The Shadows In Our Hearts

9: Twin Princes, One Samurai

It was a beautiful day outside. With clear, bright skies, a cool, brisk breeze blew through the countryside. The trees were almost ready to lose their leaves as the colorful changes were seen. Even birds were seen heading south for the winter.

Out in the back courtyard of the Norimasu household, Morana was in a heated training session with Shimazu. They had started at dawn and trained hard for the past five hours. They were working with wooden knives as Shimazu was working on teaching Morana how to disarm instead of kill. That proved to be difficult as the young samurai worked on muscle memory.

Morana kept training hard with Shimazu despite the heat and exhaustion she had started to feel. His lessons proved difficult and straining, as she had never learned this skill. Despite this, her curiosity and determination to learn pushed her forward in her training. She knew that Shimazu was a great instructor with much knowledge and experience and was eager to learn from him. But after several hours of training in the heat of the day, she started to feel the toll it was taking on her body.

It wasn't until it was close to noon that a commotion was heard inside the house. Shimazu heard it, as well as curiosity peaked for both of them.

"Why don't we take a break? You could use it." Shimazu chuckles as he looks at Morana. He had to admit, she was strange. The woman had apparent effects of her time in the Kokuryuu clan. She only wore bandages around her chest, pants, and calf-high boots. Her hair was down, and it clung to her drenched skin; her skin, he noticed, was littered with scars. Even though Morana didn't complain, Shimazu could tell she struggled against the day's heat. It made him wonder why.

"Please...may I have some water?" She was breathing heavily as she bent over to catch her breath. There was apparent frustration in her eyes as she hadn't been able to disarm Shimazu all morning successfully.

"You do not need to ask for such things. You can always pause for water; I will not deny that right." Shimazu smiled softly as he beckoned Morana to the back porch. There, they could hear the commotion even more.

Akimoto was out in town with a few of her friends. So, it only made the two samurai even more curious about who would have been let in.

Morana felt relieved as she followed Shimazu to the back porch, where a cool breeze blew in from the open door. She was still breathing heavily and trying to catch her breath, as she felt exhausted from the intense training session they had just had.

"Thank you. I could use a break right now," she said as she smiled at Shimazu. She downed the cool water, waiting for them on the back porch. It was rejuvenating to her body as she felt relieved of the heat that her body had accumulated.

Morana was also curious about who had been let in with the commotion in the main house. She knew that the Norimasu family was well known in town, so she was curious if the people inside were arguing were Atagi and Yamada or someone else.

"I don't care! I told you to back off! I'm here on royal business. What are you here for?" An angry, calm voice spoke as Morana and Shimazu leaned closer to the door to listen in.

The angry, calm voice that Morana heard caught her attention. She wondered what the royals were discussing so urgently with one another. Her curiosity was piqued, and she couldn't help but listen to this mysterious conversation. She knew only two royals, so she wondered if it was Prince Rogue and Prince Vokun.

Shimazu placed a hand on her shoulder, warning her to be quiet and to keep out of sight as they both listened in on the royals' conversation. It seemed that even Shimazu was curious about who it was.

"That is none of your concern!" A second angry, calm voice spoke.

"None of my concern? Rogue! I'm here to investigate a serious issue against the Kokuryuu clan; we both know Morana is from that clan and is my only lead. What are you here for?" It was clear now that the owners of this angered voice were Prince Vokun and Prince Rogue. Although Prince Vokun didn't need to know his younger brother's answer to his question, he just wanted Rogue to hear how ignorant his actions were.