Three Little Bandits - Bayushi Umeno

[Canary]

Cho grinned at his two brothers. "See, it'll be super easy. The Kuwagaya were easy enough pickin's before, and I have it on good authority that most've 'em left a few month's back to join one of those sky people. All that left's those too old t' up'n leave, and those that don't wanna share their money."

Cho's elder brother Pho gave a chortle. He was larger than Cho, and stronger, but much more of a simpleton, and was easily amused. "I like's beatin' up rich folks an' takin' their money. I get t' eat good after that."

The youngest brother looked more concerned. Sho was average height and size, and in all aspects was the plainest of the brothers. He was also a worrier. "But bro, this is a real big step up from raidin' caravan's along the paths. What if one of the merchant's 's got a bodyguard that's tough?"

Cho waved off the concern with an easy smile. "We've dealt with bodyguard's before plenty of times Sho. Ain't no one gonna hire enough muscle to take us down. Pho's stronger'n anyone they can throw at us, and ain't no one better with a bow'n you are."

Pho looked proud at the praise, puffing up a bit. Sho was a bit thankful for his brother's words as well, but couldn't shake his worries fully. Still, Cho was the brains of the three, and Sho knew he'd worry Pho too much if he kept at it. He had had to just trust his older brother before, and this time would be no different. Swallowing his pride, Sho nodded and gave a weak smile. "You're right bro, of course, you always are. I'm just a worry wart, ain't I? Sorry 'bout that, let's get goin'."

The three nodded and started on the path toward the village. As they passed through the woods, they came to a hill overlooking the Kuwagaya town below. It was as Cho had said, from what they could see. Many of the homes looked abandoned, and only a few had smoke coming out of the chimney. There was a pair of guards near where the path entered the village, which they could tell from the glint of sunlight off their metal spears, but even from where they were, they could tell that both should've retired ages ago, and were likely the only ones that the village could get to do the duty.

Cho gave Sho a smack on the back and grinned. "See what I'm sayin'? I told you they're depleted. All the proud defender's up an' left to serve a great lord 'f battle from what I was told, and the most thoughtful of the bunch left t' follow some other lady of culture 'n' stuff. Easy pickin's!"

Sho looked a bit relieved. Indeed, even he had heard talk about the people that fell from the sky, and of nearly entire tribes moving off to follow them. If those great lords had been nearby, he would have had new worries, but everyone said that they were up north, on the other side of the mountains even. Giving a nod, he didn't say anything, but his step was a bit lighter.

The three lost sight of the village as they started down the hill, the tree's hiding the sight. This was their favorite approach for ambushing caravans, as the forest was thick here for some miles around. The sea was no way to approach, as there were too many out on the waves to be subtle, and the other direction to the village was nothing but flat plains. The three brothers walked with ease as they went. At worst they would run into a caravan, and that would just save them the trouble of having to find a suitable target in the village.

Suddenly, all three heard a rustle of leaves, and there was a woosh and a heavy, wet crunching sound. Cho cursed and reached for his knife immediately and ducked to a crouch. He glanced over to see Sho on the other side of the path behind a tree, his bow out and strung. Cho nodded and continued his gaze back to see that Pho didn't have his axe out, and that he didn't have a head either. Even as both brother's stared, Pho's body remembered to fall to the ground, and both could see a messy stump where the head had used to be.

Sho retched into the grass, but Cho kept his stomach. He motioned for his brother to be as quiet as he could be, not that Sho could help it. Even as Cho strained his ears however, all he could hear was the usual forest sounds. The birds chirped all around, a decent cacophony in their late summer joy. The sounds of the ocean a mile or so away reached his ears, the sounds of the wind through the leaves, and even a few sounds of smaller creatures in the underbrush. Nothing sounded like a man or large beast rushing through branches and bushes like he wanted.

Cho knew there were tales of large cats that hunted near silently, but those were all distant tales, not local ones. There had never been any creature like that in Kuwagaya lands. Still, it had to be something like that. Even if a bushi or two remained, men couldn't just kill in one blow and disappear without a trace. Cho moved up to his brother's body to look at the wound. It didn't look like any sort of bite or claw mark he had ever seen. If anything, the wound looked like Pho's head had been knocked off somewhat cleanly by a boulder or thick branch. Cho looked up at the nearby trees and back behind them to see if anything fit that. Nothing.

He heard a noise just like before suddenly. This time he heard a gasp and looked back just in time for Sho's head to go sailing past him. Cho heard it hit a tree trunk behind him, but at that moment, all of his attention was on the bush that rustled at a retreating shape. It was as he thought. Whatever it was, it was large and fast, and quiet. He would have time to mourn the loss of his brother's later. If he was stronger like Pho, or more cautious like Sho, he would have pursued whatever was doing this and take his revenge. As it was, Cho knew his best tool now were his legs and a sense of survival. He ran.

Cho wasn't certain how long he ran. While he was naturally a coward, he wasn't usually in a position where he needed to run, as his brother's were usually more than enough to take care of whatever came their way, and he always delegated the heavy lifting to Pho. Thus, it was was he was out of breath more than when he felt safe that Cho needed to stop. He leaned against a tree, panting. He'd kept his ears out the entire time, and still heard nothing beyond the normal forest sounds. Still, he felt somewhat secure in the knowledge that any creature would make a lot more noise to keep up with him through the underbrush than it had before. Besides, he knew that a large creature like that would most certainly stop to feast on the prizes it already had.

Then he heard it. For the first time, he heard something other than the forest. It was the softest or clinking sounds, but it was most certainly the sounds of human made work. Straightening, he looked quickly down the path he had just come down to see a young maiden wearing armor walking down the path. His worry lessened almost immediately. The girl couldn't have been more than 14 or 15, with her hair still in a maiden's foxtail even. She wasn't tall at all, and her face was somewhat pretty, in a plain sort of way. He wondered for a moment if she had seen the beast, and that he had heard her running his way because of it, but it wasn't his concern.

Cho gave a grin at the girl, looking relieved. "Thank the Fortune's girl! Some large beast has been stalking the woods, and killed my brothers! Did you catch a glance of it as you came, or had it already dragged them off the--" Cho trailed off. He hadn't really noticed it at first, but there was most certainly a large handle sticking over the girl's back. More importantly, he could see the blood on her armor as she got closer. The girl gave a grunt, reaching back and pulling a hammer off that was nearly as tall as she was, hefting it with ease. The hammer head was soaked in blood, and Cho realized his mistake as she was nearly to him.

He turned to run, just before the world ended.

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Umeno gave a sigh as she walked past the two guards on the road back into town. Neither looked her way, or did all they could not to. She'd never got along with older folks much, and her being covered in blood sprays certainly wasn't about to endear her to them any more. She was certain there would be questions tomorrow from whomever they could get to speak to her, but for now, she just wanted to go wash up and have dinner. The rush of battle was slowly leaving her, and she was once again becoming listless, her thoughts wandering to what she would do tomorrow. She'd been lucky to find bandits today, but sitting out in the woods without assurance of a fight was even more dull than sitting around in the village.

As she passed the Inn, she heard whispering among the old ladies. She had heard whispering in the streets before, but she hardly paid attention to such matters normally. These gossiped loud enough that she could hardly ignore them however. Apparently, a tall stranger that practically glowed had come to the village to stay the night at the inn. He was taller and more handsome than anyone the ladies had ever seen, and he even said he was a son of heaven! There would certainly be people buzzing around the inn tonight for a glance, and merchant's trying to sell their finest wares.

Umeno gave a small smirk. This village had become so dull, but for at least one night, she had something to do.