"Shin No Ippo 4" by Brandon ´Red´ Christ

Chapter IV

Jay and his friends walked into a coastal city, looking around. The docks were huge and there were many Inns, restaurants, and other tourist attractions. “Finally! A town where we can get a bed!” Mai exclaimed, smiling.

“It would be nice to sleep indoors, Jay,” Zordos said, smirking while slapping his hand on Jay’s shoulder. Jay hung his head down while Owens laughed.

 Jay said, “I like sleeping in trees. I’m used to it and besides, they’re much more comfortable.”

“Your nuts, you know that?” Owens asked, still laughing.

“…Von Dagga…lets just get a room or two and hope they have a tree.” Jay said, walking through a door to an Inn.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t accept this as money,” the lady behind the counter said as Jay persisted to give the clerk a chunk of gold.

“It has to be worth twenty times what you’re charging!” Jay exclaimed, obviously exasperated. Owens walked over to the counter and placed the money on the counter, saying,

“I’m sorry. My friend is foreign and doesn’t understand how things work in Kitohasu.” Everyone cracked up while Jay knocked out Owens by punching him in the back of the head.

Jay dragged Owens upstairs, saying, “I do know enough that gold is worth more than that.”

Meanwhile, a small boat was pulling into the harbor. There was only one passenger on it, so the sailors helped tie it to the dock. When the men saw the woman climb off of the boat, most of their jaws dropped.

She was about five and three-quarter’s feet tall. She was wearing a dark blue Kimono and was carrying a Kodachi, or a slightly shorter and lighter Katana. Her brown hair was long and tied back with a ribbon. She looked around, seeing the mainland for the first time. When she saw the men, she pulled out a picture and showed it to them, saying, “Do you know this person?” they all shook their heads, and she walked away, thinking, He’s here, I know it.

Jay had settled into his room and was taking his time going to sleep. He had decided that he would try to sleep in the bed and if he couldn’t, he’d head down to the docks. However, he fell asleep quickly, realizing that beds weren’t as comforting, but much softer.

Jay was the last to wake up in the morning. He climbed out of bed, took a bath, got dressed, and then went downstairs. Everyone was about to sit down for breakfast, and Jay joined in.

“Thought you died,” Owens said between bites, inhaling his eggs and bacon. “

You got a good sleep, Jay. You usually wake up with bags under your eyes,” Zordos said, chewing on a piece of fruit and teleporting another through the bandages wrapped around his face

 “We told you beds are more comfortable,” Mai said, digging into a waffle.

“You're right…for now. When I…we… go to my home and show you all my grandpa’s tree, you’ll see what I mean,” Jay said, filling his plate, “Trees have a calming force with them that helps me go to sleep. That and they have a presence that makes me feel safe, unlike a normal bed.”

“Very deep, Jay. But then again, very cheap, when it comes down to money,” Zordos said, sending everyone, even Jay, into laughter.

Everyone had decided that it was time for a break in their adventure, so they all went their separate ways to explore the city. Mai and Zordos went shopping for supplies, Owens went to church and a swords school to help charitably, and Jay decided to just take a walk and explore. I’ve needed a day or two off for a bit, Jay thought, I need to rest, relax, and forget my problems for a while. Jay walked through the market, seeing many interesting trinkets. He stopped at a vendor who was selling gems, which had caught his eye. He was looking at a small dragon made of sapphire wrapped around a silver katana. Jay placed the gem back and asked, “Where did you get these?”

“Well, apparently a few years ago someone came to Kitohasu from a far off island. He sold quite a bit of gems and whatnot, such as that pendant, and I happened to get my hands on some of it. The rarest one is this one,” he said, taking out a pendant. It was a red dragon wrapped around a live lightning bolt, surrounded by a red, spherical force field. Jay’s eye’s widened and he began to say something, but another trinket caught his eye. It was a silver ring. It had a thin band and had a small sapphire embedded in it.

“That belongs to me, sir,” Jay said, pointing to the ring.

“The guy who sold the gems to me told me that someone would eventually come for that one. Take it. It matches that sword of yours anyway. It’s obviously yours,” The merchant said. Jay slipped the ring on, feeling the power in his old ring coming back.

“You have an eye for gems, buddy. A girl was just looking at that. Maybe you know her?” the merchant asked, motioning to a woman about 80 feet down the pier. It was the woman from before, and Jay appeared slightly surprised when he saw her. “Excuse me, but I have to go,” Jay said, dropping the nugget on the counter and walking away.

The Girl was sitting down on a bench, looking at an old picture from before. It had the same boy on it. The boy was around twelve years old, and was wearing a dark green Gi and a white headband.

“It’s been a long time, you know,” Jay said, standing behind the bench.

“That’s it!!” The girl yelled, standing up and whirling around, “I am sick of you men coming up and…” But trailed off as she saw Jay.

“Far too long, Lyn,” Jay continued, making a sideways smile. Jay stepped over the bench and the two friends embraced, forgetting the pains of those long seven years.

“I was so scared, Jay,” Lyn said, dropping the old picture, “You were gone for so long, I thought you were…”

“Heh…you don’t have much faith in me, do you?” Jay said, still smirking.

Lyn smiled, “Not in the least.”

“Hahaha! I never thought of you as a ladies man, Jay!!!” Owens laughed clearly embarrassing the old friends. While Jay proceeded to bash in Owens’s head, Zordos and Mai walked over to see Jay’s new companion.

“So you’re the famous Lyn,” Mai said, watching Owens and Jay fight.

“You seem to be a better person than what Jay’s led us to think,” Zordos said, prying the two manic allies apart.

“It has been a long time, Zordos,” Jay said, brushing himself off, “and as I, and you, probably, recall, one of the last memories I have of Lyn is a big bruise in a tree.”

“Hmm…” Zordos said, diving into a pool of memories, “…Actually, Jay, you deserved that.”

“Von Dagga,” Jay said, lining his three friends up, “Lyn, this is Mai, Zordos, and Owens.”

“I’m pleased to meet you,” Lyn said, exchanging greetings with the three. The five headed to the inn, hoping to place six year’s worth of puzzle pieces together. Jay and Lyn fell asleep in their chairs, succumbing to the warm fire and the late night.

Jay woke early, and he headed towards the docks, hoping to find the merchant from yesterday.

“I want to know anything you know about the man who sold you this,” Jay said, holding up the Sapphire dragon.

“All I can really tell you is what he looked like,” The Merchant began, “He had white hair and a blood red Gi. He had a sword much like yours, but it was red and black instead of blue and silver. Oh, yes, and the hilt was shaped like yours, except two snakes instead.” The merchant leaned in closer to Jay and said quietly, “I didn’t tell you this, but the guy’s supposed to be working for Stefan Angeles.”

Jay placed down a piece of gold, saying, “You’ve really helped me, Sir. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You already have, my boy. You gave me some gold and a reason to hold onto some of these gems. After all, it sounds like these all belonged to someone besides him,” The merchant said. Jay walked off, heading back to the Inn.

Everyone had woken up when Jay got back. He sat down, scratching his head. “Where were you, Jay?” asked Owens, chin in hand, “Do you like to miss breakfast?”

“I saw something that caught my eye and I wanted to check it out,” Jay said, picking up a green apple and taking out a big bite. His face scrunched at the pure sour taste of the apple, and everyone got a short laugh.

“What do you mean, something caught your eye?” Zordos asked.

“Yeah, you couldn’t be vaguer,” Mai said, leaning over the table. Jay turned to Lyn, face serious and locked.

“Lyn,” Jay began, voice in the locked tone he had after battle, “After I left the island, did anyone else leave? And if so, did they take and gems or anything of the sort?”

“Hmm…” Lyn began, thinking hard, “I remember someone go missing, but no one leaving. He was the one with the white hair who dressed in black and red.”

“Joshiro,” Jay muttered, clenching his fist.

“Hmm?” Owens asked, “Who’s this ‘Joshiro’ guy?”

“He was my counterpart, in a sense,” Jay began, thinking, “He apparently came over here with gems, probably trying to make some money.”

“What does this have to do with us?” Zordos asked.

“Nothing. For now at least,” Jay said, heading outside, “I’m going to the swords school to think.”

Jay entered the sword dojo, sitting down in the corner and watching the students. “They’re not too bad,” Jay said, watching the students spar.

“Most of them aren’t too serious about it, though,” The sensei said, sitting down next to Jay. He was old, but looked strong. He had a beard and mustache, and was wearing a white Gi with the name of the dojo sewn in.

“Most of them only come to see her fight,” He said as he motioned towards a girl. She was in normal sparring armor and was using a wooden sword.

“Heh… ‘Even a man bends over to see a beautiful rose’ so the saying goes,” Jay said, looking sideways at the Sensei.

“Heh…true, but I wish I had more than ten true students,” The sensei began, standing up, “Perhaps you could show these children what a swordsman is really capable of. Who knows, maybe you will inspire this mangy bunch?”

“Alright,” Jay replied with a sideways smile, “but I’m warning you, I’m not as weak as I may look.”

“I have no doubt in the legendary ‘Crazy Jay,’” the sensei said, picking a sword from the weapons rack.

“You know who I am?” Jay asked, taking a sword as well. He figured his sword would shred apart ones on the rack.

“It doesn’t matter,” The sensei said, “You seem to be decent enough.” They both let out a chuckle as they took the floor and the students sat down to watch. Jay drew the sword and inspected the blade.

“This is very good metal,” Jay said, flipping the blade over.

“You picked the worst one in the rack,” the sensei said, taking the blade and putting it back. Jay drew his sword, and the fight began.

Jay was amazed at the old man’s speed and strength. His style is very distinct and much different from mine, but his power matches my own! Jay thought, blocking the many blows. Jay and the sensei exchanged blows for a minute, and then Jay began stabbing. No matter what, neither could seem to land a blow.  Both of them truly put their souls into the battle. The students watched in pure awe that such power existed. “I can’t believe how powerful they are,” the girl samurai whispered.  Then, both of the warriors clashed.

Both of the warrior’s swords went flying into the air.

At first, the two looked as if they would fight with their fists, but they both bowed to each other and went to pick up their blades. Jay smiled, saying, “I feel bad for anyone who thinks they can take you on one-on-one.”

“Well,” the sensei began, brushing his Gi off, “I’m probably not as good as I used to be.” The sensei turned to the students. “Now you all understand what a swordsman truly is. A swordsman is Honor, Justice, and Truth. He knows when he is beaten, but doesn’t ever give up. He can defeat any opponent, but won’t take it to an extreme. He has much power, but does not flaunt it. That is the true meaning of swordsmanship,” He sat down and motioned two students to the sparring circle. “Let’s see if you learned anything today. Begin!” He exclaimed.

“I don’t believe I know your name, sensei,” Jay said, sitting down.

“Maekawa,” the old man said, offering his hand.

“Hello, Sensei Maekawa,” Jay said, shaking his hand.

Jay watched the students fight for a few hours and then went to the town square. He saw his allies running towards the square. He ran over, asking, “What’s going on?”

“Someone’s being held hostage in the town plaza!” Lyn exclaimed, speeding up with Jay.

…Could Joshiro be doing this…? Jay thought as he pushed through the crowd to be just behind three people at the edge of the circle.

In the center was a Werefox. She was wearing a Shinobi suit and had two tanto strapped to her waists. She was holding two tri-blade Katars and had a young girl tied to a tree.

“Tell me where Crazy Jay is or I will kill her!” The Werefox yelled at the crowd, placing a katar just under the girl’s neck. Jay immediately recognized the girl as the samurai from the dojo, and leapt through the crowd and landed twenty feet from the Werefox.

“Let her go, or I will treat you to a living hell,” Jay said through gritted teeth as he drew his Katana.

“Fine,” The Werefox said, slicing the ropes and kicking the girl to the side, walking forward, “I just wanted to draw you out. We will fight over there.” The Werefox motioned towards a large field with a few boulders rising above the tall grass.

“Shall we get going, then?” Jay asked, giving the Werefox a death glare that would scare anyone else besides a cold killer.  The Werefox shivered for a moment, but kept her composure as she walked towards the field.

The two had moved to the field, neither speaking a single word. Many of the townsfolk had gathered at the outside of the field, including Sensei Maekawa and his students.

“You can read her strength, can’t you Jay?” Maekawa said, staring at the Werefox.

“Yes, I can,” Jay said, drawing his sword, “She has a strange aura. Normally an aura has a focal point, but hers…it’s just…everywhere. No focal point at all. This could be bad…” Jay trailed off, looking at Maekawa.

“Just try to keep your eye on her, and not her afterimage,” Maekawa said, patting Jay on the shoulder, “Shinobi are trained for speed, after all. The strange aura, most likely, helps her disappear even more.”

Jay nodded and headed out into the field. “Are you ready?” He asked, gripping the sword tight.

“I’m always ready to kill my targets. It’s just if they’re ready to accept death,” She said, disappearing. Jay spun around and blocked the tanto that came flying at him. He snapped it in half due to the speed it came at him.

The Werefox continued to fly, appearing on the boulders only. She would throw a flurry of metal needles at him, and he would block them all. She sped up the tempo, making the needles come from all sides. Jay sped up as well, making the needles fly back. Jay began to notice that the needles weren’t sitting in the grass, but rather, the Shinobi was picking them up as she passed. Jay decided he had to strike now, or fail.

He began to destroy the rocks.

One by one, Jay crashed into a boulder and shattered it with a powerful slash, narrowing down the places the Shinobi could hide. Eventually, there was only one rock left, and it was too far away for the Werefox to make use of it.

In this part of the field, the grass was up to his waist, which he realized could hide anything. He slashed the grass down with a spinning attack, making a twenty-foot circle. He ran around the outside of the circle, making it forty. Strangely, the Werefox had stopped the attack, and threw no needles. Where is she? Jay thought, looking around. Suddenly, he saw a thin line of grass level itself. It circled around Jay, creating a ring that surrounded his circle. It was sixty feet across, meaning the Werefox had at least twenty feet of maneuverability.

The Werefox struck at Jay.

Jay blocked the Katar, the two pushing each other’s blades at each other.

“Why are you doing this?” Jay asked, slashing at the Werefox.

“I can’t tell you that until you defeat me, or I kill you,” The Werefox replied, dodging the strike and stabbing several times at Jay.

“Then I’ll just have to beat you,” Jay exclaimed, slicing a slit into the Shinobi’s hood. She saw the slit, running from above her eye to her nose. He didn’t hit me on purpose!!! The Werefox realized, snarling.

“Not even you will get away with insulting me like that!” The Werefox yelled, cutting a deep wound into Jay’s right side.

“Ghaaha…” Jay let the sound escape him as he bent over in pain. He wrapped his left arm around his stomach, covering the deep gash with his hand, while he gripped the sword with his right.

“I’ll kill you where you stand, but it’ll be slowly!” The Werefox yelled, circling around Jay and unleashing painful, but shallow cuts. Few actually bled, but a powder in the wounds made them hurt worse than mortal wounds. Jay took the blows, barely able to move in his state. The pain wasn’t getting to him, but he knew that he would lose too much blood if he struck back. He continued to take the blows until Jay heard a clanging blow. He whirled around to see where the noise came from.

Lyn was standing behind Jay, holding up her Kodachi to stop the blow. “If Jay can’t fight, then I will for him!” Lyn exclaimed, “All you’re doing is torturing him, and he gave you a chance to back down!”

The Werefox kicked Lyn aside and placed her boot on her stomach, holding her down. “No one gets in the way of my job!” The Werefox yelled, slicing the Katars down.

Jay blocked the blow and sent the Katars flying.

Jay lifted the sword to the Werefox’s neck, saying, “You are defeated. Swearing on your family and friends, you will stay on your knees and not move.”

“Tch…fine,” The Werefox said, getting off of Lyn and sitting on her knees.

Jay helped Lyn up, saying, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I saved your life, so be grateful,” Lyn said, smiling.

Jay turned to the Werefox, saying, “So what are your terms?” The Werefox threw the paper at Jay, obviously angered that she had failed.

“Hmm…” Jay said, reading the paper with Lyn. They looked at the paper and smirked at each other.

“Werefox, I order you to serve me, Lyn, Owens, Zordos, and Mai,” Jay said, motioning to his group, “You will also never take up this contract again.”

“Are you kidding me!? I can’t just…” but the Werefox was interrupted by Jay, who said with a quiet, hard voice, “This contract is evil. Definite, but evil. Under my orders, you will follow this last contract only, but never write another.” Jay smiled, and then fell to the ground. The group then saw the puddle of blood and rushed to Jay.

Jay woke up two days later. He was in his room at the inn, and was bandaged up. The sun was shining through the window, and he could see there were only a few, fluffy white clouds in the sky. He tried to move, but his arm was in a sling and it was tough to get up. When he finally did, he simply sat up in the bed. He was the only person in the room, so he looked about. On his bedside table was a bowl of fruit and many ‘get well soon’ cards from the townsfolk. He chewed on a melon as he read the cards.

The Werefox walked in, head hung low. She was wearing a long robe that almost touched the ground. “I…I’m sorry, Jay,” she said, her eyes overflowing with guilt, “I didn’t know…that you were… that you had…”

“Not too many people do,” Jay said, patting her shoulder. A question came to his mind, and he asked, “By the way, what’s your name?”

“Rayne,” She replied.

“Good to have you in our motley crew, Rayne,” Jay said, smiling.

Rayne smiled back, saying, “Glad to be part of it, captain.” And they both laughed.

Jay recovered quickly, with help from the local acolytes and a few bowls of fruit. Once he recovered, he began to talk with Sensei Maekawa. They talked about many things. The weather, the times, but most of all, swordsmanship. They discussed techniques, styles, and all other areas of the art. Then, finally, Jay decided it was time to go.

“Jay, are you sure you can handle Stefan alone?” Maekawa asked, offering his hand.

“There’s no such thing as alone, Sensei,” Jay began, motioning to his group while he took Maekawa’s hand, “If there was such a thing as alone, then it belongs to the gods. I have many allies,” He then motioned to the crowd to see him off, then too Maekawa, “Besides, I’m confident in my friends.”

“Then if you lose, Jay, I’m going to give you a whipping for being cocky,” Maekawa said, laughing.

“Fine, but you won’t get at my backside!” He replied, laughing as well.

I can’t afford to lose, Jay thought later that night in the woods, watching a sinking fire, If I do lose, hundreds of people will never be avenged. He laid down, and fell to sleep.

.  .  .

Stefan looked at his arm again, slightly annoyed. “Messenger Boy!” He yelled, snapping his armor back on, “Is Francesca ready yet?”

A young man in light armor ran in, saying, “General, the Francesca will be ready in about two days.”

“Be off then,” Stefan replied.

“Sir.”

Good, it’ll be ready, Stefan thought, smiling, Even if Jay comes, I’ll still beat him…with Francesca, and I’ll be unstoppable…especially with my other weapon…