The Prologue Chapter Part 4: The Old Acquaintance

Loud footsteps could be heard all around the first as Sabishi and Jonah walked through the dirt road, the moonlight shining upon them. The two had reached the crossway a while back and had already entered the road. While it takes all Jonah has for him to carry on, Sabishi continues to walk easily.

If we keep walking, I believe that we’ll reach Oxford by next afternoon. He thinks. Jonah groans as he collapses and lies down on the ground, panting heavily. Sabishi looks back at him and sighs.

“Jonah, get up. We’ve got to keep going. You can relax once we get to Oxford.” Sabishi tells him. Jonah shakes his head.

“Liar! That’s what you said before we reached Prosprin village! And we left just an hour after arriving there!” He screams. After a minute of complete silence, Jonah whispers: “When are we going to take a break-?” Sabishi shakes his head, before walking over to Jonah and sitting down, right next to him.

“Jonah, we must keep going. It’s for the sake of England.” Sabishi explains. Jonah turns away from Sabishi and stares at the grass to his side.

“How? You don’t even need to help out in this war anyways! Didn’t Japan kick you out of the country-!?” Sabishi stares at Jonah for a moment, before quickly turning his gaze away from him.

“Jonah, it’s a matter of loyalty. I’ve already explained this to you, I’m not doing it again. Let’s go.” He says in a hushed whisper. He gets up and pats the dust off of him. “Let’s go.” Jonah grits his teeth with anger, but gets up anyway to follow Sabishi.

After all, it’s all he can do at this point anyways.

……

“Swordsman, there’s a light up ahead.” Jonah points out. The stars continue to shine as Sabishi and Jonah walk closer and closer to the campfire.

“I’m sure it’s just a traveler.” Sabishi states, placing his right hand on his sword hilt anyways. The trees surrounding them don’t let Sabishi and Jonah see too much, but the fire continues to gleam in front of them. Sabishi attempts to minimize the amount of sounds coming from his feet as he approaches the clearing where the fire is coming from.

Sabishi and Jonah push past a few trees and find themselves near the campfire. A blazing heat is erupting from the wood, with smoke slowly creeping out of the ashes being produced by the flames. An old man is sitting in front of the campfire.

The old man is wearing a peasant’s clothes; a gray shirt and some brownish pants. Underneath the shirt seems to be another layer of clothes that seem similar to Sabishi’s kimono, but he can barely see what it is. His clothes have some stains on them and a sword rests in its scabbard on his hip. A small grayish beard is growing from below his mouth, and he has black hair, with all of it being tied up into a neat bun. He’s leaning back against a tree, staring at the sky.

However, the moment that Sabishi and Jonah emerge from the trees, he quickly turns around and places his hands on his hilt.

“Who are you?” He asks. Sabishi quickly raises his hands up into the air, and Jonah follows suit.

“Don’t worry, old man. We’re just weary old travelers. We aren’t here to harm you.” Sabishi says. The old man stares at the two of them for a few seconds, before putting his hands down.

“I can see that you aren’t lying!” He laughs. Jonah awkwardly laughs, but Sabishi stares at the old man instead. “Are you two heading to Oxford?”

“Yeah, we are.” Jonah says. The old man smiles.

“How about the two of you stay here and rest up, hmm? You must be tired!” He says. Sabishi shakes his head, but Jonah falls to the ground with a sigh of relief. Sabishi looks down at Jonah and groans.

“Yes. I guess we’ll take you up on that.” Sabishi says, as he picks up Jonah and puts him near the fire. Sabishi sits on the opposite side from the old man and watches him sit down.

“So, what’s your name?” Sabishi asks. The old man leans back towards the tree and closes his eyes.

“My name? It’s Asahi. What about you?” Sabishi’s eyes quickly widened. He went to grab his sword, but stopped himself midway.

Stop. Stop. It’s just a coincidence. Other people can have the same name as him. Breathing heavily, Sabishi pulls his hand away and puts it back over to his side. He gulps, before opening his mouth.

“My name is Sabishi.” He says. Asahi smirks.

“Ahhh, I knew it. It really was you, Sabishi!” Sabishi’s eyes widened as he quickly jumped up and quickly rushed at Asahi, pulling his sword out. Asahi opens one of his eyes, and with ease quickly pulls out his sword and hits Sabishi’s sword back as it was lunging straight for his neck.

“Damn it! What are you doing here?!” Asahi smiles as he raises his leg and kicks Sabishi away. Sabishi quickly catches his balance and slides on the ground before standing back up. He curls his fingers up into a fist and grits his teeth.

“It’s really been a long time, hasn’t it!? After the emperor sent you out on exile, I thought your banishment was it! It’s really funny how fate works, right?!” He exclaims with a grin. Sabishi breaks into a sweat and slowly backs away, before realizing that Jonah is right next to Asahi.

Damn it! I can’t just leave Jonah with this guy…but…. He recalls all of the battles he’s faced against Asahi. Yes, Asahi helped him out in his training, but the man is still a monster that probably isn’t against killing Sabishi right here and now.

“Asahi Shikaru…what are you doing here?!” He grips his sword and gulps as he begins to let his Mahō flow throughout his body. But Asahi raises his hand and sighs.

“Don’t worry Sabishi, I’m not here to kill you, or anything like that.” He smiles. “Me and you have both been called into action. We’re going into the war together, so that makes me your comrade.” He grins, but Sabishi can recognize the true emotions on Asahi’s face.

A seemingly energetic grin is really a calm and collected way of showcasing Asahi’s bloodlust. Sabishi can feel the true terror flowing throughout the air.

The bastard has gotten even stronger… Sabishi thinks. He gulps. What should I do-? He asks himself. Asahi plops down onto the ground and places his sword in his hilt.

“Sabishi, it seems that you still don’t get my message.” His eyes close in and Sabishi can feel the power as Asahi opens his mouth. “We’re allies now, but if you don’t put down the sword,” He grips his hilt. “I won’t hesitate to slit the throats of both you and your little friend over here.” Sabishi shivers, and in a quick decision, places his sword back in its hilt.

He walks over to Jonah and drags him over to his seat, before slowly sitting down on the ground.

“So you’re here to participate in this war too?”

“Yep.” Asahi exclaims. Sabishi sighs and places his hand on his head. He closes his eyes and leans back against a tree.

What the fuck am I supposed to do right now? He asks himself. He slowly tilts his head upwards, but his eyes are glued onto Asahi. He grits his teeth. I should kill him right now…No, I won’t be able to kill him. He’s too strong for me to fight, especially when I have to worry about Jonah. Asahi sighs and looks up at the night sky.

“Sabishi, I’ll come with you to Oxford.” Asahi says. Sabishi immediately sits up straight and grits his teeth.

“No! You’re not coming with me! Just because-”

“Relax! I can tell that you want to take care of that boy. I don’t know why you like him so much, but it seems that you have some emotional attachment to him.” He points out. Sabishi’s eyes widened.

Emotional attachment…? No…Jonah’s not like Chiyo. He’s just a kid that I’m taking care of… Asahi smiles.

“Awwww! From the look on your face, I guess I’m right. So wouldn’t it be helpful to have an extra pair of hands keeping him from getting harmed?” Asahi asks. Sabishi gulps, before leaning back against the tree with a sigh. Sweat begins to erupt from his forehead.

“Fine, Asahi. You can come with me. But the moment I see you attempting to harm Jonah in any way,” His eyebrows close in on his eyes, his forehead wrinkles and his eyes have a burning flame within them. “I’ll kill you.” Asahi stares for a moment, before erupting in laughter.

“Relax! You might’ve changed, but you’re still the same guy at heart, hm? I won’t harm the boy, so don’t worry!” Sabishi burrows his head into his hands and sighs.

A few minutes pass, before Sabishi begins talking again.

“Asahi…is Uragiru in London?” He asks. Asahi nods.

“You mean the emperor? Yeah, he’s with the king right now. Why?” Asahi explains, as he stares at his reflection in the sword. Sabishi lifts his head up a little and raises his eyebrows.

“I thought you were in his royal guard. Shouldn’t you be in London, then?” Asahi shakes his head.

“No, I was on an assassination mission against a small domain’s lord when the order to head to London came. So, I finished the mission and went after them, however, the emperor had already left on his majesty’s royal boat. So I had to find another one and go another way.” Sabishi nods.

“So he hasn’t completely taken over Japan then…” Asahi turns his attention away from the sword and lifts up his finger, before shaking it from side to side.

“Maybe not every domain, sure, but the emperor is dangerously close to uniting Japan.”

“Dangerous?” Asahi grins. Sabishi recognizes the look Asahi has on his face and gulps. He remembers the battles he’s had with Asahi, brutal battles where it wasn’t confirmed for either if they were going to walk away alive, but one specific thing he remembers is that whenever he saw that grin, he had no chance of winning. Asahi is a monster of battle. A dangerous warrior that no normal person could ever beat. Sabishi isn’t normal, but he’s not sure if he could even beat Asahi. He shivers as Asahi begins to speak.

“If the emperor has complete control over Japan, it means that I won’t be able to fight anymore. I won’t have anything to do. I’ll be bored.” His eyes gleam with passion and bloodlust as his grin gets wider and wider. “So, this war is my final big battle. And I’m going to enjoy it as much as I can.”