The Illusion of Strategy

The demoness was particularly good at tying knots.

It was the only thought that persisted in the ronin's head as he and Sumire tied up the unconscious bandits. Her handcuff-knots were tight and locked, and she even hummed while making them.

For better or worse, she was an impressive woman.

The ronin had immediately directed their attention to restraining the bandits, forgoing introduction entirely. Sumire believed his story that it should be top priority, just in case they try another sneak attack, but honestly it was because he was still trying to process his bizarre rescue. But now, with the three unconscious men neatly bound and no longer a threat, there was nowhere to run.

“Well, now that's settled, my name's Sumire,” she eagerly extended a hand to the ronin, who stared at it for a moment. “I'd be honored to know yours.”

The ronin was a quiet man, but he finally sighed. A small tear rolled down his cheek from beneath the patch.
“Senren,“ he replied coolly. “We’ll leave it at that. Despite what curiosities I might have about you, I suppose I should at least thank you for assisting me.”

Instead of accepting Sumire's hand, Senren bowed politely. It was a gesture that she recognized as showing gratitude and respect, yet something she'd never seen in person. Only the wealthy and prominent of Yamato made such gestures in Mako territory, and none of them would so much as glance at Sumire under normal circumstances. It made her chuckle.

“Ah. I get it now. You're a yankee, aren't you?” She placed her hands on her hips, examining Senren with a new sort of interest. “From up on the main island. What's a ronin like you doing way out here in the boonies, then? Running from something?”

“That's none of your concern,” Senren turned away from Sumire, searching for something in the pockets of his haori. “Besides, I could ask the same of you. Aren't the people on this isle supposed to stalk from the seas, not from the trees?”

“Well, I've got nothing to hide from ya,” Sumire meandered a few feet over to the caravan, scanning it for goods. “A shopkeeper told me some bandits had stolen his shipment, so I went looking for them. Honestly, I'm pretty lucky I found you here — I had no idea what I was doing.”

She laughed heartily at her own shortcomings. Her honesty and enthusiasm left Senren paused in perplexity for a second, though she didn't seem to notice or care. Sumire was too busy collecting some of the scattered goods back into a crate.

“These bandits have been stealing many shipments coming from the Wani Channel,” Senren decided to explain, the pirate woman's genuineness breaking his initial hesitation. “Rumors about them have been spreading from place to place, so I thought… Perhaps I should deal with it.”

“Ooo, look at you,” Sumire cooed teasingly, carrying the crate back to where Senren stood with the bandits. “Guess it's true what they say about you ronin; you lose the colors but never the virtues.”

“Right…” a dismissive tone, Senren had already shifted his attention back to his previous pocket search. At last, he pulled out a small, vibrant yellow lacrima.

“Ooo, what's that?” Sumire approached curiously.

“Hold your nose,” was the reply.

“What—”

Pop!

Senren crushed the lacrima between his fingertips and a pungent yellow enveloped all who stood near. Instantly, Sumire's nostrils felt like they were on fire. It was an invasive burning sensation which spread into the back of her throat, threatening to steal the very breath from her lungs even as the cloud dissipated.

Sumire wasn't the only one left coughing on the ground, though. While Senren had prepared himself for the assault on the sinuses, the bandits were rudely awoken by it. As they coughed and gasped for air, Senren drew his katana and pointed it at them.

“Where is it?”

When Sumire's eyes finally stopped watering, and she could taste the air again, she was met with the sight of bandits cowering under Senren’s cold glare. Despite their obvious fear, however, they remained silent. Senren narrowed his gaze.

“It's a simple question,” he continued, slowly raising his blade to touch the root of the middle bandit’s ear. “But, fine. If you're all too big of men to tell me what I want to know, then I'll simply whittle you down…”
Senren began to press the blade into the bandit’s skin.
“Bit by bit…”

A small stream of blood began to trickle down his neck.

“Until you're small enough to cooperate.”

Sumire's heart boomed in her chest while watching the brazen interrogation. Albeit, probably not as hard as the currently shuddering bandit’s heart surely was. When he couldn't manage to get any words out his mouth, the bandit to his right spoke up.

“Why should we answer to y—”
His words were cut short by the swift flick of Senren’s wrist. In an instant, his blade moved from the first bandit's ear to across the second bandit's chest. The slice was so precise that it cut through the man's shirt without touching his skin.

It wasn't long before the three men were more than willing to spew their information. Sumire couldn't help but admire Senren's tactics, yet something pressing occurred to her.

“Hey, now that we've got the location of their loot and everything,” she tapped Senren on the shoulder and addressed him quietly. “What're we gonna do with these guys? We can't have them trying to interfere with our mission.”

Thinking for a moment, the ronin's eyes flicked from the bandits, to their dead comrade, to the crashed caravan. He then nodded to Sumire in the direction of the caravan.
“Get me a plank.”

Although curious, Sumire didn't question the request, and instead wrenched a long plank of wood from the caravan. Once it was in Senren's hands he inspected it and roughly tossed it to the bandits’ feet. They recoiled in fear, then regarded the wood with bemuse.

“When we leave here, you will bury him,” Senren ordered, his voice calm and treacherous as an undertow. “By whatever means necessary, you will bury him, and you will adorn his grave with this as a sotoba. It's the least you can do for a man you called friend… right?”

On the final word he shot them a cold glare, flicking his wrist so that his katana’s blade caught the sunlight. Frightened, the bandits immediately agreed, and in three swift slices their hands were unbound.

“We will pass this route on our way back,” the ronin continued as he meticulously sheathed his sword. “If I don't see your friend’s grave, I'll bury all four of you together myself.”

Sumire chuckled as she watched the bandits scramble around like frightened bugs, searching for digging tools. They were so thoroughly intimidated that it was hard to imagine any of them doing something against Senren at this rate. So, she discreetly secured the crate of unbroken goods in some bushes and started walking off.

“C'mon, then, Yankee! We've got a thieves party to crash.”

The goal of Senren's interrogation was to reveal the location of the bandits’ cache of stolen goods, which would most likely coincide with the location of their hideout. It wasn't hard to tell that these thieves weren't particularly clever, meaning they likely had strength in numbers more than strategic prowess. Predators fattening themselves on easy prey.

Of this thought, Sumire and Senren were of the same mind. However, their personal priorities seemed to differ. While the ronin preoccupied himself with plans to overtake the bandits' base, Sumire was focused on perfecting a very different approach.

“So…” an opening line that ten minutes of thought had awarded her. Sumire's social skills were as endangered as wyverns. “You’ve got some pretty amazing skills. A talented guy like you shouldn't be wandering around the woods babysitting petty crime, so why don't you join my pirate crew? Freedom and adventure on the high seas, putting your sword to good use, rescuing some beautiful maidens in distress… Eh? Eh? Whaddya say, Yankee? I've been looking for a quartermaster~”

“Hm…” Senren paused, contemplating the…creative proposition. Sumire's hopes started to rise as she waited, imagining no possible way anyone could turn down such an opportunity.

“Sorry. But, no.”

Sumire nearly tripped.
“What?! What do you mean, no?! It's living the dream!”

Senren couldn't help but chuckle at her innocent enthusiasm.

“I have my reasons,” he said with a surprisingly kind smile. “I appreciate our partnership today, Sumire. But afterwards, I think it would be best if we parted ways.”

The pirate didn't want to give up so easily. She wanted to plead and argue and negotiate with the man before her. But, he was abruptly pulling her into the forest brush.

“We're here,” Senren pointed before Sumire could protest. Just ahead through the trees was a very large cave, crawling with over a dozen men. A few of them were unloading a caravan full of weapons and treasures, while others tended to the horses and inventoried the goods.

“Whoa, those are a ton of magic items,” Sumire whispered with a hint of awe. “Lacrima bombs… Miracle Whetstones… It even looks like there are weapons. I bet if we load it into that caravan we could haul it all back to Kojin City.”

Senren nodded. “It's going to be hard to deal with that many opponents, even for my skills. I don't want to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary, so I suggest we incapacitate them instead.”

“Just knock ‘em out, you say?” Sumire’s mouth spread into a mischievous grin. “I've got the perfect thing.”

Before Senren even had a hope of processing her intentions, let alone responding to them, Sumire had removed the giant oar from her back. Like a bolt of lightning, she sprinted through the trees, leaving the air to crackle in her wake. Within moments, the mad woman was on top of the bandits.

“Hup! Watch your head!”
THUNK

So much for all of Senren's planning…

By the time the ronin had caught up to her, Sumire had already struck three men unconscious. More men were coming for her, however; more than her cumbersome movements could fend off. So, as she swung and clubbed and cackled like some sort of deranged monster, Senren darted to her aid with finesse and grace. While Sumire clobbered men into submission, the ronin danced around her to incapacitate any sneak-attackers with bruises and flesh wounds.

This method of attack had managed to eliminate half of the bandits, if only for the advantage of surprise. But it didn't take very long for the remaining men to adapt. They grabbed whatever weapons they could from their spoils, magic or otherwise, and began a counter assault.

“Sumire! Look out!”
As Sumire sent one of their number sailing into the trees with a good oar-swing, Senren had spotted a more pressing danger headed her way. A massive brute of a man was barrelling down upon her, wielding a very large sword, which sparked and crackled with electricity. He wanted to intercept the giant and protect the oblivious pirate woman, but the other bandits swarmed him before that was possible.

The shout caught Sumire's attention just in time for her to notice the incoming assailant — or, more specifically, his awesome weapon. It didn't appear to be a sword so much as a giant blade from a folding fan made of metal. The Damascus steel of the sword made a pattern that mimicked the ocean's waves, and at its core rested a hollow space where a perfectly spherical amethyst was suspended.

I want it.

That was the only thought rattling around Sumire's head, even when faced with rapidly approaching danger. She was left to fend for herself, and instead of saving herself like Senren so desperately hoped for, she grit her teeth and taunted her foe.

“Alright, big guy. I'm standin’ right here, so come at me!”

Before she knew it, the brute was on top of her, swinging down his massive sword like a thunderclap. In spite of this, Sumire did not evade or waver, instead raising her weapon up to meet the strike.

CRACK

Her oar, despite being made of sturdy oak, was snapped clean in half by the sword as if it were a mere stick. Next thing Sumire knew, she was sent flying into the air by a blast of electricity, her stomach leaping into her throat. Seconds later, her body slammed down onto the dirt a few feet away, traveling with enough force that her eyepatch slipped off her face.

“Ugh…” Sumire groaned, trying to get back to her feet despite the ringing in her ears. “Crap, I should've known that'd happen…”

It was no use. Her stomach felt like a rock, leaving her only able to just barely able to stagger upright. More importantly, the brute was already closing in, screaming slanders Sumire's mind couldn't process.

“No choice… Gotta use my… lightning…” Fighting the urge to double over, Sumire reached out her hand and attempted to gather as much electrical energy from her body as possible, pooling it into her palm. With one well-placed shot she could hopefully save herself from getting cleaved like a slab of meat, yet Fate had something else in mind.

The clouds parted in the small clearing above them, nearly blinding Sumire's crystalline amethyst eye. Suddenly, the energy that once felt like a struggle to collect now surged through her body as if she were a battery. Instead of a small blast from her palm, the purple lightning Sumire possessed travelled up her outstretched arm and shot out like a cannon towards her assailant.

The poor brute’s brilliant sword unfortunately served as a lightning rod. As he was struck by the tremendous energy it also traveled up the blade and seemed to amplify, right at the amethyst core, before relaying back to its wielder. In a matter of seconds, the man was unconscious on the ground, smoking and smelling of burnt hair.

Thanks to the laws of motion, this great surge of energy pushed Sumire back into the nearest tree. She breathed heavily, feeling the adrenaline leave her body only to be replaced by stiff, unmoving muscles.

“Ah… Great… Looks like I've been paralyzed,” she observed, propped against the tree like a plank. “Well, I might not be able to move yet, but at least I'm still on my feet! More than can be said for that guy, haha!”

Unfortunately, Sumire's body then began to roll off the tree’s round surface. Whether you want to call it gravity or karma, it was pulling her very rapidly towards the earth.

“Wait… Wait, no no no, stop— STOP—!”

With a harsh thud, the world went black.