Samurai in the Time Rift 4.4

4.4

Gunso Mita stood there on the slope of the valley with his fist clenched on the yari handle. He was with the Taisa who was watching the massacre below. He did weighed the option and had decided to hold back the action.

"We would had charged in if we are back on the island, but here now, I am rethinking my option." Taisa Mori spoke up. "Are we still samurai?"

"Yes, but we are now better warriors. My master once thought me that its honorable to stayed away from a fight if you know its going to be hopeless. We would live to fight another day." Gunso Mita explained.

"But do they?" Taisa Mori pointed to the three others who were with the farmer.

"Teishin, a proven coward..." Gunso Mita laughed. But that statement was heard by the other who approached them.

"Gunso, you insulted me once too many." Teishin Buke shouted out. "This time around, I would not pick the fight with you. But mark my words, I would make you take those insults back."

Gunso ignored the Teishin as he was looking at the group of men who was sneaking away. He motioned to the Taisa on his view. Taisa Mori nodded and then the duo went to intercept the fleeing group.

"Hold on there, you cowardly curs." Taisa Mori confronted the fleeing group. "Why do you run while your friends die?"

"Hold on your words, Taisa Mori, We are acting on the Captain's order." Gonzales replied. "He asked me to lead this group to safety."

"We were outnumbered and its best some of us leave for safety then for all to die." Gonzales continued on his explanation. "Now I have found you, please take care of them for me. I have some unfinished tasks."

Gonzales turned and ran back to the forest below. Taisa tried to stopped him but Gunso Mita stopped him. They saw the man disappeared into the forest and was not to be seen. Unknown to the duo, Gonzales had planned a surprise of his own. He had grabbed hold of the two small barrels of powder hidden by him in the forest and ran with it to seek the creature leader. He saw One Eyed with the bloodied hammer standing at the clearing as the other creatures hunt the survivors of the battle.

"One Eyed!" Gonzales lit up the wick on the barrel and charged towards the leader. He was within ten yards of the leader when another creature on a dragon crashed into his path. The force of the impact caused Gonzales to be thrown to the side and that interruption caused the gunpowder to explode. His sacrifice killed four creatures and two dragons with others wounded but he missed One Eyed.

Taisa Mori saw the explosion and guessed it was what Gonzales had done. He turned to the new group numbering twenty four and learned their faces. It was then Gunso Mita saw the four slaves standing at the rear of the group.

"Yai!" Gunso Mita walked up to the slaves and dragged them out. "Leave them out. They are cowardly curs. With numbers they stayed and then now they run with another group."

"No! All of them have their reasons to leave. We would respect that reason." Taisa Mori held back the Gunso.

"Now they are handed to me to managed." Taisa Mori looked to the thirty men standing there. "Do you want me to lead or you prefer your own leader?"

One of them stepped up. He was a Ainu warrior. He was tall and bearded like his own kind, with the long spear in his hand. A set of daggers was on his waist sash with another strapped to his right leg.

"I am Aikin; Ainu warrior....." The man was interjected by Teishin Buke with the name calling of wa'kuo ( pirate ).

"I am a wa'kuo but also a fisherman and warrior of the Ainu people. I begged to be excluded from your group with my people. We are Ainu and we don't mixed well with samurai." The tall warrior told the Taisa.

As the Ainu warrior had spoken, half the group stepped aside. Then another five more which are Gaijin who joined the Ainu. That leaves the four ex-slaves and six Taira sailors. Taisa looked at the ten remaining ones and asked them again.

"If you followed me, I cannot promise you the way out but we would learned to live and fight as one." Taisa Mori looked hard at each face. "Select among yourself a leader whom you want. Then he would report to me."

A short stout figure stepped out; wearing the rags that covered his body and holding to the yari in his right hand. He was clean shaven on the head and had a gash across his left cheek.

"I am Tairi, the war drummer on the ship of Commander Kitoyishi. I would lead these men. More so, I am more experienced in this land than them. I used to follow Nuruk of Khiyad on long excursions on the land. I was their friend  and warrior in blood. If I may add to the group, the creatures would sent out patrols to picked up the stragglers. We need to be away far. There is a river over yonder. Its wide and we need the boats to cross."

Taisa heard of the river mentioned by the Ainu during the stay in the cavern but he did not know it was so near. He was also told of larger predators there.

"Then split the supplies and we would move on soon in haste." Taisa Mori gave the command. Tairi the new leader bowed his head and proceeded to speak to the Ainu leader for their share of provision.

"Taisa, we are back in strength now." Gunso Mita complimented the leader but Taisa Mori shook his head.

"We are lost in a land which we know not of. My only hope was we made it home before we all perished."

Meanwhile down in the valley at the forest, One Eyed had his wounds treated and then he looked to the pack leaders.

"We have taken care of the rebels. Now we have more sacrifices to leave for the Guardians." The leader of the creature looked around its surrounding. "Sent out patrols. I want all those who escaped be killed. I would report back to the Lord on our raid."

Five packs of these creatures were sent off, and among one of them was Tut with his trusted aide, Satui. Its pack was ten creatures excluding the two riding on dragons.

"Satui, they may head for the river. We would hunt along it." Tut gave the command. He had killed five of these slaves here but he was upset that One Eyed had taken command of the packs. Tut looked to the departing leader and growled out.

"One day, Intai. You would be bowing to me."