The Shadows In Our Hearts

1: A Deadly Encounter

She was surrounded. As she looked at the men around her, the night air was thick with suspension. Her breathing was heavy as she gripped her katana's hilt tightly. Her long, dark blue hair blended into the darkness of that night. A light rain started to shower them as the woman counted the fifty men surrounding her. All of whom she knew. They all wore the signature black kimonos with matching hakamas. Most held katanas, while others brought their wakizashi.

"You can't win this, Morana." A deep voice caught her attention as she turned to see a man. Someone she had looked up to while growing up, but now all she saw was someone who betrayed her.

"Usami Suechika." She chuckled darkly. "You think I won't win? Have you not trained me?"

"I have, and you will not win." Usami steadied his stance as he pulled out his katana to strike his pupil. "You have a duty to your kingdom; I will ask only once. Return peacefully."

"And let that tyrant of a father use me to bring destruction to this world?" A crazed grin pulled at her lips as she stared down at the man she thought she knew.

"It is for the betterment of this weak world!" Usami tried to persuade her but only got a laugh out of her.

"There will always be weakness in this world!" She screamed out. For a second, the rain stopped at her powerful words. "There must be a balance! And this is not it! Destruction will not solve the weakness in this world! No matter what anyone does, it will remain."

"You are foolish to think of such pathetic lies!" Usami shouted. He moved first as he struck her down. He swung his katana at her as the rain descended, drenching their clothing.

She moved without a sound as if to dance with the pouring rain around her. Her blade sliced through the rain as she dodged Usami's attack while plunging her blade into his chest.

"We both know the absurdity of this kingdom. The lies that fill it to the core must be broken. I cannot live like this any longer." She whispered into his ear as she brought him to his knees. He was coughing up blood as the rain covered the tears that he shed.

Gripping her arm as he struggled to breathe. "I am sorry, Morana. Forgive me."

"I already have." She pulled her katana out of his chest and watched the blood mix with the wet earth and the rain. His blood covered her katana as she looked at the rest of the men around her. They were filled with sorrow, hate, and despair as they surrounded her. This was a suicide mission; no one was returning home.

The fight was quick as Morana landed calculated blows against them, dancing in the rain and the air as she moved swiftly. No one could win against a woman samurai like herself. She ended them with dignity and respect. All had put their all into their last fight, and she honored that. These men raised and trained her, and her father used them against her. How cruel can he become?

The rain continued to pour down on her, drenching her kimono to her bones. Nothing was in her soul, yet her heart cried out in anguish. At the pain and horrors that she had inflicted on the ones she trusted. Their blood was on her hands, and she would carry it to her grave.

"What a show." A slow clap caught her attention as she glanced back. A man in a golden kimono had a decorative getamono covering his kimono, as did the light gold hakama. His long blond hair was pulled over his shoulder, where a band kept it together loosely. His orange eyes pierced Morana to her core.

"Asano." She breathed out his name like it was poison on her lips. It only made him smirk to hear how she spoke his name.

"My dear, Morana. My little death flake, you should have accepted your duty like you were raised, and I wouldn't have had to send them to their deaths." He taunted her. Morana scoffed as she stabbed her katana into the soft earth. She untied her dark blue getamono and laid it over Usami's dead body. Asano's eyes watched her intently; he knew what she was preparing herself to do. "Must you always resort to fighting? I would hate to tarnish that perfect body of yours."