Sera's Loss

Battousai makes his rounds about the parameter of the land that had been conquered by Yuki. Though this was land specifically designated for Yuki, it was the inclination of Battousai that he and Dravec would help to fortify the area for a temporary span of time before moving on to their next objectives. As such, the clansmen who had been traveling with Jyn up to this point were in the main village assisting with its clean up. Dravec was on a specific mission and Yuki should be in the process of administrating and setting up shop in his village as the new local leader.

With the small details aside, Battousai would be moving swiftly over the land, running in ninja fashion with his arms trailing behind his body. He would be dressed in a pair of oversized cargo shorts and a large black short sleeved tee shirt with the symbol of a corporation from the ancient world. Two swords would be sheathed at either side of his body at his waist with a mask covering the bottom portion of his face and twin horns at this head. His ability to sense and track alerts him to the presence of another, which causes him to alter his course and move the direction of the traveling and winged young lady.

Having observed her from a distance until the point after her heal spell, Battousai would judge her safe to approach. As such, his appearance near her would come in the form of a several rays of light glowing to her side before he simply manifested in his form of teleportation. In his sudden arrival, he would be standing straight up with his arms folded at his chest and looking over to the winged girl, observing her. His thought process was that she may have been one of the women associated with the village before it had been sacked; from the looks of her, he could see her as being someone who had barely escaped the invading bandits with her life. So basically he would assume that she was a survivor from the village attack that had occurred just a few days before and that the others would be encouraged to see at least someone else survived other than the original ten they had come across.

His hand would reach behind his back and pull out a something wrapped in a cloth, which would end up being rations of meat. Without actually introducing himself or explaining his sudden appearance less than ten feet away from her, he would take a few steps forwards and offer it to her. Thinking of something to say to her, he tries, “your village has been reclaimed.”

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“I see…” the samurai murmurs as his hand retracts the offer and places the food back to where it had previously been stashed. He remains standing as he observes her movements and questions. There was something in him that made him not really want to get into the details of things; that was more along the lines of what Jyn would handle since he was the more social of the two. Though, knowing Jyn, he would be a bit too dramatic with assisting a woman in need and probably would try to flirt with her to some extent. Looking over her, it was obvious that she was bloody and from the sounds of things, she had suffered from some type of lapse in memory where she had forgotten where she was from and where she currently was. Finding this odd, Battousai would venture to phish for more information on her as he would inform in a low tone from behind the mask, “the village where I assume you’re from is not far from here. It was attacked by a group of bandits and most of the people killed. From your current looks, it is safe to assume that you were probably beaten and used sexually in many ways before you were somehow was able to escape. Does what I’ve said sound accurate? Do you remember any of it?”

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With this, Battousai would be able to understand the situation a little bit more. Though she didn’t seem to hold her memory, she still retained her demeanor, which he supposed, was probably a good thing since people seemed to put stock into their personality. He noticed that she could walk, which was good. He would answer her with a nod at the prospect of someone knowing her at the village; that was the plan. When asked if he were a bandit, he would admit, “you would already be dead. Come, I’ll lead you towards the direction of the…” Before he finishes the statement, it would seem that he noticed something as if hearing something. He murmurs something under his breath and holds up his hand for the young lady to be still; his body would flicker and vanish. There would be rustling in the bushes a few meters away from them and Battousai would appear while coming out of them with his knee pressed into the back of a male while disarming him of his weapon, a simple broad sword that seemed worn from wear and stained. Pinning the male down with his knee and one hand, despite the struggling and tussling, Battousai would assume him to be a remnant of the bandits or a spy. On questioning why the man was hiding, the man answers along the lines of having intentions to kill them both. With the wrong answer spoken, Battousai would murmur a light chant and generate a dagger from solidified light. The dagger would be brought to the man’s throat and it would be sliced through before the light object would vanish. The kill would be swift and clean. Afterwards, Battousai would stand casually and motion towards the village, continuing their dialogue, “this way…” With that, if there were no protests, he would begin leading the way in an easternly direction.

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He would pause before leading the way as he would notice the girl’s movements. He shakes his head as she apologizes; there was nothing for her to be sorry for. He figured she would probably be in a bit of shock from realizing that her memories were in the process of betraying her. Gaining scattered glimpses of one’s memory from a void of nothingness probably weren’t the best feeling in the world to have. Notice is paid to her as she moves to the man and performed what is translated as some type of death ritual. It was interesting that seeing someone die before her did not seem to bother her. When the question is brought up about the sword Battousai nods at her in approval making no contestations about her taking the sword for her own use. He was curious, however, on whether she was able to use the sword or not. Was it possible that she was a warrior among the tribe that was wiped out? As she looks up to him, seemingly bewildered, he would raise an eyebrow and inquires in a low tone, “what’s wrong? Do you know how to use that?”

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Battousai would remain where he was for the moment to the point where his back would be to her as she walked beyond him in the direction he had earlier indicated. The question would receive no answer for the time being as the samurai seemed to be thinking about something. A hobby of his set him apart from the others. Whereas Jyn was a womanizer and Jyneil was a tease, Battousai was a teacher. Since her having picked up the sword, he had noticed things through the girl’s muscle tone and how she held the sword that she may have a background in fighting, through it didn’t seem enough to protect her to the point of retaining her memory. The other women up to this point seemed to be Yuki’s and bent on being impregnated by him, making them useless in combat, so Battousai figured he could at least think about keeping one of his own as another disciple. First, he needed to make sure she had the potential he needed in order to properly train her. Even if she sucked he might help her to the point of an average warrior, but if she had potential, it would make her that much more interesting. Without warning, his hand reaches to take the hilt of the blade on his right side. Moving at the speed that would be considered swift for a human but nothing more, he would turn around and aim a slash of his sword to the side of her neck. He would of course stop just before reaching his neck, but it was his hope that her body would react to stop him before he made it in that far.

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With his eyes following her movements, he takes them to be adequate for the time being. The sword hovering over her head would be recoiled and slid back into the sheath where it would make a clicking noise before he would look at her and fold his arms at this chest before stating, “good enough.” He would allow her time to relax and understand that she was in no immediate danger. After that had gotten into her head, or at least enough time had passed in order to do he would mention, “I can teach you to wield a sword yet again, would you like to become my student?” He wouldn’t say any words to judge her or the efficiency of her technique, he would only offer the blanket opportunity to learn. He felt it better than critiquing her out right. Unlike with Yuki, he would offer the opportunity rather than have the task pushed onto him with an agreement made by Jyn. If she took it, then it would be fine; if she didn’t, then that would be fine also. He would mention, “learning under me is not an easy thing. I will at least let you know that much ahead of time.”

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In an awkward silent manner Battousai’s gaze lingers on the young lady as she mentions something about him promising her a sword. It would be a little obvious that his wasn’t a personality that dealt well with joking and things of jovial nature. His demeanor was more silent… kind of like batman. Either way, about her question, if she were to find her own sword, then he would not mind, but if she needed help going shopping for one, then that would be Jyn’s department. He did know of many different types of swords; from the looks of her, it looked like a fencing sword might match her well. It was when she asked what to call him that he realized that they had not exchanged names. Understanding this, Battousai informs the young lady, “you can refer to me as Battousai. My other pupil, Yuki, refers to me as Sensei, so you may use that as well.” Since it was probably good for him to know her name as well, he would inquire, “what is your name?” Given the fact that she was having memory issues, it had crossed his mind that she may not even remember her name, but hopefully her mental struggle wouldn’t be that far gone.

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With the name given Battousai would turn around and being walking in order to lead the way to the village. He would answer a swift “yes” to the question of whether or not she would meet with Yuki. After a brief pause, he would enlighten, “he has recently taken charge in protecting the village.” After thinking for a moment, Battousai clarifies, “do not allow him to impregnate you as it will interfere with your training.” Up to this point, he hadn’t fully answered the final question of what was expected of her. Due to the fact that Battousai was old school, his expectations would be very simple, far from values embraced by HR or more sophisticated entities. “I expect you to do as I say,” he clarifies, “if you do that, you will have no problems.” Though it may have not been the most tactful way of saying things, he would not mean it in an aggressive manner, but to him it would be more along the lines of her needed to be able to ‘follow instructions.’ Since he hadn’t trained a woman before, or had many interactions with them other than Jyneil, his mannerisms would almost be treating her as if she were a male. Things like her cute looks and curves didn’t hold any interest in his mind whatsoever.

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His head would shift to the side to peer at her from the corner of his eye. He would judge the reaction from her before returning his gaze forward. Internally he thought that it was good that those types of things weren’t on her mind. From the looks of her, she seemed young, but the fact that she had a good grip on her impulses led him to believe that lust wouldn’t be something to get in the way of her training. “Good,” would be all that he remarked as he continued forth in the direction of the village. From there, he wouldn’t say much more except for lead the way at a normal walking pace that she should be able to keep up with. He mulled over a few thoughts of how he should begin to train her, but reserved the actual thought of performing the activities for the next few days assuming that she would need at least a day to get situated inside of the village after being away due to the sack. If there were nothing else, he would come upon the village; it was nothing fancy and would still be partially broken after the raid and reclaim. A mountainous area by nature, several small houses and hut would litter the ‘village’ area that they were making their way into. Battousai would be curious if anything were starting to look familiar to the young lady he was escorting.

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On arrival into the village, Battousai would both look and feel around the area for any signatures. He would be able to detect a few people within houses with a couple women walking around the area, moving about and doing things like carrying water or supplies from one place to another. The corner of a large house would have three female warrior types standing in a circle, talking to one another. As the male and the newly found female would progress through the small area, they would gain a few glances, but all in all, no one seemed to recognize the new girl. Battousai would pick up on questioning gazes and begin to humor the idea the idea that the girl he found may not have been from this particular village, but perhaps was from another. Turning to look at her, he would see no lights seemed to be indicating that she remembered anything from being here.

Well, it would be partially inconvenient, though Battousai felt that he had found her for some reason. Since he had offered to teach her, he would uphold that regardless to whether she was from here or not, treating the current situation as a new beginning for her. Assuming that she wouldn’t locate a place that was familiar to her, he would comment, “we should find you accommodations to stay in. I trust nothing looks familiar to you?”

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“Oh?” Battousai pauses for a moment in his walking. He looks up for a moment as if thinking about something. In all of this, he hadn’t thought about a payment for training her, though when he realized what he was doing, it did seem more of a service. To him, it was more like a hobby, but traditionally thinking, he could see how others wouldn’t translate it that way. With this brought up, it seemed as if a conversation needed to be had. With that, he would merely beckon, “come” before continuing forth toward the largest structure of the village, though that wasn’t saying much. Coming to Yuki’s main home, a simple wooden structure no larger than a medium house where he and Dravec would be staying while they were here, Battousai’s hand comes to the door and pushes it open. The way things would turn out, Yuki and Dravec would not be in at the moment as they would probably be either scouting or collecting supplies to repair the village. Battousai would proceed to the center of the main room and turn at an area where a small circular table was which looked like it had just recently been repaired. He sits on his knees behind the table and motions for the young lady to sit opposite him. Speaking his mind, he inquires, “what skills do you have that you can remember?”

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In looking at her, something began to get his attention. It was a minor annoyance that she had her wings like that all of the time. It seemed to be a clear indication that she was a light spirit due to her magical presence and what he knew of them so far. In this world, they weren’t all that uncommon, populating the world second most just behind humans. Though it was something nagging in the back of his head, he would leave it for now and fully hear the words that she spoke to him. After they are done, he would conclude that she had either been a blacksmith, a blacksmith’s apprentice, or a blacksmith’s daughter. He would assume the latter given the fact that he didn’t necessarily see her banging on a weapon with a hammer, though, there was no way to be sure. He would instruct, “hold out your arm…” where he could get a better look at it. The muscle tone of her bicep would be a good indicator of past labor performed in that fashion. Getting her to a forge seemed to be a future goal, and given the size of the village they probably only had one. It was assumable that the blacksmith was probably killed in the raid given the percentages of those who lived. Battousai would gain his own answer if her arm was presented, but would also inquire, “if you can work, there is no need to pay me back directly.” If she were good with weapons, then there would be no reason why she couldn’t do practical work, such as helping repair the village.

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Since there was no response from the young girl, Battousai would take that as an affirmation that Sera was fine with everything discussed thus far. With that portion of the talk over, he would move onto the housing with the time to speak having passed. After all, he simply needed her to know what was expected of her and to do it as well; so long as she gathered his words, he would be fine with how things were. His awkwardness in speaking would prove tricky for the logistics in the back and forth of normal conversation. Moving on, he would continue, “…the combined forces of Yuki and my people are rebuilding this village. Your accommodations will be humble.” He offers, “I will have Yuki’s women find a suitable place for you to dwell while in your training.” Moving back to the thing that had caught his attention before, he would inquire, “do your wings retreat?” From what he had seen, she seemed pretty well versed at keeping mindful of them. She hadn’t shown to be clumsy, allowing them to hit into things as she walked or entered into the house, so he would give her that benefit of the doubt.

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With a nod, Battousai would judge her being able to retract her wings as being a good thing. He feared they might get in the way of her training since they seemed to be rather large objects to target while in melee combat. Operating under the assumption that she could feel them, he would figure that if they were damaged, she would take that damage as if any normal portion of her body was stricken. Well, there was that along with the fact that no one else walked around with wings; it was Battousai’s experience that the kami who existed around humans that he had seen, sought to integrate more easily without their wings, using them only when needing to fly. As things would turn out, it would seem that their talk had occurred swifter than Battousai would have anticipated. Wanting to move straight into the next thing as to get it over with, the samurai stands and speaks, “I will go now to see about your housing. You can come with me or rest here; it doesn’t matter. Your training will begin tomorrow morning, so be prepared.”

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