By Usagi tatsuka
The air was cold and the wind was furious. It had rained for 7 straight days, and the weather was starting to put a dent in the ronins plans. "Just the luck of a ronin," Kegatora said to himself with a slight smile. "As if it wasn't bad enough that I have been ostracized from my clan, now I sit here in the freezing cold, unable to continue because of this stupid weather!" Wrapping himself in his tattered kimono Kegatora sought refuge under an old oak tree. "I guess this will have to do until I find a more permanent home," He said with obvious displeasure in his voice. He was uncomfortable, cold, sore, and very tired, yet he still found time to rest.
"Sleep-sleep I believe he is," said an unfamiliar voice. Awaking the ronin found himself surrounded by a group of ill looking creatures. Gripping his sword he readied himself. "Ah! The man with nice sword-sword awakens," shouted the creature. With a swift snap of his wrist the ronins sword was out of its saya and cutting through the furry, wirey-haired creature that stood before him. Stepping aside from a slash that nearly brushed his side, Kegatora spun back swinging his sword in an upward arch catching the creature right under the arm, cutting it clean off. Continuing to whirl Kegatora then swiftly swiped downward catching the last unfortunate creature right in the head, splitting it in two with a sickening crack. With a flick of his wrist the ronin cleaned his sword of blood and flesh and returned it to its saya. "Damn ratlings!" the ronin snarled. "You'd think they would have learned by now," he continued as he laughed.
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There was a slight sign of smoke in the distance. The ronin threw his pack over his shoulder and started a brisk jog towards the hill for a better look. Kegatora was horrified at the image that molested his eyes. Standing on the hill Kegatora could see hundreds of dead bodies, shredded banners, burning fields, weapons, blood, smoke, soot and the likes. The stench of dead flesh combined with the burning fields almost made the ronin vomit. Ripping off the sleeves of his kimono the ronin tied it around his face. The smell of sweat and moldy rain was alot better then the smell of dead flesh. Being careful of where he stepped, Kegatora walked amidst the bodies looking for an answer as to what happened. Examining the bodies visually was all this ronin needed to do. It was quite obvious that the battle didn't take very long. Kegatora knew this because he had noticed that most of the bodies had been stabbed and slashed from a bladed weapon from behind, and that the fallen samurai hadn't even had time to drawn their katana's. The fallen samurai that littered the ground had surprised looks frozen on their faces, caught off guard. Kegatora was baffled, how could such a large army be so surprised in such a way that most of the samurai hadn't even drawn their blades. As he contemplated the situation, something caught the ronins eye. Kegatora noticed that all of the bodies that lie on the soot covered fields were that of the lion clan.
"How strange." he thought to himself. It was at that moment he noticed something of great significance. Just shy of his right side he noticed 2 dead corpes who both lie dead in what it looked to be a karmic strike. Both were lion. Moving in for a closer examination Kegatora noticed something strange. Through the slashed kimono on one of the bodies, the ronin saw a glint. With further inspection, the ronin found a small, but very exquisite tanto, hidden perfectly within the obi of the fallen samurai. The tanto was black and red, and had a mon on it. Quickly thinking back to his lessons from school, he recognized it as the “Shosuro” mon. A family of the scorpion.
"Well all be damned." the ronin shook his head. "Those treacherous bastards! The scorpion disguised themselves as lions, and slaughtered an entire border patrol." Scratching his head the ronin tried to think of a rational explanation as to why they would do such a thing. "Surely they don't have the forces to keep on going through lion lands, and by burning the fields, surely someone is going to notice it in no time."
"I had best get out of here before im blamed for something. A ronin travelling in lion lands, with no papers, that wouldn't go over well with the magistrates." The ronin peered around taking it all in one last time before running off into the forest.