But it was the bones they found to be of good use as shown by Gunso. He had collected a number of the bones from the dead creature and had them sharpened to make crude daggers with the use of the grinding stone. Now they are to moved to search for the way out of this place and also for food.

"Yai! How dare you not carry me?" Teishin slapped the slave who had refused his order. The Teishin pallenquin had been use for firewoods and now the man wanted to back carried by the slave. Taisa Mori intervened before the Teishin killed the slave whom he was kicking with his feet.

"Stop that, Teishin Buke." Taisa Mori grabbed the man and pulled him off the slave. He bend down to pull the slave up.

"Taisa Mori, are you mad? He is a slave, No samurai would helped a slave." Teishin Buke started to drew on his katana. "Let me dispensed off this useless slave. I demand my right of Kiri-sute gomen ( the feudal era right to strike (right of samurai to kill commoners for perceived affronts. )

"No one draws a blade on me unless he wants to be met by mine. Or hand me your wakizashi." Taisa Mori cautioned the Teishin who had stopped the drawing at near the end. When the Taisa asked for the short blade from the Teishin, he was exercising what was the rule of anyone who was at the receiving end had the right to defend themselves by wakizashi (short sword). The Taisa wanted to offer that to the slave but Teishin had declined the move. The Teishin then sheathed back the katana and protested.

"The slave was mine. I would decide its fate." Teishin Buke retorted back in anger. "How can one like you, born and bred as a samurai assist that slave? You have no more honor."

Taisa Mori held back his anger on the other who had questioned his heritage; ever slowly he turned to faced the Teishin.

"We are stuck in this land, and maybe die here. I have predators which we have never encountered and hard to kill. Any living help would be an added advantage to protect all of us. Including yours, Teishin Buke." Taisa Mori glared at the man. "But I may not hesitate to removed you if its suits the well being of this group."

"How dare you?" Teishin shouted back. "The Shogun would here of this."

"We are not on the Shogun land. We are.....on a land that we do not know where. Here we lived and fight together; samurai, farmers and .....slaves. Or die trying." Taisa Mori looked to the Gunso.

"Armed this men with the serpent weapons. They would fight for their food now."

Gunso Mita nodded and handed out the sharpened bones to the slaves. Taisa Mori then stepped up to the center of the camp and announced his new plan. He wants them to move out in a short time, and be prepared for the worse. He called on the slave whom he had saved from the beating.,

"Your name,......slave. The one your father or mother had given you." Taisa Mori asked.

"Sori. It was the name my mother called me." The slave was a young man with a slim build at about Taisa Mori' height but his hands and feet were larger, or maybe because the man was dressed only in his loin cloth ( fundoshi ). He was holding a sharpened one feet length bone of the serpent with serrated edge in the front. 

"Thats a good weapon. Keep it well, Sori." Taisa Mori spoke to the newly elected warrior of the group. "You would be the leader of the new warriors.'

Taisa Mori looked to the other slaves; seven of them as they held in their hands the crude weapons made by Gunso Mita.

"Taisa, you make good enemies of your needed friends." Gunso cautioned the friend of his.

"Hai! And my head will roll first before yours." Taisa Mori laughed to his friend.

"Then I have a longer wait. Your neck is as hard as your head." They both laughed. They knew the fate if Teishin tells the Shogun of their insolence here but right now, they feared more of the unknown than the Shogun wrath.

The group of ten samurai including the cowardly Teishin, fifteen farmers and eight ex-slaves made their way in the dark to seek the way out of the cavern. They left behind them were seven fireplaces with smoldering ashes then, but it also attracted unseen before creatures that lowered themselves down by the long vines on the ceiling of the cavern.

These creatures are not man, although they have man's formed limbs, but their body are covered in hair with a larger head than that of man. They stand on at the height of one and a half of a normal man with their two lower limbs; bent at the knees, and their upper limbs are also as long as their lower limbs. Each creature have the facial expression of man but lacks the finer contour of it. Theirs were protruding out from the eyes level to the lower jaws. Their body frames were covered in some sort of leather wear that covered their upper body to the knees and in their hands are the curved blades or battle axe, or the twin pick with the wooden handle. They had just reached down from the ceiling by climbing down those vines.

"Senior Leader Tut, we cannot find the guardian. But we found what may had been its remains." The leather clad being strolled over to the leader who had just arrived. The leader pulled its frame upright and then raised up its nose to smell the air.

"They used fire here. That's forbidden by the Elders." The senior spoke up. "Who are these slaves to descent here and foul the sanctuary of the Gods? Even the Guardian was removed by them in such barbaric manner."

"We do not know. It was the Priest who saw them when he came to feed the Guardian. He claimed they killed the Guardian in the manner most foul." The one who replied had streaks of gray hairs on the head.

"Satui, form a column of ten warriors. I want you to track these slaves, and make them pay. Hunt well, my brother." The leader of the newly arrived creatures gave its order. Then it climbed back up the vine to the surface.

New Tales coming your way...updated 27th Aug 2013.

We done with the sleuth spin off and his sunny escapades. And now with the samurais' in the world of survival. I done with Major Crimes, and Criminal Minds, and now into Rizzoli & Isles, with a ride in the snow on Longmire. Yes, I am taking a break to learn at Monster University and while I build up on my Despicable Me 2.

I done the Book 1 of The New Heroes and was doing Book 2 when I ran out of heroic ideas. So I stopped and started on Detectives & Crime Vol 2; dunked in ten short tales already. Its the compilation of Detective Barnes, Coroner Dan, Sargeant Frank and Café owner Di Angelo. Volume 1 was published here at 20 short tales.

Once I completed the 20 tales of Volume 2, I would be back to complete New Heroes, and some uncompleted ( 7 to be exact ) tales.

In between, I would slot in one off tales.

Gee, did I sound dreary up there? I guessed so. One of those days when you wished you never got up from bed, covered yourself with the blanket ( no feet rubbing there? Decent sleep posture .... ) and dreamed of ... I dunno their names or faces. I only remembered the neck down..... Okay, it was a bad start and things did not improved during the day.

Maybe Murphy came to town or Stephanie hexed me. ( who's Stephanie? How would I know? She could be anyone I was not into zen with probably, hence the hex I guessed. ).

I would cheered things up. See below. Not too far below please.

Lone Ranger of Wild West of Wild

 

Lone Ranger Tales

Wild West of Wild

  

Jimmy Loong

July 2013

 

 

0

Life was difficult then in the Wild West of the West, but the greed for the land and its contents, drove the colonist there. They were nicknamed the Rangers for their courage and resilience. The land was not without its local predators which were vicious but the ones that the colonists brought out the worst of in the colonists. There are the real ones who worked the land, and the ones who labor on those who did the works. The later are the ones who were termed the outlaws.

That was their mistake. Their last one being an outlaw.

It all started in a farm; termed of reference for a hundred miles of mineral land that was mined by the family that dwell there. The family named the Reid' had twenty drillers on the land; automated units that excavate the ground and hauled the metals out to be stored for picked up by the loaders which made the trip on scheduled stops.

That was the easy part.

The loaders do sometimes get hijacked on route to the designated warehouses. The Reid had the droids on their land to patrol and removed the hijackers.

That was the becoming the difficult part.

The hijackers are getting more deadly weapons, and with their success, the colonists called in the best that their credits could buy. Or do it themselves with their own means. The Reid was one such family and earned the ire of the outlaws. The outlaws made their concern known to the Reid.

They hit the Reid home. The outlaws known as the Cavendish Gang led by Bartholomew "Butch" Cavendish and his seven kins. They killed six Reid' family members but they made a mistake. One of the six did not get killed; she was rescued by a droid who was in the area.

Her name was Jenny Reid, or known to her family as Jae. In her home tongue, the name meant Lone.

She was soon to be known as the Lone Ranger of the Wild West of Wild. She had a partner in the droid who saved her life. Its designation was Ton-TO. It was a war machine with a specialized weaponry system; the program to fight like a warrior from the ancient annals of the Apache history. The droid was also known as the Geronimo Series.

Welcome to the Lone Ranger tales of the Wild West of Wild.

 

 

 

1

The loader was an automated vehicle with eight large wheels and one large hundred ton space load on its spine. The loader was operated by the builtin processor assisted by its two sets of twin phaser cannons; one on the front and the other to it left rear. That was not stopping power for the automated drone craft which flew alongside at high speed with its wing cannons firing. The first salvo took down the rear cannons and then the front cannons in a spate of seconds. The loader processor was programmed to drive on in such situation until assistance arrived. That would be the armed droids but their timing could be a long time. The outlaws moved in fast; eight light vehicles with two occupants each; one drive and the other was handling the single phaser cannon on the front top of the vehicle.

"Clamped it on, Kake." The one named Kake was in the vehicle next to the front portion of the loader. He was the gunner and had a round metallic unit in his left hand. He threw it at the loader vehicle and it clamped on the metallic side of the loader. Once it was locked in, the unit would send the signals to override the loader processor control and remotely replaced the processor as it main controller. That was the way they hijacked the loader.

The unit exploded on the loader wall preventing the remote override. It was hit by a metal projectile with an explosive head. The projectile was fired from a West Model PH450 side phaser gun with a projectile clip of nine shots. The shooter was a lady figure dressed in a dark leather suit with metal plates that was build to cover the wearer on its upper body and shin greaves. The lady had one a oblong shaped helmet headpiece with the etchings of a bone skull of the Tyrandog design; a local predator of the wild. The helmet had a full face darkened visor that covered her face. Her feet are covered in the silvery white thick boots with the laser blade tucked in the left one. Her guns are in the shoulder twin holsters holding her twin pairs of PH450 but her real weapon was the powered bow on her back with the quiver full of metal heads on the wooden shaft. Her spare clips are on her thigh pockets with the stunned baton there. She was riding a single seater double rimless wheels, with a built in comms unit and a mounted metal projectile gun on each side of the front of the bike. Its a mean machine for one likes to ride wild. The ride’s helmet has a a builtin on screen data update on the mechanics and performance of the bike projected on her visor. Her bike was named Silver.

With the loader still on its original track, the lady on the bike swerved her bike towards the eight feeling vehicles. She still had her gun in her left hand, which she took out Kake who had tried to shoot her with the mounted phaser cannons. Kake slumped back into the vehicle on being shot when the rider shot the vehicle driver. Another vehicle to the left of the bike rider reacted to the new threat.

"Shoot the bike." The gunner was told but he never got to sue the cannons. He was shot in the neck by the war droid named Ton-TO. The droid was red brown in shade and had the figure of man but had four upper limbs. Each limb held a PH450 as the droid was on a hover skidder that looked like surfing board but wider. The difference to the hover skidder was the at the rear was the frame to hold the powered bow and quivers of arrows. It also hold its array of tomahawks and throwing blades.

"Guns are slower." Ton-TO holstered the guns and reached for the bow. It notched in the arrow in and released it in seconds between shots. The three pulled of the bow, took down three more gunners and the rest had decided to flee the place. The lady in the bike wanted to give chase, but Ton-TO cautioned her.

"Kemo-sabe" That meant 'trusted one' in the language of Jae, blew her focused on the chase. "Its all over."

Jae pressed on the brake to stopped the bike. The unit skidded on the uneven terrain but kept upright on the stop. Jae stepped off her left foot from the brake to the ground.

"Tell me why did you stopped me?" Jae pulled off her helmet. Her face scarred on the left side from the the lower eye lid to the shoulder blade made her looked like a monster from the depths. A dark aftermath of her ordeal before her 'death' by the outlaws. She rubbed her smooth forehead while she shook her long het black hair coiled in a bun under her helmet.  Her set of emerald eyes squint from the glaring sun but she had picked up the sight of the hover skidder leveling to the ground. The droid walked off the hover and approached her.

"Your bike needed some cleanup." The droid spoke to the lady.

"Up your socket, Ton-T0'" Jae cursed at the droid. "Why do you always stopped me from shooting those scums?"

"We are to serve the protection of the Colonist." Ton-TO replied. "And also the Cavendish. Others are to be captured and killed when needed. That was our understanding."

"Next time, you bring me back to life, give me the gun to shoot myself." Jae placed on her helmet and rode off on her silver.

"Program erased on the last statement. Subject still needed conditioning for the final objective." Ton-TO recorded the log into his memory banks. Then it boarded the hover skidder to catch up with Jae.