Swift Kenji and His Band

There were at least four bows pointed at us with the potential for more from unseen enemies. I raised my hands in surrender as a reflex, hoping that such a gesture would be understood even in Wosurei. Vris’s eyes were round with fear and Mizuki was giving anyone she made eye contact with a hard stare.

The woman shot by Mizuki struggled to get to her feet, her face contorted in anger and pain. Even so, she found the time to say, “Not so arrogant now, are you?”

Mizuki glanced at her and said nothing.

A man strode forward to position himself close to Mizuki, though out of range of a sword. He wore a dirty brown tunic that had seen better days, a straw hat, black pants, and a sword at his hip. It was odd to see someone with no outer robe or coat of any kind. His tanned face was filled with wrinkles and his short hair was midnight black.

“Since you’re so eager to demand names, why don’t you start with yours?” His voice was a drawl, languid and low.

“I’m R—Rukia,” I said, nearly saying my own name. I doubted the name of the newest seer had made it past the palace walls, but giving your name to a criminal was rarely a good idea.

“Ah, Chamomile,” Vris said. Her face was that of a woman who was panicking and said the first thing that came to mind.

“Midori,” Mizuki said, devoid of emotion. Her calm surprised me. I supposed a warrior’s training helped prepare you for anything.

The man grinned. “Such nice names. Now let me give you mine. They call me Swift Kenji.”

He paused, as if his name ought to mean something to us. When no one said anything, he scowled. “Now don’t tell me you haven’t heard of Swift Kenji and his Band?”

“Forgive our ignorance. We’ve lived a rather sheltered life,” Mizuki said.

Kenji threw up his hands as if to say What can you do? “I understand, fair Midori. Now, I admit you put up a good fight, but I think we can all see who the winners are. So, why don’t you all hand over your valuables and we can send you on your merry way.”

Mizuki retrieved our shared coin pouch and threw it to him. Kenji caught it deftly, grinning at the weight. Vris tossed her silver hair pin towards him with it landing near Kenji’s feet. I checked my robe pockets, and paused when I felt the contours of the mountain token. I did my best to seem nonchalant but Kenji was watching me.

“What do you have there, my dear?” Kenji asked as he strolled over to me.

“Nothing,” I said too quickly. I wanted to kick myself for how obviously I was concealing something.

Kenji clasped his hands behind his back. “Well, you can either give it to me or we can take it from you after we kill you. Your choice.”

Anger bubbled up from the depth of my stomach. I gritted my teeth and pulled the token out of my pocket and handed it to him. He held it up to the sun and examined it, turning it over a few times.

“And what is this?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just found it one day.”

He looked at me for a beat, then nodded before pocketing the token in his right pants pocket. “Alright. Now, get off the elk.”

I slid down and went to stand next to Mizuki. Vris hurried to stand by us as a man and two women came to take the elk. They were in a similar state to Kenji, worn down with no outer robes.

“B-boss,” the wounded woman said, her voice strained. “I-is Tanaka here? I need help.”

“Getting shot was your own fault, Emi,” Kenji said carelessly. “I warned you not to engage them alone, didn’t I?”

Emi hung her head. She was sweating a fair bit now, hunched against the pain. “Y-yes, boss, you did.”

Kenji let out a gusty sigh. “Fine, fine. But never say Kenji didn’t do nothing for you. You can ride one of the elk back to our spot.”

She brightened a little. With some help, they got her onto the back of Chamomile. Kenji tried to get on Spark, and nearly lost a finger or two for his trouble.

“Oof, feisty one,” Kenji said, flexing his nearly-bitten-off fingers. “We can work on that.”

Rowan was much more docile and allowed Kenji to ride him, though he was definitely tense. There was a moment as Kenji set off that I thought we were being let go as he’d promised. Then, someone came up behind me and gave me a shove forward.

“Walk,” they said.

“You said you’d let us go!” I called to Kenji.

“I changed my mind,” he said with a laugh. “When it comes to my plans, never you mind. Come for a walk with us.”

We had no choice but to fall in line. Our trio was put in the middle of a ring of bandits, who took turns shooting us distrustful glances. The woods grew thicker, the undergrowth more wild. Our stomping through the brush was enough to send any creature near us running away well before we heard or saw them.

“Do you have any idea where we are?” I whispered to Mizuki.

“A little ways from the Amaranthine,” she mumbled back. “Perhaps the Pale Wood?”

“Shut yer mouth,” a bandit yelled and shook his shoddy spear at us. Mizuki looked back at him cooly. Her imperiousness took him aback. We didn’t risk speaking again.

We left the path and began to go very deep into the trees, weaving this way and that. Even if this wasn’t the first time I was in these woods, I would have gotten hopelessly lost. I was close to twisting my ankle several times and got hit in the face with a branch twice. The bandits were quite jovial with each other, calling out and joking around. A dull roar brushed the edges of my hearing, growing louder and louder.

We emerged into a clearing and a waterfall materialized, launching spray as it tumbled into a deep pool beside a cliff. The bandits approached it without hesitation.

Their hideout is behind the waterfall? I thought to myself. Moments later, I was proven right. There was enough space between the cliff and the waterfall to shimmy along the rocky and into a cave that was invisible from most angles.

The elk were led away as none of them would fit behind the waterfall. Seeing Rowan be led away hurt my heart.

I will get you back, that I swear.

Kenji went first, then a trickle of his followers until we were unceremoniously shoved into the hideout of Swift Kenji and his Band.