Fan Fiction ❯ The ORIGINAL Ayame Story ❯ Regrouping with the Boys . . . ( Chapter 2 )

Regrouping with the boys . . .

I was suddenly awakened when Heyon was shaking me by the shoulders.

"Ayame, Ayame, can you hear me?" His voice sounded desperate and pleading.

I tried to talk but I couldn't because my mouth was so parched.

"Heyon . . ." was all I could manage before blacking out again.

I woke up to the sound of birds and the bright sun in my eyes. I tried to move but when I did a hand came on my shoulder and a voice told me to lie back down. I couldn't say whose voice it was, but I did as it told me to.

Later that day I woke up to find Shou standing close by. "Shou?" I managed to say.

"Oh, my gosh! Ayame! Are you alright?" he came up to me and threw his arms around me in a big hug and started to cry.

I patted his head and rubbed his back. He calmed down and when he was read to talk I asked him, "Where is everyone else?"

"They're all taking turns watching out for the Tetsuko and looking for food. Heyon told me to watch you and make sure you didn't move." Shou sounded sad as if he might start to cry again. His mother had been carried off by the Tetsuko when he was only 4 years old. The Tetsuko are a terrible group of bandits and thieves. They take all the women, food, horses, anything of value, and make off with it. I never thought they'd come to this side of the mountain range though. They usually stay to the north. Our village is to the south of the mountains.

"Shou, I'm glad you were here with me." I said to try and cheer him up. I got a small smile then Shou jumped up.

"Oh yeah! Heyon told me to find him once you woke up. I'll be right back Ayame! Don't move!" He ran off to go find Shou. I snuggled deeper under the blankets that were on top of me. I started to wonder, did all that really happen? Or was it just s some bizarre dream?

Suddenly I felt cold and I noticed I wasn't wearing my kimono. All I had on was my under dress. I felt kind of stupid just lying there in nothing but a light piece of cloth, especially with all the boys around.

A couple minutes later Shou came back with Heyon.

"Here's Ayame, Heyon. See I told you she was awake." He said with a smile.

Heyon ruffled Shou's hair. "Hey thanks kid, go tell the guys it's time to switch, O.K."

"Yes, sir!" he saluted and ran off to tell the others.

"Hey Ayame are you feeling any better?" Heyon turned to face me and for some unknown reason he sounded concerned.

"Yeah I'll be fine. My neck still hurts though." I said.

"Don't worry you'll be fine." Heyon said sounding relieved. He turned and looked after Shou. "He's a good kid. I'm just glad he wasn't caught up in all that chaos." Heyon said. So that must mean that . . .

"Heyon?"

"Yeah?"

"Did . . . all that in the village . . . did it really happen?" I said hesitantly.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you Ayame. Our village is completely destroyed. The Tetsuko burned everything down and took everything of value that we had. I don't think we can go back there now with all the Tetsuko around here…" He said. He couldn't meet my eyes and he looked away.

"So is everyone . . . dead?" I had to ask.

"No, you're still alive and so are we." He said not answering my question directly.

"That's not what I'm asking is everyone in the village dead?" I tried again.

"No a few survived; luckily one of them was the doctor." He said. "Otherwise you might not be here." He said looking at me with a sad expression.

"I wouldn't? Why not?"

Heyon let out a big sigh. "When we came back to the village after the sun started to set. We didn't want to miss our little Ayame in a fancy kimono." He laughed a little. "But when we got there, there was nothing but chaos. We had just gotten there when the Tetsuko were rounding up the last of the women and loading them into a cart. When they left they threw torches at the roofs of our houses. You know how straw and fire don't mix. Well, we were looking for survivors but there didn't seem to be many. A couple of the houses were on fire, including yours. I ran and checked your house. I found you and . . . your mom . . . lying on the floor. At first I thought you were dead but then I checked to see if you had a pulse and you did. It was very faint and . . . I got worried. I managed to carry you and you mother out safely. So we took you and the rest of the people we found back here. To the cave we found. It makes an excellent hide out." He added trying to cheer me up. But then, what he said was true about . . .

"Whoever did that to you, they beat you up pretty badly. You were all tied up and you weren't moving. And you had a bunch or bruises and cuts on your throat." I looked up at Heyon, he looked as if he was about to cry, but that . . . was impossible. Heyon never cries. Before I could say anything Heyon stood up and faced the mouth of the cave.

"Go back to sleep and rest Ayame. You need to recover your strength." He turned and smiled at me. "We're gonna need your help." Then he walked out.

". . . recover your strength . . . we're gonna need your help." His voice kept going through my head as I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Later that night I woke up feeling thirsty. Well it had been a long time since I had anything to eat or drink. I got up and walked over the mouth of the cave. I gasped when I saw how beautiful the moon was. It was a full moon and bigger than I had ever seen it. Maybe it's because I'm up in the mountain. I herd the rustle of feet and stiffened.

"Yeah I hear they have a weak young woman around here. They managed to get her away from the Tetsuko but they say she's badly hurt." A gruff sounding man said.

"Yeah why don't we take her for ourselves? They're only boys, and we could use another cook," chuckled another man.

I was scared stiff. I didn't want to move for fear of being spotted or cracking a twig and making them jump up. I knew I was in no condition to fight them off for long. I silently prayed for someone to come and help me.

Just as soon as I had wished this, Heyon came around the opposite corner with his friends Jin and Li. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey Ayame what the heck do you think you're doing out of bed!?" shouted Li.

"Yeah you should be resting. It's about midnight." said Jin coming up a ruffling my hair.

"Hey cut it out you guys! I was just thirsty." All my fear of the two strange men faded because I knew that with three guys there they wouldn't stand a chance. Sure they were probably really big and tough, but when these three get serious, they can cause a lot of pain. I know from first hand experience.

Before they were my friends they thought I was just another girl. Then I asked them what I had to do for them to accept me as part of their group. They said that I had to beat the three of them in a fight. Well I found boys plants, shirt, and belt the next day. When I put my mind to something I can usually accomplish it. I beat Jin and Li but I've never beaten Heyon. I think Jin went easy on me because he never really wanted to fight me. Once Li saw that I'd beaten Jin he went harder on me. I still beat him. But when it came to Heyon, he was the best. He had muscles and a brain, a rare combination. He kept his cool when fighting others and could sneak around in the dark like a shadow.

I decided that the next day when I woke up, I would tell Jin about what I had heard before they had come. Jin was easier to talk to and I didn't want to bother Heyon. It seamed like everyone was counting on him to lead them. Li's a nice guy once you get to know him, but if you catch him in a bad mood or tick him off, he gets kind of scary.

The next morning I woke and found some pants and a shirt lying by my bed. They looked kind of big but I put them on any way. As I stepped out I gasped as I saw the sun rising. I watched as it rose into the sky. It was so beautiful. It almost made me forget all my problems. As I stood there, I heard some voices from around the corner and I could see a fire going. I walked over to it and found all the boys and some men from the village. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. The men had a look of shock and anger on their faces. I wondered what his problem was when I gasped, remembering what I was wearing.

A few of them got up and stated walking toward me. I took a couple steps back, getting ready to run if I had to.

"What the devil do you think you're wearing!?"

"You're a girl! You should be wearing your kimono! Not the clothes that these boys wear!" shouted a couple of the men. One came right up to me and raised his hand. It was Ichizu; he was our village's blacksmith. He was tough and muscular and I trembled at the thought of being struck by him. I braced myself for the impact. Right before he was about to hit me Heyon ran up in front of me and grabbed his hand.

"Stop this right now!" he shouted.

"Move aside Heyon! She needs to be punished for not wearing the proper attire of a woman." Ichizu shouted back.

"All the clothes that she was wearing were her layered kimono, and that would be too hard to work in. So I gave her a pair of my pants and my shirt that she's wearing right now. It was my decision so punish me if you have to." Heyon said back to Ichizu. I could hardly believe what Heyon was saying. But then again I did kind of recognize the clothes. But I'd never seen Heyon in them. It must be one of the other guys but Heyon was taking the blame. I couldn't believe what he was doing. Heyon was brave but he didn't deserve this.

"Fine if that's the way you want it." Ichizu said as he cracked his knuckles. I suddenly got up all my courage and stepped in front of Ichizu.

"Don't hurt him." I said my voice trembling a little bit.

"Ayame! What are you doing!?" said Heyon.

"Heyon," I said and I turned my head and whispered so that only he could hear me. "I know these aren't your clothes. These are Jin's."

He looked at me with a bit of a surprised expression.

"Yeah, but do you know what you are doing?" he whispered back looking at Ichizu. "You may be good but you can't beat him in your condition."

"Well, who's it gonna be? Heyon or Ayame?" said Ichizu with a smile on his face.

"Now, now, calm down Ichizu. We have more important things to worry about, like the Tetsuko and other bandits and thieves that roam these mountains." said Yamabushi.

I turned in surprise. Yamabushi was one of the last Elders of our village. I could hardly believe that he would allow me to go un-punished for not wearing what all the girls were supposed to.

"But Elder, she has broken our laws and so therefore must be punished." replied Ichizu. He looked both stunned and angry. He always did have a short temper.

"I don't care, she disobeyed and I intend to follow the laws of our village!" he yelled and swung his fist at me. I wasn't paying attention. I was still surprised that Yamabushi let me get off so easily. Then I saw his fist and it was too late to dodge, it hit me square in the stomach.

I gasped for breath and for consciousness. I could hear him laughing at how weak I was. I hate being called weak. That just made me even angrier than before. I was so mad that I couldn't feel the pain any more. Then I felt Heyon help me to my feet. Ichizu had his back to me laughing. I clenched my fists and I ran up from behind him, jumped up and just as he turned around I landed a perfect kick, square into his chest. As I landed I could feel the pain coming back. "I'm not . . . so weak am I?" I said as a leaned against a nearby tree trying to catch my breath. Ichizu didn't quite have the wind knocked out of him. He was just stunned. I saw him get up walk over to me and he picked me up by the collar of Jin's shirt and held me against the tree. My eyes shot wide open and I relived the memory of the man strangling me, Chang Mi trying to save me, the man killing my mother, then walking off with Chang Mi. I couldn't take it anymore. I punched Ichizu as if he were the man who had done all that stuff. He let me go but I didn't stop I jumped on him and started beating him up as hard as I could, punching kicking, even biting. Anything. Then, I noticed things were getting harder to see. I felt him kick me in my stomach and that only made it worse. I saw the man, beating me up, Chang, mother. I screamed as loud as I could. Before I knew what was happening, I felt strange. I felt all better, nothing hurt. I was completely surrounded by a white light.

When the light faded I was standing on the ground and in front of me was

Ichizu. He looked knocked out. I wondered if I had done that or if someone had helped me. I looked around me and everyone was staring at me. Some had fear in their eyes; others had a look of utter disbelief, and others had a look of anger. I felt so alone at that point and so helpless that I just dropped on the ground out of weariness.

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