Into the Fire

Samurai Heart

In the mysterious corridor, the man at the desk smiled slightly as he read the news and saw the article about what they had accomplished in the elf village.

"!" he said when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall from the darkness at the other end. He furrowed his brow. He knew there was only one other that it could possibly be.

"You're still attempting those useless efforts... 'Murasaki'?" she asked, stepping into the light. "No matter how you try, no matter how many drifters you send... it doesn't matter." The young woman with flowing dark hair and wicked eyes said, smirking. "Everything is futile."

"Go away, 'Easy'. The wrongdoings must be amended," Murasaki said calmly, lowering the newspaper to look her directly in the face. "Leave, 'Easy'. I won't let you do as you please. Pitiable woman."

For a moment Easy looked like she had been slapped in the face. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but quickly closed it and gritted her teeth, glaring harshly at the man in front of her.

"You are the pitiable one here," she snapped in a dangerously low tone of voice. "All right, do it if you can." She raised her hand and the headline on the page he was looking at changed to read:

BLACK KING BEGINS CONQUEST OF THE SOUTH

"It's impossible for your Drifters... to defeat my Ends," she told him, smirking deviously.

"This is Shem! This is Shem! Grand Master!" the pig-tailed woman watching the drifters sais urgently into her crystal ball. "Those guys did indeed take over the village! It's dangerous to leave them like this!! I will take them to your place at once!!"

[No, forget it. Time is up. Don't bring them here. And don't come here either.]

"Wha...t, then...?"

[Yes, it has begun. It has begun!]

CLICK.

"Ehh!?" she cried in alarm when the transmission suddenly cut out. How could this happen now, of all times...!? He said it had begun... did that mean the North Wall of Carneades, where her master, Ham, and the other Drifters they had collected were supposed to be, was under attack by the forces of the Black King!? Were they going to be all right!?

She squirmed around and began sweating nervously under her tarp as she raised her binoculars to continue observing the four crazy Drifters she was supposed to be watching. For some reason, they had decided to return to the castle ruins.

"I can't get in contact with the Great Master. W... What shall I do?" she wondered aloud anxiously after some time had passed. "I really hope the North Wall hasn't fallen... Meanwhile those four stupid guys are making a mess are making such a mess. What should I do now?" She jumped in surprised and turned blue with shock when those very fools suddenly popped out of nowhere to surprise and surround her.

"No wonder I had a feeling that someone was watching us," Toyohisa said as he loomed over her ominously. Finding her had been easy once they spotted the moonlight reflecting off the lenses of her binoculars. "Who are you!!?" he demanded of the strange woman.

"Uh... Ah... Eh..." she said, trembling in fear as nervous tears began to stream down her face, frozen like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. "Somebody help me!!" she cried, sinking to her knees as her hips gave out. "A 'Kubi-oiteke' monster is trying to kill me!!"

"Who the hell is a monster!?" Toyohisa shouted incredulously as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "Hah!" he said, delivering a chop to the back of her head to silence her.

"Augh!" she grunted in pain as she face-planted in the dirt.

"What is she doing all the way out here by herself? She's dressed differently than the soldiers and the elves..." Tori remarked, sweat-dropping. A 'Kubi-oiteke' monster, huh? Didn't that literally mean 'leave your head' in Japanese...? She blinked. Wait a minute...

"Is she a spy?" Yoichi asked.

"She is too clumsy to be a spy," Nobunaga said. "... But first and foremost of all... Hey, Toyohisa."

"What?"

"She's speaking the language of The Rising Sun," Nobunaga pointed out what Tori had already noticed, sweat-dropping.

"Oh," Toyohisa said.

"Indeed," said Yoichi.

"Hey, you!" Toyohisa shouted at the strange woman, invading her personal space as multiple veins throbbed on his forehead. "Confess! Spit out everything you know!!"

"Noooo! Aaaah! Noooo!" she cried, terrified. "Help me! Don't kill me!"

"If you don't tell me everything, I will leave you in his hands," Toyohisa said, pointing to Nobunaga. The feudal lord took that as his cue to step forward and join the interrogation.

"Hello, I am the Devil Lord of the Sixth Heaven," Nobunaga said, introducing himself in a manner that reminded Tori of Goku from Dragon Ball while still managing to seem shady and threatening. "I like arson and mass murder. I make toasts with the skulls of the men I kill. I love taking over the country. I love dancing atsumori."

"AAAAH!!!" the strange woman screamed, doing a perfect impression of the Scream by Munch. "I am Olmine! A magician and an Octobrist!" she yelled, jumping to her feet. "The Great Master ordered me to watch you! To watch you Drifters! Please help me!"

A bead of sweat rolled down Toyohisa's face as he stared at her for a moment.

"I didn't understand a thing!" he shouted bluntly.

"That fool is saying that he didn't understand!" Nobunaga barked at Olmine, pointing at her. "Explain, so that fool can understand as well!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" she yelled incredulously. Just how stupid were these guys!?

"Who is the idiot!?" Toyohisa demanded hotly. "Do you want to lose your head?"

"Oh, so you did listen, after all," Nobunaga said, glancing at him. "You are indeed that 'Kubi-oiteke' monster, then."

"Uh..." Olmine said nervously.

"Just go ahead and tell them," Tori said with a wave of her hand.

"Well... in this world, we call people like you, who come from 'The Other' world, 'Drifters'..." Olmine began explaining a bit hesitantly. "And the job of the Octobrist organization... is to keep an eye on and gather those Drifters. And you came here to fight. Fight against those known as 'Ends'." All four Drifters stared blankly at her for a moment with incredibly skeptical looks on their faces.

"Well, screw that!" Tori shouted. "I don't remember being asked permission before being drafted for this shit. I'll do what I want!"

"To hell with that," Toyohisa agreed just as bluntly. "I'm telling you, I don't understand a thing!"

"Nobody tells me what to do," Nobunaga said. "Why should I do that?"

"No way," Yoichi said flatly. "Just too troublesome!"

"Whaaaaat!?" Olmine shouted incredulously. What were these guys—how could they all just refuse her so bluntly like that!? Didn't these people have hearts!?