The group stared at the decimated, burning village
Shozen, Mikana, Shun, and Izo stand in awe looking at the village
Had one not known any better they would've confused it with a festival of fireworks, but this wasn't the case
The shriek of a distressed woman rang out from the village's cinders
Woman: AHHHH
Not a second passed before Shozen tightly gripped the handle of his blade and sprinting towards the sound of distress
The others start to follow but Shozen created a distance between them with tremendous speed
Shozen(Mind): Where did that come from?!
Shozen's eyes dart left to right, attempting to track the source of the woman's scream
Woman: SOMEBODY PLEASE, HELP ME!
Shozen(Mind): There!
With haste, Shozen ran into the village, spotting the victim who cried out for help
The woman was trapped under a collapsed roof from the fires
More debris from the building began to fall around the woman, a loosened, sharp plank of wood started to slide off of the half-melted roof
Shozen: Everything's going to be alright! Just stay calm!
With determination burning hotter than the fires of the village itself, Shozen leapt over the surrounding flames, grabbing a chunk of debris and trying to free the woman of its weight
He struggles to lift the roof and the women continues to moan in pain and panic
After a couple of moments, the others were able to catch up
Shun noticed Shozen struggling, so he leapt over the flames as well, tossing the planks and other objects of debris off of the woman, freeing her from the destroyed structure
The women gets up but limps in pain
Women: Thank you—
Shozen smiles
Shozen: No problem— are there others?
Women: Their were others trapped around town and others helping out out the fires
Mikana: Just as they said in the briefing…
Mikana: This is how we're gonna handle this, so everyone, listen up!
Mikana: You two—
Mikana looks at Shozen and Shun
Mikana: I need you to find every single civilian in need and take them back towards the entrance!
Mikana: Izo, I want you to keep an eagle's eye watch over the village and make sure the people who are brought back are safe!
Izo nods, sprinting off into the distance and taking point on top of a building
Shun: Alright, let's go see if we can find any more of the villagers!
Shozen: Right!
A short time passes…
Shozen is holding onto a woman's hand, guiding her away from the flame engulfed structure
Shun is seen handing a baby off to a family
Shun then walks towards Shozen
Shozen: That's fifteen people in five minutes—
Shun: That's gotta be a record!
Shun and Shozen chuckle it off
Izo is standing on top of one of the tallest buildings in the village, scouting its interior and exterior
In the corner of his eye, something darts behind a building, a shadow of some sorts
Izo's eyes quickly pan over
He squinted, watching the building closely and waiting in anticipation
Izo(Whispers): My eyes never fail me…
Izo hops off of the building, landing quietly in front of the other
He hangs his bow around his shoulder, unsheathing his uchigatana, running behind the buildings, each corner lead to another
He arrives in a dead end and hears someone land behind him
Izo's grip around his blade tightens, as he turns around to see a Shinobi
The Shinobi was dressed in all black, his face covered with a mask
Shinobi: Samurai…
Izo: …
Shinobi: You chose the wrong village to save…
Shinobi: Your people are too arrogant to last in this war… I suggest you turn around and leave. Now.
Izo draws his bow and three arrows, almost faster than the human eye could blink, letting off the arrows
The Shinobi leans to the side
The arrows narrowly miss as the shinobi disappears into the shadows before reappearing in front of Izo drop kicking him in the chest and back flips off of him
Izo almost gets knocked back but stays balanced on his feet and remains calm
He draws another arrow and the Shinobi catches it
Shinobi: Not good enough… Are you even accura-
The arrow explodes in the Shinobi's grasp, blowing his arm smooth off
Izo steps over the Shinobi's body, making his way out from between the buildings
A little girl backs up against an alley between two buildings
Two Shinobi force her into a corner her as she tremble in fear
Mikana then jumps in front of the little girl protecting her
Mikana: RUN!
The little girl runs as the shinobi draws their shurikens and launches them towards her
She puts her hand on her Naginata as she dodges the shuriken
She then dashes towards the shinobi cutting one of them and then jumping back
They have a standoff as the shinobi she cuts fall to his knees
Mikana takes a defensive stance, awaiting an attack from the Shinobi
The Shinobi did the same, staring down the young warrior
The Shinobi tossed smoke pellets at her feet, clouding the area around Mikana and disorienting her vision
With haste, the Shinobi sent a bone rattling kick to her jaw, knocking Mikana backward
She'd clench onto her naginata, moving it into a position to block her upper body, but it was futile
The Shinobi swept at her feet, knocking off her balance completely
Mindlessly, Mikana began to swing her blade in an attempt to hit her target and to clear up the smoke
Mikana grunts
Mikana: YOU FIGHT LIKE A COWARD!
Mikana dashes away from the smoke, regaining her sight
Not even a second passes before three kunai were thrown in her direction
Mikana flipped, twirling over the projectiles as she returned one herself, grazing the Shinobi's arm
Shinobi: Perhaps you're really are the Shogun's daughter…
The Shinobi unravels the chain around his forearm, swiping at Mikana with a chained sickle
Mikana knocks the blade away, using the time to close some distance
Though, the Shinobi was ready for that, as he'd leap over Mikana, slashing her shoulder with a second sickle as she slashed the Shinobi's leg
The teased blow would be more detrimental for the Shinobi in the long run, so he acted quickly
The Shinobi reached into his pouch, conjuring a highly reactive shuriken with poison on each edge and scraping his sickle's edge against it, giving his primary weapon a poisonous blade
The Shinobi performed some flashy movements, pump-faking a throw, which threw Mikana into a dodging movement
That was all the Shinobi needed
He'd quickly toss the shuriken into the direction she was moving to, the shuriken slicing deeply into Mikana's left arm which forced her to drop her weapon
Shinobi: You samurai always think so highly of yourselves, but accomplish little to nothing
Shinobi: And with you being the Shogun's daughter… it only makes things worse. Truly, you are nothing—
An arrow whistles through the air as the Shinobi looks at the direction of the noise, catching an arrow right into his forehead, killing him on impact
Mikana held onto her arm as the Shinobi fell over, being met by Izo's company
Izo: That's a bad cut, and it's poisoned
Izo takes off his headband, using it as a tourniquet, tying it a few inches above the injured area
Izo: That should do it…—
Mikana: Why did you interfere with my fight?
Izo: Because you were struggling and was about to lose, I saw the entire thing—
Mikana: We are warriors of honor, we fight fai—
Izo: YOU'RE a warrior of honor, I'm an archer, there's a difference
Izo: As an archer, I am to assist from above when help is needed, not let my comrade die in a foolish act of pride
Izo: Now if you wouldn't mind, allow me to heal that injury of yours, or you won't be doing so hot
Mikana: Whatever
Mikana scoffed as Izo escorted her back to the entrance with the others for a brief meeting
To be continued. . .