A sword through the earth [Communist Fluffy x Karameida]

[Karameida]

Hitomi

​

The light flickered weakly inside the crowded bar and heavy clouds of smoke drifted through the building obscuring everything inside the grimy bar, the smell of cheap alcohol and sweat was so heavy you could almost taste it coating your tongue. Voices murmured lowly throughout the place with the occasional burst of laughter from some corner. Sitting at a table alone sat a woman who looked as if she might've belonged to the red light district. She sat back in a relaxed position, one arm folded under her chest and the other holding onto her kiseru, smoke drifting from her mouth and mixing with what was already circulating. The ornaments in her hair, glinted in the dull light and tingling ever so slightly when she moved.

Her eyes lazily drifted over the faces of the patrons seeking out the one that she was to be meeting with and wondered if the ronin she had sent word to would make it.

The womans name was Hitomi and though she could be mistaken for a geisha she was in actuality a spy and very good at her work however, she belonged to no organization, group, had no loyalties or ties with anyone and answered to no one. She chose assignments based on difficulty as well as and more importantly, how much money she would make from it. She thought over the events that had brought her here now; her last assignment she had over-heard something she had not expected, the information was far more valuable than what she had been offered and so had opted against giving the information up to her client. She considered once more, what she was doing and looked over her plan one more time, assuring herself this was the best course she let out a small breath. Rolling her shoulders, she shook her head slightly and placed the mouth piece of the Kiseru between her slightly parted lips and inhaled, the embers in the bowl burning brightly as she did so.

 

[Vailed In Black]

Aiko traveled the lands of Japan as she had fought her way through hordes of enemies for some Yen in her pocket. Though what she craved was power and that is why she hired a very good spy to check up on things as she knew about two groups on the whipseres of people's mouths. Though of course she couldn't confirm the groups as she was just an broken down samurai turned rouin so she couldn't actually get any credible information. It was very odd for a woman to apply her trade in the blade in her home country that is dominated by males that facy the blade and themselves as tough guys. She had take take down a lot of ment that thought themselves like this. Though not master of any art she was proficient in many. As she lazily walked into the captial of her homeland she lazily stared at the shop keepers, the other watresses at tea houses and the like. Meanwhile she got stares back, sure women were mostly doing the work like shrines or tea houses but she didn't care. That is till her walk was delayed as she stopped seeing a few men holding out their katana's like they wanted to fight as she had a hand on her hilt.

"Why is a woman doing this work? You know the last woman we fought? She lost and ended up pleasing us! You want that same kind of treatement bitch?! Put that cute sword away and actually go work at a tea house or one of the shrines and pray to the many gods you may see today!" The man in a roughly put on Yukata yelled at her as the others didn't say anything but they enforced that they were there to basically put the pain on her as she only smirked. "You all obviously don't know how to handle a woman, nor a warrior either...I guess I will have to put the two gether and handle you myself." She said as she slowly unsheathed her blade which was a tad longer than a traditional katana but not as long as DieKatana as she held out in a very popular and defensive stance. She could easily go to town on these thugs but it was easier to make them look like fools if they lived. That is a big might if they did live as she eyed the middle one which looked twitchy compared to the other two. Shocked by this specticle a big crowd began to form around them as the thugs looked at the onlookers with distain while Aiko dodn't even bother looking at them. This only spurred on the crowd to cheer for the lone swordswoman as she faced down some lowly thugs ran by some probably bigger thug in this part of Kyoto.

The battle was quick almost too quick as they thugs charged all at once as Aiko side stepped the middle she parried the left and then side stepped the right. One by one she did simple attacks that didn't kill them but would make it to where they were useless fighters. She cut places on their arms that would cripple them for life as she moved through the thugs dancing like a deadly dancer she managed to cut every thug in a way that not a drop of blood got on her but it was flowing down their arms. As they all screamed dropping their swords the middle one looked up at Aiko as she glared, "You wanted to have 'fun' with me right? You lowly creature? Well I think..." She looked at her blade as it glinted in the sunlight as she then took it with lighting fast percision and cut the man's head off making it fly off rolling down a second of the road as his body crumbled to the side bleeding as she looked at the others. "You share this man's belief that you should have your way with me? That I am not any worth a warrior than you lowly creatures?" She asked her voice hard and cold as the others just shook their heads filled with pain at their newest disabilities and ending of careers as thugs. "Good I hate to waste my time with you miscreaents get out of here...or I will behead you all next." She said her voice lined like the edge of a blade as the other two ran off in fright despite their wounds.

One quick movement she sheathed her blade as the onlookers clapped due to her performance some of them even wanted to say hello to her but she shooed them away casually. She didn't have time for this nonsense! She was here to hunt for something anything that could help her achieve power beyond any man in this country holds. To command armies like the men that stand behind them! Like Nobunaga or Tokugawa! Though without a clan, or any kind of blood line she was short out of luck in anyway of achieving any status. This weighed heavily on her as she walked through the city, it was bustling and annoying, people came to and fro as she avoided most of the measily till she found the Tea house that she was supposed to meet her informant in that she had spent great deal of Yen to get. When she entered the smokey room a lot of the occupants stopped and stared at her as she ignored them all looking around. The person was a geisha or had that image of a geisha as she kept looking around. Sad thing is that there were several geishas around but only one seemed to be enjoying a smoke. With intiuition she slowly approached the woman. Though instead of talking Aiko just sat next to her noticing that the woman would spot her as she was the most interesting person in the tea house she looked at the bar tender as he nodded. "What will it be today?" He asked as she looked down, "Some Sake please...." She said her voice was hard as the man blinked nodding slightly, "O-of course I will be back with your cup and bottle..." he said rushing away as she just nodded, slowly her eyes moved to the Geisha, "Are you Hitomi? In the missive? Said you had something for me?" She asked as she kept her voice level doing a lazy pose to show that she had nothing really special going on besides talking to her informant.

 

[Karameida]

Hitomi​

Some time later Hitomi's gaze was drawn to the entrance of the building as a newcomer arrived. The spy could tell the new arrival had not simply wandered in here by chance, she was looking for someone specifically. The elegant woman had not actually met with the person she'd sent the note too, just knew that the person was a Female Ronin named Aiko. From the look of things, she guessed that the woman who had just entered was the Aiko she was waiting for, she sat and watched as the swordswomans gaze swept over the occupants as she searched, her gaze eventually falling on Hitomi herself. The female Ronin was hard to miss as she commanded attention, the other occupants looking at her with different expressions on their faces as she stood there. There were times when it benefited Hitomi to command attention but for the most part, spies worked better when they went unnoticed and its what she preferred. After a moment, the Ronin made her way through the building and towards her, coming to sit next to her.

Hitomi merely took another drag from her Kiseru as she nodded slightly to her new companion as the mysterious swordswoman ordered something. She watched the man scurry away from them to grab Aiko's sake. At Aiko's question she nodded her head slightly, a little smile on her lips as she blew the smoke out. "I am, you must be Aiko then." she said, her voice both soft and coy as she spoke.

"Hmmm; simply put, I recently came upon some...information I believe you will find rather invaluable." she eventually said, keeping her voice low and even as she tapped her Kiseru out. "The information was worth more than I was being offered but...is also fairly useless to me." she said, finally turning to look at the woman she had sent the missive too. She paused and waited while the bar tender returned to serve the Ronin her sake before asking if he could do anything else to which the two women shook their heads 'no' in response, the man nodding and scurrying away once more. "Before I give you this information, we should discuss terms. I don't want any money for this." she said rather bluntly. "I would like to form a kind of partnership, instead." she continued as she filled her Kiseru once more.

"In exchange, I can guide you to a 'power that helps one to command and conquer'." She said, quoting some of what she had over heard before she took a drag from the elegantly crafted pipe, the embers briefly lighting up part of her face.

 

[Vailed In Black]

Aiko nodded as the man came with her Sake, taking a cup she poured some sipping it listening to the woman. "Oh, you do?", Aiko responded dully though it had an edge to it as she never really let her guard down. As Hitomi continued to explain that this information was way more than what she was paid for Aiko looked a little annoyed, however, once the rest of the statement left Hitomi's mouth Aiko returned to an impassive stare. That is when she heard it "partnership" which threw her for a loop, nobody man or woman would want to team up with her let alone go after something so big just to be there and not expect something. As she wound down from her whole explanation Aiko had already downed several cups of Sake putting them on the bar her hard eyes moved till they rested on Hitomi. "So you expect me to just assume you wish to have a partnership? Not that you want to be a very rich woman after this is all over or sell me to some Dynamo for what we are searching for?" Aiko explained as she was very untrusting of people around her, considering most were out for themselves or they wanted to have a piece of her, herself.