ronin_rhythm

The party had been on the verge of disappointment for a while. Lots of sitting around and talking. Not that he minded listening to them, hearing their stories. It was bittersweet hearing them laugh and joining in at the good jokes, aware as he was that he might know these people for a while, but sooner or later they would be gone. There was little in the world he was bound to. His kind were tied to nothing and no one but themselves. Nanashi and Sakura had managed to stay around longer than any had before, tiny islands on his life’s stormy sea. They were special, but he tried not to need them too much or rely on them. They were the best friends he had ever known. And one day they might be gone too.Dependence wasn’t important, only motion.

But something in his spirit craved action, the restlessness of soul that was often the precursor to adventure. When one of the magi began to talk about a monster which had supposedly eaten a man down by the river Musashi gave a slow grin across the room to his traveling companion. The monk nodded, and his friend's smile was infectious. Gonna be a good night… Musashi thought.

Outside he looked over the crew who he was traveling with besides his friends. Two women, both hot, named Lucy and Gypsy had decided to go. Another guy, someone he thought he knew as a fellow DJ from the club scene, came too. There was a good, strong energy about them. Something positive and primal. He felt confident in their future, reaching out to move like the wind between the strands of fate and glimpse the path. They arrived down by the water and set to the task of figuring out what had happened. Peering back into time Musashi watched events unfold along a path different from his own. Saw the monster and used his insight to hook a line to its sympathies. It was a simple matter to find the beast from there, all things were connected along the roads of Time and Space. Direction wasn’t important, only motion.

In his mind he could hear the music, the pounding rhythm of the Supernal, and his own body began to move with it. He sped up the beat, willing his body to keep time with it. In this trance-like state, he could feel every muscle in his body taut with suspended ki. Nanashi had focused his own powers on him, and the juice gathered in tendon and bone grew more potent. It was all he could do to focus and not tear loose with it. He was a shooting star, wandering the heavens and burning brightly as he fell.

One of the girls, Lucy he thought, used her power to tap into the creature’s head. It danced on her strings and there was a sudden shift in the weaving of fate. Musashi longed to act, his every ounce of being held in check by warrior's discipline. He could see the others waiting as well, each involved in the power of their spirits and bringing them out in various displays of magic. As if on cue beast rose up out of the water, strong and powerful, with jaws full of teeth and a thick hide. Its animal spirit was strong and it charged at them. Musashi smiled to himself as he watched the flash of scales in the moonlight. The young ronin answered the display of reflection in kind, drawing his blade in a cut which warped the air around it. He felt fortune’s smile as he did so, the clean parting of silk or the smoothest caress of soft skin. Blood flew from the edge of the katana and was reflected in the silver-tinged armor of the beast. Distance wasn’t important, only motion.

The dance was joined by the others, and his normal disconnectedness faded. He could sense them all, tied to his karma in the life and death struggle they shared. Lucy was hurt, but Nanashi was there to aid her. The DJ danced with Time and so did Gypsy, slowing the monster's movements. Musashi's smile was genuine as he launched into another attack, leaping into the air like a crane, as more blood flew from his blade. Nanashi called out another sutra and the creature's body shuddered in response.

Hurt and stumbling towards its finish the animal tried to bite at Lucy again. Gypsy kicked out with her foot, much to her surprise connecting with more than air, and catching the beast in the face. The awareness faded in mind as Musashi watched the thing collapse onto the shore. The song of battle was over, but a piece of the music was in his head whenever he looked at Gypsy. He wondered what that might mean even as they all tried to decide what to do next. Doubt wasn’t important, only motion.


End Part I