Quicksand is not nearly as dangerous as it's usually made out to be. If a person falls into it, the more he or she struggles the deeper down they'll sink. If one keeps calm, however, buoyancy will take over and keep one from sinking. Keeping perfectly still, and with a level head, one can keep from perishing in the soupy mess. Unfortunately, no one ever thought to explain to Priss Asagiri how quicksand worked. Her heart was racing and her eyes bulged in terror as she struggled to try to reach solid ground. The wet sand and clay was seeping through her armor and underlying clothes, covering her skin with goosebumps. She was now in the goop up to her chest, her sword was out of reach, and her love was in danger. What was worse, though, was the cold. Priss' teeth were now chattering as the rain and the quicksand she was sinking in (which was a chilly fifty-six degrees Fahrenheit) began to work together to bring her core body temperature down. She was scared and she was shivering, and if she didn't get out and get someplace warm very quickly she was in danger of slipping into hypothermia. Of course, chances were she'd die from drowning in the quicksand long before the cold got her. As she watched on helpless, both Galatia and Linna began attacking each other with two-handed fighting styles. Galatia came at Linna hard; Linna became soft, redirecting blows and strikes as she lithely spun her body and blades around in a deadly dance. Galatia's face lit up. Finally, a worthy opponent. The nun was obviously holding back during their first encounter, perhaps because she only had one sword on that occasion. Adapting her style to the green Knight Saber's, she likewise took on a softer martial arts form. Linna, matching her block for block, began to notice something; Galatia was obviously out of her element fighting in this form. Her movements were forced, whereas Linna's training as a dancer allowed her to move with natural ease. For her part, the betsushikime mused with a bit of irony that the woman in front of her, whom she'd observed from her telescope acting much more womanly that her partner, was actually the more skilled fighter of the two. She pulled back a bit and studied her opponent. "You're not bad, nun." Galatia spat out, "Do you suppose you're good enough to save Priss over there?" Linna understood what Galatia was trying to do. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted or look away from her opponent. If she did, both she and Priss were done for, to say nothing of Nene who was somewhere nearby. All around them the rain continued to fall, with no signs of letting up. "Hey Priss!" Galatia called over as another lightning bolt lit up the sky, "How are you holding up over there?" "Urgh... G... Go to hell!" Priss yelled over. Galatia began to laugh. "Save me a spot, dear. It looks like you'll be arriving there first." Linna's heart began to race. She could hear the shivering in Priss' voice. She desperately needed to get to her love, but couldn't until she defeated the monster in front of her. Coming at Galatia once again, she raised her right arm above her head to bring it down on the assassin as she began to swing her left arm from the side. Galatia surprised her by suddenly switching back to her normal hard style of fighting. She blocked the downward swing with her scabbard as she used her sword to block the side attack. Her arms thus held open, Linna's center was defenseless. Galatia kicked her hard in the abdomen, causing her to double over. She then shifted her weight, pulling her scabbard away from the sword Linna held with her right hand and bringing it down on her left wrist, causing her to drop the sword in her left hand. Trying to back up in order to get some distance, she fell backwards as she tripped over a root sticking up out of the ground. Galatia started to close the distance between herself and the green Knight Saber, when she saw the silver figure coming toward her. "Sister." Galatia hissed, "You're early; I wanted to kill you last." "Linna," Sylia called out as she continued forward toward the assassin, "Get Priss out of here, and take her to the wagon." "Sensei, what about Galatia?" Sylia looked over to Linna, her faceplate hiding her angry features and narrowed eyes. "She's mine." she growled in an almost animalistic tone. ------ Colonel Roland, better able to hold his drinking than the other three men he'd come here with, watch the murderous group surrounding them with wary eyes. Cautiously asking around, he'd figured out who the third group separate from the ronin and yakuza were; they were fallen daimyo. No doubt they were looking forward to the demise of Meiji and the ascension of Kiyoshi to the Imperial throne as a means of re-acquiring their lost prestige and power. Chief Toodou stumbled over, along with Daley who was trying to hold the large man up. "Wh... What do weee d... do now, Daley?" Toodou slurred out. "I was kind of wondering that myself." Roland admitted. "By the way, where's Captain McNichol?" "He's ooo... over there sleeping it off under... under that tree." Daley answered. The leader of the group they'd infiltrated now stood in the center of the group and raised his hands. "Everyone, listen." he commanded. "Ishikawa and Takeuchi from the scouting party we'd sent out three days ago have just returned." Addressing the two rather rough-looking men, "What have you found?" "We saw a place with food and guns up ahead, about a day's ride. We know about the guns for certain since we observed the occupants hunting with then. Ain't that right, Ishikawa?" "Yeah. There's three of them staying in a log cabin. Gaijin. One's a kid in his teens, one's some crazy European who dresses like a native..." at that all in the group listening started to laugh. The leader motioned for all to be quiet, and signaled for the man to continue "And finally there's an older gaijin with a mustache." "How large is the cabin?" the leader asked. "Large enough." The first scout answered. "Right. Grab some sake, boys. Tomorrow we set out for our new base of operations. After we kill the gaijin, we'll take their weapons and head forward. Some will stay behind in the cabin in case the Knight Sabers and the Emperor get by us. Death to the Emperor!" "Death to the Emperor!" all shouted. "Death to the Knight Sabers!" "Death to the Knight Sabers!" all once again thundered back. Colonel Roland grabbed Daley and Toodou and pulled them aside. "Drink no more sake." he said, "We're leaving tonight. And try to get Leon sober enough to ride a horse." ------ Nene had found a rock that looked like it might be sharp enough, and began to try cutting away at the cords around her hands. The fact that she couldn't see what she was doing, and that Galatia had apparently chosen to use leather straps instead of rope to bind her hands, were all factors working against her. Realizing the stone wasn't doing any good, she let it go as despair set in. Sylia was the best fighter of any of them, and Galatia had defeated her. Linna had tried to take her on, and had been flattened. Nene knew she was no match for the betsushikime. And Priss? Even Priss would probably be unable to defeat the monster. She was going to kill them all. And then she was going to come back in this cave and rape her. And then she'd most likely kill her too after she was done with her. Tears streamed down her face as she realized she would never see Mackey again, or get the chance to say goodbye. Suddenly, she heard movement outside the cave entrance. Her heart beat furiously as terror gripped her very being. 'Oh God, oh no, oh God, oh Theotokos (Russian Orthodox title for Mary), oh...' "Nene?" a familiar voice called out, "I say, Nene, are you in there?" Nene looked to the entrance in bewilderment. 'Meiji?' She began making as much noise as she could, thrashing around and screaming through the gag. The Emperor rushed in, pistol in hand, to see what the noise was. Appalled by what he saw, he went to where she was lying on the ground and immediately began working on untying her. Her hands finally free, she pulled the handkerchief off her mouth and clutched onto her rescuer, crying upon the Imperial Ruler's shoulder. ------ Linna quickly ran to a nearby tree and used her dotanuki to hack off a tree limb. She then rushed over to the edge of the quicksand pit and held the branch out to her love. Priss was not doing well. She was just starting to enter the first stages of hypothermia. Her muscles had begun to tense up, and beneath her armor and the wet goop she was in her skin was beginning to take on a waxy pallor. She felt fatigue creeping in as the quicksand slowly rose to the top of her chest. Forcing herself to move, she grabbed at the limb offered her. As Linna began to pull, however, Priss lost her grip, sinking once again into the frigid quicksand. Meanwhile, Galatia was watching Sylia with amusement, moving around in her armor that she'd already damaged in their last altercation. The leader of the Knight Sabers was trying her best to hide it, but she was still limping from the thigh injury Galatia had inflicted on her earlier. She began to once again twirl her scabbard like a baton in a parade. She stopped though, when she noticed the stance Sylia was adopting. There was a move sensei Raven had showed her that few if any other students had ever been given the opportunity to learn. It was a move so secret, it did not even appear in the scrolls Galatia had stolen. Raven had explained that, while other schools also taught the technique, he was personally aware of only one other person actually using it in combat, a samurai with a scar on his cheek who had disappeared near the end of the Boshin War. As Galatia watched, Sylia pulled her sword, still within its scabbard, out of her sash. She crouched down with her right leg bent forward, her scabbard held in her left hand with the sword's handle facing forward, and her right hand poised to draw the sword. The scabbard was held in such a way that the edge of the sword would be facing up as it was drawn. "Hmmm... Interesting..." Galatia quipped, "Something the old man taught you?" Sylia didn't answer. She concentrated on calming her breathing and heartbeat. "Let's see how effective it is!" Galatia yelled as she ran toward her. Once she was within range, Sylia suddenly leaped at her foe, pressing the edge of her blade against the inside of the sheath as she drew the sword. The pressure exerted on the blade caused the swing's speed to increase by three times its normal rate. As they both came to a stop, Sylia turned around to face Galatia again. The look of surprise on the betsushikime's face was priceless. She looked down to see her scabbard, which she'd been using the whole time as a shield, sliced in half, and blood slowly trickling out of a thin red line cut into her upper chest. She looked up at the silver Knight Saber in rage. "You dare..." She shrieked, before tossing the remnants of her sheath aside and going once again at her former sister from the dojo. ------ The sky had begun to turn overcast as dark clouds started to roll in over the horizon. Mackie Stingray let out a frustrated sigh. He was hanging clothes to dry on a line, and sure enough rain looked imminent. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Henderson smiling at him. "Master Mackie, I wouldn't set the clothes to dry out here if I were you. Come on, we'll set up something inside the cabin." The young man nodded to him and began to take what he'd already hung up down. He then turned back to his sister's butler. "Where could they be?" he asked. "I don't know." Henderson answered as he joined in, tossing some of the wet clothes into the nearby wicker basket. "You don't... You don't suppose something might've happened to them?" Henderson stopped what he was doing and looked away from Mackie and toward the distant storm. "I try not to think of such things, lad. Your sister is a skilled fighter. And I'm sure Nene and the other two are able to take care of themselves. Now come on." He said, helping Mackie to pick up the basket, "By the time we get these hung, Nigel ought to be done cooking that venison." Mackie took up his side of the basket and they both headed for the cabin. Henderson looked over to Mackie's pensive face, and sighed. "Try not to worry so much, lad." he said. "They'll all be fine, you'll see." ------ Linna was starting to grow desperate as she once again held the tree limb out to her beloved, and once again it slipped out of her grasp. Priss was shivering uncontrollably now, her limbs becoming stiff and movement difficult. The quicksand was up to her shoulders now, and she no longer thought she was going to make it. She looked sadly at the green figure in front of her, and felt the slimy substance she was trapped in ooze up to the base of her neck. Linna tossed the limb aside and removed the sash from around her waist. Tying a loop in one end, she quickly tossed it out to Priss. "Priss!" she screamed, tears now running down her cheeks, "Try to get your hand in the loop, please!" Priss could no longer even talk, her teeth were chattering too hard. With the last bit of strength she had left, she struggled to make her muscles do what her brain was telling them. Finally, as the quicksand reached her chin, she got her hand through the loop. Linna tugged, pulling it tight around her love's wrist. Running the sash around a nearby sapling, she placed her right foot on the small tree for leverage and pulled. "Don't you die on me!" she cried as she dug in her heel, "You promised, Priss. There, in the basement beneath the Silky Doll, you promised you would never leave me. You gave your word, damn it!" As the former Geisha struggled to save Priss life, the battle between Galatia and Sylia was getting ugly. Deprived of her scabbard, the assassin was now just as vulnerable as her opponent. Launching herself at the silver Knight Saber, her sword slashed into Sylia's ribs just as she herself suffered a deep cut to the outside of her right arm. Attacking again, the betsushikime suffered a deep wound to the midsection as her opponent's abdominal wound was re-opened. After a third attack, in which Sylia received a cut that went down to the collarbone and Galatia's right hip was cut open, both women backed off a pace or two. Galatia and Sylia were both bleeding profusely by now; the assassin's corset and dress were in tatters, and the Knight Saber's armor was falling apart. Galatia was furious; this was not how things were supposed have happened. She was supposed to have killed her sister from the dojo and the others by now. Her little one was waiting for her. Cutting herself was one thing; the act gave her a sense of power. Sylia however, with every slash, was taking power away. Sylia. It was her fault. She took herself away from Galatia at the dojo; she didn't want to be her plaything anymore. Then, she ruined her life by turning her in for stealing those damn scrolls. And now, she was taking everything from her. "Look at me, you bitch!" she shouted, standing on unsteady legs and breathing hard, "You'll die for this!" Sylia didn't answer. Instead, she crouched back down into a fighting stance. "Didn't you hear me?" Galatia shrieked, wincing in pain at the wounds inflicted on her, "I'm going to kill you for doing this to me!" Sylia smiled behind her faceplate as she remembered something she'd read in a book about the Indians of North America. "Today's a good day to die." She said. ------ Emperor Meiji continued to do his best to calm the badly shaken young woman who was still clutching onto him. She suddenly pulled back, a frightened look on her face. "The others!" she exclaimed, "Where are the others?" "They're fighting Galatia, Romanova-san. But Sylia's orders were for me to get you out of here, and..." Nene didn't wait for the Emperor to finish. She ran to the cave entrance and gasped at the sight in front of her. As the rain continued to pour, she saw Linna trying to pull Priss out of a quicksand pit while Sylia and Galatia were engaged in a duel to the death. Meiji came over and was likewise dumbfounded by the scene in front of him. He pulled his pistol out to try to take care of Galatia, but quickly lowered it. "I... I can't shoot accurately from this great a distance." he admitted. "I may end up accidentally hitting Stingray-san." "Then here, give it to me." Nene said, taking the gun away him. Sylia was between her and Galatia, forcing the Russian to wait for a clear shot. ------ Both Galatia and Sylia were becoming groggy from blood loss as they continued to stare down one another looking for an opening. "I should've killed you before when I had the chance, sister." Galatia hissed. "Stop calling me..." SNAP Both combatants looked over to their left, where Linna had finally extracted Priss from the quicksand, pulling her love's arm out of socket in the process. Galatia then turned back to Sylia in time to see Nene and Meiji emerge from a cave behind her. Sylia's smile widened as she removed her helmet. "That's right, Galatia." she began, " Linna and Priss will live, the Emperor will return to Tokyo, Nene will escape. But you... You will not leave this swamp alive." "Neither will you, sister!" Sylia raised an eyebrow, "Galatia, do you remember anything of what sensei taught us about bushido? 'The warrior must be prepared to die at any and all times for his cause.' I am prepared to die, you sick bitch. Are you?" Galatia screamed in rage as she flung herself at Sylia. She could feel her blade cut into her opponent's upper arm even as a sharp, intense pain exploded in her abdomen and back. "Oh, and one more thing," Sylia said. Galatia looked down to see Sylia's dotanuki stuck in her chest up to the hilt, the blade exiting through her back. "Don't call me sister." Galatia was shaking all over as she turned around to face Sylia. The leader of the Knight Sabers was unarmed, her only weapon now sticking through the assassin's midsection. As she began to cough up blood, she raised her katana. If she was going to die, she would take Sylia with her. The gunshot blast stopped her. Falling forward to her knees, she turned her head to look behind her. There, holding the smoking gun, was the pretty blond girl she'd fallen for. "L... Little one?" she gasped out sadly before falling to the ground, dead. Sylia limped over to Priss and Linna as Nene and the Emperor began making their way carefully over. Taking the blue Knight Saber's arm, she pushed it hard back into socket, causing the shivering young woman to whimper out in pain. She then removed Priss' helmet. The young woman's skin was starting to turn blue. "Linna," Sylia said, "take Priss to the wagon now. She's still in danger of dying from the cold. Get her out of the armor and underlying clothes as quickly as you can, and cover her with as many blankets and sleeping bags as you can find. Then, strip yourself and get in there with her. Between the blankets and your body heat, we should be able to save her." Linna tearfully picked Priss up and started back for the wagon, carrying her like a groom would carry a bride across the threshold, as Nene and the Emperor came up to Sylia. "Sylia," Nene gasped tearfully as she looked at what Galatia had done to her, " Oh Sylia, I..." "Nene, listen to me; follow Priss and Linna back to the wagon. Grab the black bag with the medical supplies, the Doctor's Handbook, and the small white vial by the tin box in the trunk. Then meet me and the Emperor in the cave." "Um, Sylia, what's in the vial?" Nene asked. "Acid. I'm going to need to cauterize these wounds." Looking down at her painful injuries, "Now I know what it's like to be Priss." She muttered. As Sylia put her arm around Meiji's shoulder for support, she heard Nene call after her. "Sylia, what about the horse? Where are we? How are we going to get to Tokyo now?" Sylia looked back to the youngest Knight Saber. "Nene, let's deal with one calamity at a time, shall we?"
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