Yutai Rumaty was a wise mind despite how young he was. It could be said the reality of life hit him hard when he was a young boy and thus, while he was a Prince of Kutou and potential heir to the throne, his allegiances and loyalty to his family and country dictated his heart to follow this path instead. If he stayed clear of the capital for as long as possible and as often as required there would be no insurrection and people would remelted what a great Emperor Shun truly was. He did not wish to jeopardise his seat in the throne and present him from carrying out all the plans he had to make it a better place for his people and adjourning nations. Some considered that a weakness, and that was why there was a faction that thought Rumaty should be in power to restore Kutou to its former glory. All things considered, he was not sure why they would bother wish such rumours, Rumaty was no blood-thirsty tyrant and was quite happy with the current situation he was in, despite being constantly ambushed by Shun’s extremist supporters or costed by his own in an attempt to force him to take up arms.

The politics of royalty had such intricacies Rumaty was glad he could just wanted around and protect the occasional trailer for a fee. He felt he did much more for the people keeping the roads safe for travellers than sitting on the throne, it would further divide his country and there would be a war for power as soon as these extremists realised that Rumaty had no interest in turning into a tyrant. The age of Kutou as an Empire to be feared were long gone, and they might as well accept the peace that Shun had granted them thanks to his many years of dedication and restless efforts. Sometimes he worried about his brother. He did everything for his country and his people and at times forgot to look after himself. That was why Rumaty had to visit his homelands to pull his ear and make sure he was also looking after himself. Although, he knew that Shian would need let him overexert himself and, also… he could not stay away from his sisters for too long. He loved his family and would do anything for them. Just the thought of being their faces again brought a smile on his lips.

That day he had stayed with a family in the middle of nowhere, he had escorted the man back from seeing the goods of his farmlands and in exchange he had been offered a warm bath, some food and a place to crash for the night. But he knew better than to stay anywhere for too long, his life was always at risk and that meant whoever showed him any kindness would also be in grave peril. So he usually said his goodies the night before and left no trace of him being there. He usually got up before the first lights of morning and covered ground. This time however, he was perched on a tree waiting, for he feared he had been followed or something had managed to track him to this little alienated farm.

He was not sure how they managed to find him, s he was an expert in the wilderness by now. But he knew that strategically, if they tortured this family for information on Rumaty’s whereabouts and ended up overdoing this interrogation, no one would ever find out of what had happened here and they would probably burn the place to the ground and blame it on bandits. You learned that, once you spent enough time at court, people would do anything, duty and ethics be damned, to get what they wanted. And these are power-mongering criminals who wanted to control everything and everyone. It blinded people and Rumaty was tried to point out that, such things need made a person feel whole. He had seen what happened to people who reached the pinnacle of the power they thirsted for. It was such a sad and traumatic ending.

And then he saw it, his eyes darkened, there was movement close to the farm. One man slowly singled to others and they snuck into the building to try and capture and torture whoever was inside. He sighed, it was his cue so he jumped off the tree and said for the men to stop, “You want me, why would you look for a Prince inside such wretched farm?” Yes, he had to play the part of a pedantic prince to protect the farmer and his family. If he publicly showed disgust, then the men would realise he did not care for them and they would lead them be. It worked most times.

He then added, “Needless to say I do not appreciate being followed around like a toddler so you better explain yourselves.” Before anyone could say anything he turned his head away and raised a hand, “Not here you brutes! These people do not deserve to hear of whatever it is we should discuss.” The men left the farmer and his family, and though the wife seemed a bit shocked by Rumanty’s behaviour there was some recognition in the husband’s eyes. He knew Rumaty was bluffing to spare their lies and in realising this Rumaty rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment but he let the men away form the farm and into a clearing.

He cracked his neck bones and knuckles as he turned to face them, all politeness gone from his face. “Now, what is it that you want? Can’t a man enjoy a little vacation?” The men eyed him darkly but their leader said, “We have orders to take you back to the capital, be it voluntarily or by force… boys!”

Rumaty sighed, they were no fun. Always to the point like starving wolves hoping to get their prey before the other wolves found them. Well, it would not be the first time he had to fight this many men. It only served to strengthen his resolve that he could not go back permanently to Kutou, not at least until this nonsensical division in royal politics still existed. He sighed and then closed his eyes for a moment whispering a gentle prayer. The moment his eyes opened they looked deeper than her before, almost etherial but his hands did not move to grab any weapon.

The men laughed and then as two men ran at him, with great aim and elegance, Rumaty’s hand tossed a throwing knife to each man catching them on the throat. They fell dead almost instantly. This angered three more of the men who ran at him and he quickly drew his bow and show three arrows in unison, piercing their heads. He moved away from the corpses, “If you leave now this won’t end in extreme bloodshed.”

The leader smirked, “You cannot find the remaining 20 men on your own.” Rumaty scoffed, “What kind of a bodyguard would I be if I could not.” Six men surrounded him, he eyed them carefully and just as they began to attack in unison his battle axe came at the ready and the battle dance began. At the beginning he watched them to study their skills, but after that he did not have to turn to know what they would try to do next and as soon as he started defeating them one by one other six would join to protect the injured and take their place. It was not an ideal fight and he knew that he would tire eventually, after all, it was 25 against 1. Just as he managed to defeat the other six, the remaining seven, with the exception of their leader came at him with fun force.

He cursed under his breath and these were elite fighters. “Saved the best for last?” He smirked as he rolled on the floor when one of them landed a punch on his face. He allowed himself enough distance to try and recover but he was exhausted. This fight would not be easy. Just as he was about to deflect the attack of five of these men, however, he was shot from behind. Their leader had taken out a poisoned arrow and shot him while he was distracted. Now that was unfortunate. He fell on one knee and knew that this would definitely make things much, much, much… worse.

He closed his eyes for a moment, it was time to use up his skills in ninjutsu to back him up or he was toast. And his siblings would never forgive him if he died. The poison would not start acting immediately, or so he hoped, as he soon began to suffer from hallucinations. What cheating scum!

He closed his eyes and tried his best to focus on the moments of his enemies. It was then that he began to read their attacks and after a long and excruciating fight, he defeated the last of them, their leader, however, and as expected, turned around and left running threatening this was not over. What a fool, a professional would need lead before ensuring the victim was dead. Looking around he panted and started to walk away from the men, he leaned on a nearby tree trying to find a remedy to slow the poison but his mind was exhausted and his body could not fight it anymore. He fell on his back making the arrow pierce him much more and he groaned in pain. He looked at a small bird that was eyeing him with interest, in his last attempt to get help he offered it some tiny grains of food before it went to find some help. He looked up at the sky, it was a lovely blue and as his eyes closed he said, “Shun, I’m… sorry.” 

Takara made her way through the forests surrounding the home of her master. She had been granted leave that morning - a rare treat, allowed by the master’s wife when he was away on business. As long as she returned before nightfall, there was no reason her master should know, and no reason for any of them to get into trouble upon his return.

She had decided to spend the morning collecting wild herbs and fruit to make some treats for her master’s children. She was able to instinctively sniff out which things were good to eat, and which she should avoid, and her tail swished idly beneath her long blue cloak, worn to hide her ears and tail from any passers b. The master did not want anyone to know she was a tiger spirit, as he feared bandits would come to attack the family and steal her away.

She had just decided that she had enough to return home and start cooking when something caught her attention. A small bird fluttered nearby and she sensed the little thing was distressed, although she could tell it was not injured. “Does someone need help? If I give you a berry, will you take me?” She was not as skilled with communication with the smaller prey animals as she was with larger predators like herself, but she could usually get the point across. She selected a small, ripe berry and offered it to the bird before following it back to the person in distress.

Takara found a man alone near a tree. She could smell his blood, and the blood of many others, but she could smell something else… Setting her vasket aside, she knelt on the ground next to the man, and sniffed intently. Her nose in this form was not as sensitive as her tiger form, but she was sure now, Mot only had this man been injured, but he was poisoned.It was not too late to save this man, but she wasn’t sure her meager powers could heal him completel. She would do what she could for the man, and maybe she could take him somewhere closer to her home to help him recover fully. She placed a small hand on his arm, and spoke gently. “My name is Takata, good sir, and I am going to help you…” She wasn’t sure if he was aware enough to hear her, but she thought it best to introduce herself just in case.

Showcasing strength beyond what one expected in her small frame, she carefully rolled him onto his side, and then his stomach so that she could get to the wound on his back. The arrow was deeply embedded, and the shaft had broken off at some point, but she could handle this. Taking a calming breath, she used her sharp nails to slice his shirt open to allow her to work. She then placed a hand on his back, using a small bit of her healing magic to minimize the pain this man would feel from her next action. That done, she began to use her claws and her skill to carefully remove the arrowhead from his back. The smell of blood and poison was worse now, and she wrinkled her nose at it. Taking a deep breath, she placed her palm over the energy and released a wave of healing magic. She pushed the energy out until she couldn’t any more, and was disappointed to see that even though it had taken care of the poison and any infection, the injury was not fully healed. Feeling exhausted, she shook her head. “Maybe he’s got some supplies…”

She found his belongings and searched through them until she found a small first aid kit. It was simple,n but it had what she needed. Soon she had treated and dressed the wound. Leaving him for a moment, she found a small wooden cup on her basket of berries and herbs, and went to a nearby stream to wash her hands clean and fill the cup. She drank deeply for a moment before she filled the cup again and returned to the man. Kneeling once more beside him, she rolled him onto his side so that she could hold the cup to his lips and let him drink. His head was in her lap, and she had him partially popped up with a nearby tree, doing her best not to put pressure on his injury. “You will recover now…”

Rumaty thought that this would be the end for him, the farmer and his family would not help him a second time and he could not blame them. It was not nice to be attacked by soldiers or mercenaries just because they were kind enough to offer him a place to stay for the night. This was getting quite old though, he did not aspire to be an Emperor and yet court politics ensured he stayed far away from the family that he loved. He hoped that his brother and sisters did not miss him too much, albeit he missed them a lot. He thought at least if he died he would be able to be closer to his family, look after them and watch them their happiest and saddest moments and be there for them. But then, he felt his body drift between consciousness and unconsciousness. He felt someone approach him and on pure instinct his body tensed and his hand twitched as if aiming to look for a weapon.

“My name is Takata, good sir, and I am going to help you…”

Was that the voice of a young woman? He must be having hallucinations. “Hmm…” He was unable to wake up or even say anything that made sense. But something in that voice seemed erasing and so his body relaxed slightly. He moaned in pain at times and the fever made him have strange and restless dreams that went on and off and he found it hard to follow the plot in each and every single one of them. He could not feel his body at times and at others he felt too cold or too warm.

His body was trying to fight the poison but it was a rather difficult feat when it was most probably of a deadly kind for those men had been hunting him down wherever he goes in their attempt to stop him from posing a threat to his brother siting on the throne. He did tell everyone repeatedly that he was happy being the second son but, politicians only see the benefits of their own plans and they need take into account what others may want or need. No, politicians were jealous, power mongering and eccentric. It angered him that sometimes his brother Sun, albeit an excellent Emperor, was belittled by the enemy in so many occasions.

“Maybe he’s got some supplies…”

There was that once again, as if calling him back to the world of the living. It made his body fight with more determination to recover from these wounds. And yet the poison seemed to prevent him from recovering. For a moment the pain felt overwhelming but then just as quickly as the poison had begun to wage ward in his body, his body got the upper hand and his eyes opened up briefly spotting the figure of a woman leaning over him, and then he felt something refreshing going down his throat… water. His eyes closed in relief and he passed out once more but this time due to exhaustion.

“You will recover now…”

He stirred for a moment hearing that soft voice once more. He tried to open his eyes but hew as still recovering form the wounds and the poison, he tried to speak but his throat felt dry, he managed to whisper, “Who… you…” His eyes remained close as if he were in a sort of trance unable to wake up but not sleeping either in between realities.