~~~ Swords in the Moon ~~~


Night 5 - Conclusion.

Hour of the Rat

Saruwatari Kazunari (Crazed Rabbit) was cleaning his swords with a silk cloth. When the swords were both clean, he put them back in their scabbard.

He decided to meditate first before going to sleep. The events of the past few days had been disturbing, even for a man who had already seen his share of bloodshed and cruelty.

While taking a few deep breaths and clearing his head, he didn’t notice the shady figure entering his room. The dark warrior silently moved up to the meditating samurai, a black knife in his right hand.

Saruwatari’s body seemed to relax and he slowly got into a deep, mental trance. The killer didn’t wait any longer and with a clean, strong blow, he pierced the knife into Saruwatari’s throat, moving it upwards right through his brains, killing him instantly.

The murderer left the room unnoticed.

~~~



Hour of the Rat

Miyamoto Musashi (Husar) was standing near the campfire, guarding the front door towards the chambers of his Lord. He liked standing guard near the campfire: it gave the illusion of being warm, nobody could hide into the shadows to sneak up on you and feeding logs to the fire broke the monotony of the night.

A chilly northern wind was blowing and the swordmaster put down his naginata to grab some more firewood.

While his head was down, a cloaked man jumped down from the roof, in his hand a kanabo, aimed for his head. Miyamoto’s incredible fast reflexes saved his life as he quickly moved aside. The kanabo missed his head but hit Miyamoto’s right shoulder very hard, breaking his collarbone.

Allthough Miyamoto could only defend himself with his katana, which he was holding in his left hand, the killer didn’t want to take any more risks and quickly left the scene, unrecognized.


~~~


Hour of the Rat

Fujimoto Junishiro (Glenn) was back in his room. What was happening right now, was disastrous and he was very worried about his Lords’ safety.

On a more personal level, he had an extra reason (as if any more motivation was needed) to catch these ninja and to get out of here. That reason was called “Mariko”, his fiancée. After his third season of campaigning with the Takeda, her father had finally admitted that he was manly enough to marry his daughter. If this mess would end well, he would marry her before the next campaign would start.

Fujimoro smiled at the thought of the beautiful Mariko, his blossom.

Unfortunately, two strong dark gloved hands abruptly ended his dreams in a most cruel way, squeezing his throat until he died. The killer pierced a dagger through Fujimoro’s right eye, into his brains, for good measure and then left the room unnoticed.

~~~


Hour of the Ox

Fujimoto Shinichi (A Very Super Market) was standing guard outside the gate. This was the worst place to stand guard, since it was outside the walls with absolutely no cover against the snow and the chilly northern wind and without fire to keep him warm.

Fujimoto cursed. It was the third time he had been given this rotten task. Never had a senior samurai been standing guard here. And it didn’t make sense to stand guard outside either, since the killers that were operating were clearly working from the inside and nobody could reach the yashiki through the impenetrable mountain passes.

The wind was blowing heavily and fresh snow was falling out of the sky. Fujimoto didn’t hear the sounds of the man walking towards him, carrying a sharp katana. With one fluent movement, the man pierced the katana through Fujimoto’s body, right through his armor. The young samurai looked down and saw the point of the sword thrusting out of his chest. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for him to die.

The murderer quickly left the scene.


~~~

Day 5 - Rivers of blood.


Hour of the Rabbit

The Tiger was eating breakfeast. He looked how his injured bodyguard got treated by a comrade. He nodded calmly to the man and stood up.

Lord Takeda entered the courtyard and went to his platform. He looked down and didn’t show any emotions when he saw the bodies of the murdered men. It was something that was getting all too familiar.

Shaking his head he watched the scroll with the challenges. He nodded towards Sanada Yukimura (YLC) and Nakashima Ritsu (TinCow).

Both men bowed deeply for their master and nodded to each other. A senior officer nodded to both men: “No armor, no hidden weapons. Just katana and wakizashi.

Both men nodded again.



Sanada unsheeted his katana and immediately attacked Nakashima. The long sword struck for his neck and he barely blocked the blow.

Sanada stepped backwards and circled around Nakashima. Sweat was dripping from their faces. Suddenly, Sanada unsheeted his wakizashi and struck with both swords simultaneously. With pure luck, Nakashima managed to block both blows. Sanada was unbalanced and Nakashima took advantage of the situation by swinging his katana at his opponent. Sanada stepped to the right and the katana barely missed him.

Both men watched each other and it was clear they started to respect their opponent. Sanada lifted his katana and jumped forwards, a blow that would have been lethal if it weren’t for Nakashima bowing through his knees and rolling forward, piercing his katana through Sanada’s belly.

The deadly injured samurai looked down in disbelief. His opponent finished the duel by separating Sanada’s head from his body.

After the fight, he bowed deeply for his master, who nodded back respectfully.

While the woodpiles were burning, the men started to discuss the events.

~~~

Alive (36):
TinCow
Quintus.JC
GeneralHankerchief
FactionHeir
Caius
Beefy187
Ichigo
Wishazu
White_Eyes:D
Sasaki Kojiro
Stephen Assen
Peasant Phill
Kukrikhan
Captain Blackadder
Gobbledygook
Psychonaut
taka
Rhyfelwyr
AggonyDuck
Beskar
atheotes
Kagemusha
CountArach
Husar
Death is yonder
Tristan de Castelreng
Chimpyang
Yoyoma1910
Seamus Fermanagh
Banquo's Ghost
Haudegen
woad&fangs
ajaxfetish
glyphz
Dutch_guy
Yaropolk

Killed (17):
Khazaar
spL1tp3r50nal1ty
Lord Winter
The Spartan
Iskander III
Shinseikhaan
Olavi
Thermal Mercury
Chaotix27
pevergreen
Gregoshi
Reenk Roink
LittleGrizzly
Louis VI the Fat
Crazed Rabbit
A Very Super Market
Glenn

Fallen in battle (4):
Northnovas
Ignoramus
El Diablo
YLC

Lynched (4):
Askthepizzaguy
Sigurd
shlin28
TosaInu

WoG/Suicide (3):
Xehh II
Jolt
Beaver
~~~

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