Revenge of the Ronin
You take your bow, and aim very carefully for a horseman chasing down a woman and her children. Once the bowstring is quivering in tension, you release the arrow. It speeds through the air, like a fish through water, and buries itself in the neck of the man. He falls from his horse, sprawling in the dirt. The woman looks up at you with an expression of gratitude before herding her children into a nearby house.
The bandits look up at you on the hill, in anger and terror.
"Samurai!" one of them says.
"No, you fool!" says a man who is clearly the leader, "That is a Ronin. A Ronin has no honour!"
Angered, you release another arrow, killing the man standing next to the leader. It is a clear challenge to the man, but he knows he cannot defeat you. Infuriated, he calls to his men to retreat from their attack on the village. As the men retreat, you loose two more arrows, taking down two more bandits.
Before he leaves, the leader turns to you on his horse.
"Ronin!" he addresses you, angrily, "Your meddlesome ways have earned you some honour, but in this, you have made a very powerful foe of me, the Hired Sword. We shall meet again, Ronin, and on that day, only one of us shall walk away alive."
His threat hanging in the air, the leader turns and gallops for the nearby forest. You think about what he said, and realease with shock that this man is also a Ronin, if he is hiring out his skills to those who can pay the most. Interesting then that he should say you have no honour. It appears that you have found yourself a rival.
You wonder who he was working for. Perhaps you should ask the villagers, or maybe just continue on your way.
What will you do?
The bandits look up at you on the hill, in anger and terror.
"Samurai!" one of them says.
"No, you fool!" says a man who is clearly the leader, "That is a Ronin. A Ronin has no honour!"
Angered, you release another arrow, killing the man standing next to the leader. It is a clear challenge to the man, but he knows he cannot defeat you. Infuriated, he calls to his men to retreat from their attack on the village. As the men retreat, you loose two more arrows, taking down two more bandits.
Before he leaves, the leader turns to you on his horse.
"Ronin!" he addresses you, angrily, "Your meddlesome ways have earned you some honour, but in this, you have made a very powerful foe of me, the Hired Sword. We shall meet again, Ronin, and on that day, only one of us shall walk away alive."
His threat hanging in the air, the leader turns and gallops for the nearby forest. You think about what he said, and realease with shock that this man is also a Ronin, if he is hiring out his skills to those who can pay the most. Interesting then that he should say you have no honour. It appears that you have found yourself a rival.
You wonder who he was working for. Perhaps you should ask the villagers, or maybe just continue on your way.
What will you do?