She just stared at Taken for a moment, as if she ignored Jade and Kurama entirely. Then her eyes shifted to the ninja.

"I'm fine. Can't say I've been in worse shape before, but this isn't that bad. And you," she said as she turned back to Taken, "I'll fight whoever I went however I want. What you say is meaningless to me."

She quickly turned and walked over to an easy place to sit.

"Oh," she blurted out, "could I get some of that food?"

Those who fight then runaway, live to fight another day!
 

(OOC: Despite what the backmasked messages say in the Soldiers of Light themesong, Sanjuro is not dead. )

Something squirmed within Sanjuro's robes. It wriggled it's way around Sanjuro and up his neck, and finally poked it's head out from his collar. Katsuhiro had been hiding in Sanjuro's clothes since the fight with the monster, had had barely missed being impaled also on the fiend's claws. He had even taken a nap and had a dream about being really hot, but had woken up when the feeling of noclum was over him. Squirrels knew of death as well, as most rodents died on a daily, so knowing of death was a good way to avoid it. Even now, when death was a strange overwhelming feeling.

At this feeling of death, Katsuhiro followed his instinctive urge to escape, to flee, but suddenly as it had came, it was gone. And so he continued his escape, just out of curiosity. As he peeked out side, he saw a strange woman, who was staring intently. But not at Sanjuro, so Katsuhiro followed the Stare. It went to a winged man who stared back, with equal intensity.

And as he stared, a strange beast snarled and attacked the Winged man.

Katsuhiro didn't know what was going on, but realized it was better for all parties involved if Sanjuro was awake, so he immediately set about it. He smacked Sanjuro in the face. Sanjuro scratched his face and kept sleeping. Sanjuro whacked him with his bushy tail. Sanjuro almost sneezed, but didn't. Katsuhiro then tickled Sanjuro's underarm, but Sanjuro's recent sweating made it near impossible.

With all options failed, Katsuhiro had to pull out all the stops. It meant a terrible action had to be done, so terrible it may very well scar him for life. It would possibly open up a gap between him and Sanjuro forever, but it had to be done. Katsuhiro crossed his heart and prayed to the almighty squirrel god, and headed down Sanjuro's body. When it reached the gap twixt the shirt and pants, Katsuhiro dug his way in, then poked his head out for one final gasp of air.

AFter some weird wriggling, Katsuhiro got his target. And bit.

Sanjuro leapt up immediately. "I SANJURO YAMADA, FILLED WITH AN INTENSE AND GRIEVOUS PAIN THAT DOTH UNSEEM ME! I HURT IN THE NO-NO PLACE!" He grabbed his crotch, but fortunately Katsuhiro was already gone to Sanjuro's back, where he left an acorn earlier. He needed something to cleanse his mouth, and it was the closest thing he had.

SAnjuro hopped around in pain, and brushed into Sakiko a bit as he continued to attempt and soothe himself, "YOW YOW YOW! SORRY BUT I HURT!" He managed to breath out as he massaged his area in full view of Sakiko. he kept going as he attempted to make the bad bad pain in his no-no part go away, until he bumped into another person.

He stopped what he was doing and looked up to see Ayako turning around to see him. "Sorry...." Sanjuro suddenly hurt in his groin again at what he saw, but paid it no mind. The two stared at each other, Seemingly forever, until Sanjuro decided to make the first move.

"I, SANJURO YAMADA, AM IN LOVE AGAIN! THANK YOU HAPPY FAIRY!" Sanjuro grabbed her with his body crushing grab and picked her off her feet.

Meanwhile, as Kirakiri came at Pyros, a voice cried out: "PYROS! DUCK!"

Instead of asking "Where?", Pyros ducked and felt a sharp piece of wind go over his head. He turned himself to see Moriko, bow in hand. Pyros looked back at the strange beast that had attacked him while he had been ensnared by that strange woman's eyes. The beast seemed to shift itself in an impossible way, it's very body moving within itself so that the arrow missed completely.

When it landed, Pyros was almost horrified. "What manner of Beast are you?"

Moriko called out again, and Pyros turned to see her. She stood with a strange man armed with a European weapon, and behind them slunk Raze.

"Pyros! We've got to get back to the ship! Come on!" She fired another arrow at Kirakiri, while Paul fired his pistol at the strange Beast attacking Falcon. "Sorry mate, but I don't like to see any brute attacking a woman!"

Pyros took stock of the situation. They had some back up now, but these beastly people were proving difficult. And this was not the time, nor the place for a battle with the wounded. Pyros eyed the wounded. He could see no way to save them. Unless, he were to lead these people away... And it seemed the wounded boy from before was okay.

Pyros knew what to do. "There is too many of them! RUN!" He yelled, hoping that those who were friendly would hear and follow. He flamesweeped away from Kirakiri, and grabbed Falcon. "Forgive me for my brutishness." He leapt away towards Moriko and her friend, and into the forest.

Sanjuro heard the call as he held onto the kicking Ayako, whom he refused to let go. As soon as he heard the commanding voice, Sanjuro didn't see any reason not to follow him. He sure seemed to know what he was doing. "I SANJURO YAMADA, DON"T KNOW WHO YOU ARE BUT AM COMPELLED TO OBEY!"

Sanjuro lifted Ayako over his head, and trotted off after Pyros without question. Moriko and Paul fired into the attacking strangers, (Even shooting at Youji) as they backed up and followed the retreating band.

The group fled back to the ship, shown the way by the very nimble Paul.
And the chase was on...

Koyuki was exhausted. She lay there, slumped against the trunk of a tall sand pine, her torn kimono rippled with her own black, and Chi's slowly evaporating red blood. The flesh of her badly torn arms had the consistancy of a gel-like liquid now, as the demoness sank deep into her regeneration trance. She had lost a great deal of blood, and despite how she loathe being helpless on a battlefield, she would have died if not resorted to this. She slowly slid her right claw through the flesh of her left arm, sloughing out the shards of metal and bits of blood-teeth therin, tossing the bits aside. The arm's skin solidified, and looked more or less good as new. The hole in her abdomen had begun to clot over, and most of the lethal internal damage had been repaired. If anything, Koyuki had managed to stabilize herself, but her short-term regeneration powers quickly reached their limit, after all, it wasn't her forte, merely a skill common to all greater demons.

Rustling sounds could be heard from her dreamlike trance. Someone or something was moving quickly through the forest toward her position. The demoness concentrated on breaking her trance-state, so she could at least have the level of conciousness required to defend herself. She was groggy, and her vision swam, her senses substantially less keen than they were normally, but sharp enough to catch a very fast Sanjuro running past her, Ayako clutched underneath his arm.

"Ack! Koyuki!" Ayako shrieked, still trying to fight Sanjuro's powerful embrace, "H-help me!"

Koyuki growled, though it was more like a drunken growl. She was really in no position to act, but Ayako was in danger, and Ayako was also one of the few people in the world she cared about. Quickly making her way to a crouching position, Koyuki deftly swipes her sword upwards in the direction of Sanjuro, focusing her essence as she did so.

"Dragon Fang!" Koyuki yells, her voice carrying a visible note of pain. A bolt of black energy crackles across the Angetsu Shouten's Blade, and launches toward Sanjuro, passing about a foot behind the young man as he speedily flees his pursuers. The bolt impacts a nearby pine, reacting violently with the living tissue, and burning away at the tree's base. The pine falls, but Sanjuro and Co. fail to notice, or care.

Koyuki groans, having strenously exhausted herself from such exertion after breaking from a regeneration trance, slumped to her knees, and fell unconcious to the side, sprawled across the damp ground.

Falcon had rolled desperately out of the way of Gekido's incoming axe, and was just about to loose another handful of pebbles when the strong hand of Pyros closed around an arm.

Falcon was unceremoniously jerked from the ground and dragged half-stumbling, half-limping, towards the forest. When she tried to put her weight on her numbed leg, it gave way. Falcon was glad at that moment she could rely on the strong force of a man who she'd just met to get away from the offending attackers.

That was when she noticed the ice demoness coming along for the ride as well.

"ACK! Put her down, strange person! Put her down! She's trying to kill me!"

Daggers.

~~

Three daggers, each lying forlorn on the ground, shuddered suddenly and rose upon invisbly strings. They oriented, point first, before flying forward and onward. One struck a tree, swung inexpertly around it, before continuing its otherwise completely straight flight.

~~

Falcon dropped the pebbles as the flying daggers came into view. Just before they impacted her, the daggers flipped again, and dove into Falcon's hands, hilt first.

She kissed one of the hilt fervently and slammed them back into their sheathes on her thong, before being dragged obediently onward.

Taken elected to merely ignore the woman. She would not listen to words, and actions spoke louder, regardless. Besides, he too was injured--though not as severely as she--and he needed food in order to properly take care of himself. When Takin sat next to Yuu, which by association was next to Taken, the mercenary looked up at the old man and spoke, "May I request a few rice balls?"

Takin merely waved Taken off, as that he was busy taking care of the child. "Help yourself, you don't need to ask," he replied along with the motion.

"I thank you for your kindness," the mercenary replied before reaching over and procuring two rice balls for himself. He sat back once more, once he had his food, and began to eat quietly.

Youji was screwed. There was no point in denying it.

In front of him were people trying to kill him. Behind him were people trying to kill him worse.

He had only one way out of this, though he'd definately be pissed if it didn't work.

Quickly sheathing his sword, he rushed ahead as far as he could without being riddled with arrows. Then he threw the blade as hard as he could at Moriko and Paul, before jumping to the side and taking cover behind a tree.

The sword didn't come close to hitting either of them, but then again that wasn't its purpose. As it sailed over Moriko's head, Youji suddenly appeared and took the sheathe in hand. Landing with one knee on the ground facing Moriko's back, Youji stood up and attacked-aiming to disarm her of her bow.

Even if he tried, he doubted that he could catch up to Kurama now. He couldn't get away, not if both of their groups were his enemy, and Sanjuro had run away. However, perhaps he could slow them down, and give Kurama more time. Right now, in his position, that was the only thing he could do.

As Youji attempted to attack Moriko, Raze leapt from the bushes and tackled him into the next pair of bushes, where Raze held a dagger to his neck. "Silence please. Those others are coming and I'd like to eat my meal in peace...Raze readied her wrist for a stab, only to notice something. "Eh? Your soul is stuck to this sword?"

Youji looked into the pale woman's eyes. "...What the hell?" He stared at this strange pale woman, who's dress was ripped from the tackled and her bra readily visible. He could only hope no one saw him now and suspected him of rape....

"Drat! After all this free feeding I was hoping for the pleasure of a kill...it has become imbedded in my instincts..."

Youji frowned. Who were these people, and why was there a crazed woman lying on top of him with a dagger? "DAMMIT, WHY ISN'T THAT OTHER WOMAN COMING TO KILL YOU TOO?!" He whined in frustration. When he grew tired of the knife on his neck, he pushed her off.

Angelita Raze got to her feet. "Drat! Curse this feminine body!"

"..." Youji stared at the crazed woman. "What? What are you?"

"Never you mind that, mortal! If I can't drink your soul, then I've no use for you. That woman was my ally, and I must be after her."

The two suddenlly heard the sounds of the enemy rushing up. "Screw it, I've wasted too much time. If you're not trying to kill me, I'll help you out." Youji said with a sigh, pulling himself up as well.

Raze considered this, and looked back where the enemies were coming. "...Kirakiri? Drat!" She looked back to Youji. "Fine then, if you must. There is a boat leaving shortly, which I must get on immediately. Run swiftly with me and guard me from this body from that...monster, and perhaps you shall get off this island alive."

"Ignore that. Just take this instead." And poof, like a ninja, he disappears into thin air, after handing her the sword. Raze stared where the man had just been. "What? Where the bloody hell.... OH SCREW IT!" Raze held onto the blade and ran through the forest.

Youji became aware of one thing as he was held by Raze. He kept his own presence hidden, but it was most clear that the soul within the crazed woman was not hers. Simply because he himself was in the business of possesion, and knew a fellow artist when he saw one....

-----------------------------------------

Parker smiled. "Ha! My genius once again goes unmatched!" He stood atop the ship's still rising deck. The ship was already half free, and the neighboring trees were cut down to make way for the ship's trajectory.

But there was one snag. Suij ran up the crude rope bridge to the raising platform. "PARKER! WHAt's this I hear of you using all our gunpowder and cannons?"

Parker looked down. "Sorry sir! I should have asked first, but I thought you'd say no!"

Suij shook his fist. "You were right! I do say no!"

"Sorry sir, but with the current height of the ship, we won't make it. So I have to apply some extra force! So by using some hollowd out trees and filling them with gunpowder like a cannon, I can increase how far we go mid-air!" Parker said, unfolding his latest work plans. "See? And after we get to a certain height, WE fire the harpoon gun and stake it into ground and use it to change our direction mid air and keep us from flipping over!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Suij yelled.

"Crazy like a fox! It's not like I want to do this, while actually I do, but we need the extra push because of our new mast's weight! And boy do I have plans for our new sail design!"

"Damn it! You are crazy! Just don't kill us all, please? And be ready soon. something tells me we'll need to leave in a hurry." Suij yelled up.

"Don't worry sir! We're making excellent time!" Parker waved down, and got back to doodling his new sail designs.

Suij looked back to the forest. "Get back soon, mates."

Kurama leaned back in his seat and ate his rice ball. He looked up to the sail that billowed from the slight wind. If his calculations were right, they'd arrive back in Japan in about five days. A great delay, but something they would have to bear.

Hopefully they would have enough food to last. He wasn't entirely sure about the straw thing being a joke to some of them. Especially since Taken would be more than happy to carve up Tayuumi into something for them to eat. And knowing Takin, the old man would cook it.

"Takin."

The old man and the ronin gave some form of recognition to the name.

"Old man Takin."

Taken went back into the world he lived in when not fighting, and the old man looked over with a bit of a frown.

"How much food do we have?"

"If we ration it well....about three days worth."

"Hmm... y'know, I don't need to eat. So that's one person less."

Garud looked over at the group and asked,

"Anyone have a fishing rod?"

Kirie's role of keeping the fights from being interrupted promptly switched to a role of interception. The enemies left behind were trying to escape, and it looked like Kirie might just be the only one to get in their way. Already, she had her weapon out and had turned it into a Heavy Blade by the time she broke off their retreat, promptly recognizing Ayako being roughly carried by some strong man who was running weird, like he had some sort of injury in his crotch region. "Hey, you asshole! She belongs to us!"
Kirie drew her large sword back and-
"Spark Swarm!"
...Let loose a flurry of high speed crescent blades that jumped from her quick, broad swings. And that was it. If Kirie couldn't stop them with that, she wouldn't be able to stop them at all. She could get out of their way or stay there and most likely end up dead. She was exhausted, nearly all of her energy spent in the seemingly endless fighting.