Love in feudal times.

[Ravenloft]

OOC: This is going to be a thread between Siren's Voice and myself. Please do not disturb us. Thank you.

Hi Achi:

Striding across roof tops, silent as a cat, a man in inky black cloths made his way to his target. He was loyal to only the highest sum of money payed to him, and the hand it fell to him from. This time, it was the daughter of a particularly powerful Emperor who would fall to his blade...

Padding slowly along the targets roof, Hi Achi knelt down and listened with a keen ear. He could hear breathing inside, the girl was asleep. Slipping from the roof, he slinked to a window and snuck in. He knew this was too easy, things never go this easy when it delt with families of power... So he hesitated and peired about the room, making sure it was safe.

Finally he strode toward the sleeping girl, silently, unsheathing his blade, he stood over her... Hesitating once more... Something was amiss...

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

The sleeping woman's eyes opened and in a flash, she produced a knife from beneath the silken coverlet.

"Sent to kill me are you? Do not think that you can without a fight."

And Mikaeri meant it, for this woman was the nineteen year old daughter of the Emperor of Nippon. She had the blood of the gods running through her veins. Indeed, it was the goddess Amaterasu who had blessed her very birth.

Mikaeri had been bred to fight. Even though her family's sovereignty had been stolen from them by the Shogun centuries before, her father believed he was destined to right the wrongs of the past, to restore the Imperial family to its rightful place as the pre-ordained rulers of Nippon.

In a flash, Mikaeri rolled away from the ninja and jumped to her feet in a single motion. The bed coverings fell away even as the ebony curtain of her hair threatened to cover her face. She brandished the knife in front of her and tossed her hair over her shoulder defiantly.

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

Hi Achi's eyes summed the girl up. She had been taught well, her breathing had fooled him into believing her to be asleep. "Fight if you will, death will still come for you..." Hi Achi whispered as he fell into a fighting stance. Rushing toward her, Hi Achi jumped over her bed in one stride. His blade zipped through the air as he slashed out at her silently.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

She was frightened beyond comprehension, but she summoned her courage and held out her hand. Mikaeri tried not to think about how she appeared. She knew her lithe body would be easily visiable beneath the white silk guaze of her sleeping shift.

"STOP! If you do not, I will scream."

Her voice was low but imperious, betraying none of her inner turmoil.

"The followers of ninpo are not known to attack in stupidity. Think. You are at the center of the Imperial Palace. If you do not desist, I will summon my father's guards. Even if you do manage to kill me, they will be alerted to your presence. Kill me, ninja, and you lose the best chance you have getting out of here alive."

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

"I... Cannot be swayed... You must die..." Hi Achi said in a hushed voice. He edged closer to her, his blade lifted to strike. The look in his eyes faltered as he looked upon her lithe form.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

His eyes seemed to flicker over her body like a flame. Something was wrong with him. The ninja's actions betrayed his words. He was close enough that if he meant to kill he would have already. She could practically feel the breeze of the blade as it passed before her.

Perhaps...

"Ninja, have I nothing to offer you that is more valuable than what has been paid to you?"

Her voice was a silky whisper. The knife fell to the floor with a clatter. A calculated risk to be sure, but Mikaeri could not see any alternative. She would be killed instantly if she called out. Fighting would bring an almost certain death. The ninja handled his blade with a skill she could not match.

"If you desire me at all, I will offer myself to you as a willing hostage."

She ran her hands over her breasts and down her body. The movement caused the fabric of her gown to draw tight against her breasts, revealing the darker shade of her nipples clearly.

"A more than willing hostage."

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

Hi Achi knew she was trying to trick him, to seduce him. His eyes closed to disdainful slits. "You cannot seduce me..." He didn't mean to falter when he spoke but he had. "I am Hi Achi, the Night Wolf..." He added as if to mask the way he had stammered at the simple sight of her. Just then, Hi Achi heard a heavy foot fall just outside Mikaeri's room. In a flash of motion, Hi Achi had spun himself directly behind her, one hand cupping her chin, forcing her head back against his shoulder, the other held a tanto he had slipped from the handle of his ninja-to. The keen, glimmering point of it pressed against Mikaeri's jugular.

He heard the foot fall again, and he masked his breath under Mikaeri's own. "Shh, breath normally..." He whispered in her ear. "Breath as though you were asleep..."

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

"Shh, breathe normally..."

Mikaeri quavered against the hard body. Since the time when she had left childhood, she had never been touched by a man. The Night Wolf's fingers seemed to melt into her skin. The steel at her throat had less of an effect on her.

"Breathe as though you were asleep..."

Still she did as her asked, forcing her mind into calm serenity and easing her breathing to the rhythms of slumber. Mikaeri's body sagged against his, her soft form pressing into him.

Senses still alert, she heard Bunjiro pause at the door, listening. Mikaeri murmered a soft sigh of sleep and she could almost picture him smiling. The samurai had watched over her since she was an infant and she had always felt safe when he was around.

Until now.

Bunjiro could do nothing to help her. If she called to him, she would be dead. Mikaeri listened as the footfalls carried her rescurer away.

"What now," she hissed.

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:
A tence silents prevaded over the few short minutes Mikaeri's samurai guardian stood outside her room. Hi Achi held her tightly, his Tanto warning enough to have her do his will for the time being.

Lowering the point of his Tanto after the Samurai continued away, Hi Achi still held Mikaeri’s chin, keeping her ear close to his lips. He was silent for a moment, save for his own controlled breathing next to her ear. Her soft body was arousing something within him that he had learned to keep suppressed long ago, and it surprised him that he could not keep the feeling in check. “Now? Now you will tell me who has taught you what you know.”

His hand slipped away from her chin, along her shoulder and arm, as he gripped her wrist, to spin her about. Once she faced him, Hi Achi held his Tanto up again, aimed for her chest, he advanced a step, the point of the blade nipping at her flesh, even through the fabric of her sleeping shift. She was forced back, against her bed, losing her footing, she sat down. Hi Achi stood before her, his knife held under her chin. “No one outside of the ninpo clan’s know of those breathing techniques…” Hi Achi accused as he knelt down, keeping the point of his Tanto under her chin and his eyes upon her eyes.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

Mikaeri felt the color drain from her cheeks. She considered how to answer Hi Achi’s question without betraying her father.

“Do you not think that the Emporer has members of your clan at his disposal. My father has a purpose for me, which goes beyond living the life of a caged bird. For the end, he has had me trained since birth, trained me in arts of which women are not. I am to leave for Edo tomorrow, to marry the Shogun. No doubt you can deduce how my skills are to be used. Of that, I will say no more. I will betray my father no further. Kill me if you expect me to do so.”

Mikaeri leaned forward, pressing the edge of his blade into her own throat. She felt just a whisper of pain and then warmth, as a drop of blood ran down the white column of her neck.

 

[Guest]

Hi Achi:

Hi Achi's eyes flashed with surprise at Mikaeri's words, and when she peirced herself upon his tanto, he drew it away from her lilly white neck, a trail of crimson ran down her pail, perfect skin. His eyes followed the stream for but a moment, then they flashed back to her own and locked her in a snake like stare.

Without a word, Hi Achi found himself sinking to his knees slowly. "What am I doing?!" His mind screamed as he pulled the black sash about his waist free and lifted it to the wound on Mikaeri's neck. "She should be dead, and I on my escape... Or following shortly after her in death..." He thought as he dabbed at the wound.

He cast his eyes downward, his jaw clenching and un clenching as he struggled with his thoughts. "She's bewitched me..." He thought as he lifted his eyes to meet her's once more, she seemed sorrowful, and he knew why. If her task was completed, she would be much in the same place he was now... With no escape, death inevitable.

Turning his back upon the orders of his clan was never an option to him... Not until he looked into Mikaeri's eyes. "Let me live now... And I will see that you live through the morrow..." He offered, wondering how he had come to this.

 

[Ravenloft]

OOC: Thats me up there.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

Mikaeri crumpled, falling to her knees. Her brave facade vanished.

"The possibility of death has its allure, Hi Achi. After tonight, my life is to become a nightmare. If I were not a coward, I may have already committed to sepuku. Be done with the scheming of my family that have made me no more than this..."

She ran her fingers down the flat of his blade.

"However, you have spared my life tonight and this I will never forget. In doing so you have helped both me and your emperor."

Mikaeri swallowed and dried her tears with the back of her hand.

"Let me look on the face of the man who spares my life."

With trembling but insistent fingers, she removed the cloth mask that obscured most of his face. When the fabric fell away, she gasped.

"You!"

Mikaeri clasped her fingers to her mouth, overcome by emotion.

"I have seen your face in a dream. W-w-when I turned sixteen, I had a dream, no, a vision in the shrine of Amaterasu. The great goddess of the sun showed me the man that I would give my heart to."

She faltered, unable to go on.

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

He'd been so enthralled with Mikaeri's beauty that he didn't pull away while she shed him of his concealing mask. He didn't know where these feelings of tenderness were coming from, but they were flooding into his heart with ever second he gazed at her.

Seeing how the emotions played across Mikaeri's poceline face, Hi Achi felt his emotions stir as well, he dared not look away, for fear he would miss even a second's passing of her beauty, yet, it was a soul ache to look upon such a creature of beauty.

He had been bewitched, and when he found himself embracing her, kissing her, running his hands along her cheeks, her neck, her shoulders, he didn't fight his feelings. He eased her back upon the bed, laying by her side, kissing her with a passion he had never expressed before.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

It was as if he read her thoughts when he kissed her. And kiss her he did. She felt consumed by the intensity of it. His lips seemed to radiate against hers, setting her body on fire. Flames lapped at every extremity in a delicious blaze. Her breath caught in her throat. Mikaeri knew she was losing herself in him as their tongues intertwined in a kiss that seered the princess to her very soul.

And she yielded to him, surrendering to the moment. Danger had infused her blood, intoxicating her mind. She tangled her hands in his dark hair as they kissed and her lips melded to his in a seductive dance. He took the kiss deeper and Mikaeri didn't fight. She wanted this. Wanted him. Hi Achi was making her feel. Her body was awakening beneath his hands.

She moved her hands down his back, pressing him closer to her. Arching her body into his, she gave herself to him, this man of the shadows. He was the man of her dreams. Surely this was meant to be...

"No! Stop!"

Mikaeri struggled free, trying to catch her breath.

"I will not be the cause of your death, Hi Achi. We must get you out of here now or you will be killed."

Already, Mikaeri was out of bed and dressing in the dark colors of the ninja.

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

Hi Achi sat on the edge of Mikaeri's bed, gazing at her with his dark eyes, his lips parted as he struggled to contain his passionate breathing. He knew her to be right, if he stayed, he would be dead.

He stood and went to Mikaeri's side after she had donned the garb of his kind. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her dressed so. They were not the cloths of a lady such as she, but somehow, they fit her far better than any gown ever could have.

"Then it is time for me to make my escape..." He whispered as he looked into her eyes, then trailed his eyes past her, along the wall of her room, and finally to the ceiling.

He flashed a roguish smile conceiling it under his mask as he darted silently along the path his eyes had formed. He planted a foot against the wall, and pushed away with silent force, catching hold of a cross beam and swinging himself atop it. He crouched like a cat, looking down at her, extending a hand.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

Mikaeri strapped on her own ninja-to. Opening a cabinet, she took out a small bag and tied it around her neck. Turning around, she saw Hi Achi holding his hand out to her. She rolled her eyes. Ignoring his help, Mikaeri repeated Hi Achi's movements and landed soundlessly next to him.

"Follow me," she whispered.

She crept along the beam to a high open window on the far wall. Dropping down so that she hung under the beam, she swung through the window and landed on a catwalk outside. She moved along the narrow ledge to give Hi Achi room to get through the window.

Her eyes swept over the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Getting Hi Achi out would not be difficult. She had played at sneaking past the Palace Guard since she was ten.

The problem was what to do once he was free to escape. In the morning, she was scheduled to leave for Edo. She was to marry the Shogun there and then... In all her nineteen years, Mikaeri had never question that plan, her father's plan for her. Until now.

Hi Achi appeared through the window. She clutched his hand, her eyes growing luminescent with tears.

"Take me with you, Hi Achi. When we get you out of here, promise me you will take me with you."

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

Reguarding Mikaeri with an admiring look, Hi Achi followed her lead, slipping out the window after her, silent as a prowling cat. Closing his eyes, Hi Achi extended his sences about himself, he could tell two guards stood just below them, and three others patrolled the grounds. With Mikaeri's knowledge, escape was assured.

"I had not intended to leave you behind..." He whispered as he drew an object from his Gi that looked similar to the fireworks Mikaeri had seen during any given festival. "This is a choice you cannot turn back on..." He continued as he spoted a torch near them. "They will think you to be dead..." Moving toward the torch, Hi Achi looked back to her. "Can you give up this life?" He asked calmly.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

"I had not intended to leave you behind."

The presumption and arrogence in the statement infuriated her. Mikaeri opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it at the last minute. There would be time enough for that later. After all, Hi Achi was holding open the cage door. How many times had Mikaeri dreamed of freedom. All she had to do was fly through it.

"I gave up that life the moment I saw your face. I am with you now. Burn my connection with the past so that I may begin a new life with you."

Mikaeri held back from mentioning the one thing she could not give up, not while there was still breath in her body. There would be time for that too. Later.

"After you light that explosive and throw it through the window, we must jump to the roof of the next building. It houses the garrison. When the place empties because of the explosion, we will make our way down to the lowest level. There, we will find a tunnel that leads out of the palace to the center of Kyoto."

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

Hi Achi felt the twinge of her anger at his bold statment, but her words made him smile nontheless. She was a jewel to his eyes and if she thought herself destined to be with him, he would not turn her from that notion, and infact, the fire he could see in her eyes made him admire her on a level he did not quite understand.

"Kyoto, good, and from there, I can lead us, I have a place we can stay for a time, until the havoc wrought by your 'death' settles." He said quietly. Dipping the explosives wick to the torches flame, it caught light, a soft hiss eminating from it.

A moment later, Hi Achi pitched the explosive stick into Mikaeri's room, and it flopped down into the center of her bed. Without a word, Hi Achi took a sprinting leap for the roof of the garrison, landing with the lightest of pads, he crouched and watched Mikaeri.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

Mikaeri offerred a silent prayer to her ancestors and lept into space, landing lightly on the roof beside Hi Achi. With the bright blaze from the explosion drawing everyone's attention, they were invisiable against the black of the roof. Mikaeri watched as the soldiers of the guard spilled out of the building, silently counting their number. She signalled to Hi Achi when it was safe to go inside. Just as she was about to swing through an open window, she caught a glimpse of his father. Tears streamed down his face as he looked up at her now black window. She willed herself to turn away and entered the building.

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

Dropping down beside Mikaeri, Hi Achi looked about for any sign of movement within the room, there was none. He turned to Mikaeri then his eyes searching signaled directions.

Bunjiro:

Bunjiro had the sudden urge to return to Mikaeri's room, he had felt something amiss when he had passed by only minutes before. Standing outside her room, he listened for the sound of her slumbering breath... There was none this time... He stepped back, unsheathed his mighty sword and kicked the door down... Just as he heard a soft plop as if a mouse had landed upon Mikaeri's bed sheets... And a hissing... "A snake! A venomous snake!" He feared for Mikaeri's safty.

He dashed into the room, only to find it empty... Suddenly a brilliant flash blinded him, and a violent wash of explosive force sent him flying from the room.

Laying crumpled, burned and bleeding against the hallway wall, Bunjiro looked with wide, horrified eyes into the blaze that was once Mikaeri's bedroom. His sences were addled for a time, then he mercifully lost conciousness...

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

She signalled for Hi Achi to follow her. There wasn't much time and they had to move quickly. Over on the far wall, she ran her fingers along a protruding cedar beam. Her fingernails slid into a slot and a panel opened onto a shadowy staircase. They both made their way down into step soundlessly.

"The tunnel, Hi Achi. It is at least 2 kilometers long and black as death. I hope you know your ankokutostoshijutsu, the way of seeing in the dark."

Mikaeri smiled beneath her mask. She was teasing him.

 

[Ravenloft]

Hi Achi:

Smiling at her teasing, Hi Achi took the lead without a word, and as he passed by her he ran a hand along her hip. Stepping unearingly between small puddles of mud, rats and other debreis that cluttered the tunnel, Hi Achi and Mikaeri made their way through it with ease.

Bunjiro:

After the madness had settled, Bunjiro was found and taken to the emperor, still unconcious. He was bandaged and left to rest, until he woke. The emperor had men posted to watch for when he awoke and commanded that he be informed of it.

 

[Siren's Voice]

Princess Mikaeri

Hi Achi was good, very good. He guided Mikaeri easily in the dark. She was surprised at how she implicitly she trusted him already.

The passage ended at a solid earthen wall. Little shards of gray light stabbed into the darkness from up above, shining through wooden slats. It must be close to dawn, Mikaeri thought.

“I have no idea where in Kyoto we are, Hi Achi. I’ve never been this far outside the palace grounds before.”