Katana 76 - Chapter 1. Wind and Rain

 A girl walked through the unwelcoming forest, with the warm rain as her only companion.

She had grown to love this warm rain so usual of her homeland, and would usually let the rain wash her worries away alongside the stress of everyday life, but today was different.

The strong winds made every rain droplet hitting her coat feel like a stone being thrown at her back.

"It could be worst." said the girl out loud

"At least it's not hitting my face... It would be even better if it was coming from the sides tho"

If only the wind was coming from either side the trees surrounding the so-called path would guard her from the rain, but that was not the case.

Usually, no one would dare to cross this forest in these conditions, the roots of the nearby trees rudely hinder the steps of any distracted traveller in the darkness of the night, and the rain-soaked floor certainly didn't help with keeping your bums out of the floor, but the girl couldn't afford the luxury of walking this path in daylight, she couldn't risk being seen by anyone from the village...

"Aaagh- Why did it have to rain tonight of all nights!? There's no way I'm arriving on time! Why did I think this would be a good idea..."

The girl directed those words to the package she was carrying under her arms as much as to herself, but her true feelings were already set in stone, she had to do it.

After a bit more complaining and a scream of tedium, she started to run.

"I don't give a damn about how many hardships I have to endure I'm gonna fuaaA-"

The girl had hit her foot against a root, now the long package rested impaled in the mud, just like her face.

As the rain sank her soul into the mud she accepted the fact that she wouldn't make it, and as if she needed any more signals, the moment she stood up the wind changed and sent the rain right to her face.

"No point in trying anymore, at least not with my leg like this..."

She took a few steps towards a nearby tree and sat against it where the rain could reach her face.

"I can't believe I blew it... And it's not like I'm gonna get another chance to kill that basta-"

She stopped, the rain stopped, everything in the world around her stopped. There was someone else sitting under the tree.

She didn't know if that person was someone from the village or had listened to her latest rambling, but she had to figure it out.

Slowly, the world started to move again.

"Oh, hi there, I didn't know this tree was already occupied... You don't mind some company don't you?"

The girl drew closer to her prey, analysing every aspect of it her sight could reach from that angle.

Male, medium height, maybe a little taller, white hair, his outfit looked like some kind of uniform but it was too dirty to tell.

"Hey... Can I get a bit closer?"

Silence.

"What? Has my beauty left you without a word? *Laughs* That's cute~."

If conflict came to be she would have to use nothing but her hands and teeth, she didn't have any confidence in her skill with the content of her package.

"Well, if you're gonna ignore me anyway I guess you won't mind how close I am~."

He didn't seem to move an inch, if she was lucky her tree companion might be sleeping off the tiredness from his travels... If she wasn't, he might be as prepared for a surprise attack as she was.

"Heeey! you should be more recepti-"

She touched the man's shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground, revealing the multiple and diverse wounds he had all over his body.

"Oh no, this looks bad... Snap, I have to run."

She took everything and started running towards her village.

"Snap snap snap I need to hurry." She thought.

Her arms started to get tired from the weight, but her grip didn't lose any strength, unfortunately, her already beat up legs were not as cooperative, causing her to fall.

"Agh fuck! Damn! Aaaah crap that hurt like heck..."

The flavour of blood started to fill her mouth, the inside of the package she was carrying with her mouth had somehow slipped outside of its container and caused a cut in the tip of her tongue.

"To heck with you!"

The girl screamed as she threw the sword she had been carrying all this time to the deep of the forest, as if blaming it for getting her into this situation.

"Oh crap I need to hurry"

She crouched near her had-been tree companion, his condition was critical, if she didn't hurry he might not make it to dawn. She put him back on her back and started to run

"I need to hurry..."