The Dream Shifter

Chapter 81

She exchanged looks for a moment with Yuki, but could see that he was going to go with her regardless of what she said. "And can you use them when you need?"

"Well…no…but just in case!"

"Whatever…Mr. Tamotsu show us the way." Tamotsu nodded silently and walked out. The quiet walk left them plenty of time to think about what they were getting into. Saki was certain about what she was doing, but still felt unsettled by everything. They had gotten an answer to the secret behind the family, but it still did not explain why they were attacked. She had her theories, but there was little time to ponder it.

Chiharu was waiting for them in what looked like a hanger below the mansion, but with the cars parked it would have been more accurate to call it a garage. There was a door open on one of the cars that she stood by. Once she saw that they had arrived she entered the car waiting for Saki and Yuki to catch up.

Yuki waited until they were taking off from the underground garage along with several other cars before he looked over to Chiharu with a question. "If you're a clan of ninjas…why are you using cars?"

Saki sighed out loud looking away while Chiharu looked narrowly at him. "Because the enemy is on foot still within our grounds. But we won't be able to catch up to them without an advantage."

He took the answer though was not too pleased by it. "Seems like cheating," he said whispering.

"We can only run so fast!"

"Sorry!" Yuki said jumping a little. 'Sharp ears…' He decided to wisely keep quiet the rest of the time in the car until it came to a rough and sharp stop.

The panel between the driver's seat and the back of the car opened up. The driver kept his eyes forward, but spoke back to them. "Lady Chiharu! Reports from the house say that they finally got the sensors to pick up the intruders. We are ahead of them now."

"Very good!" Chiharu exited the car running out into the forest that surrounded the back of the estate. The road that they followed ran through the forest and around it. It placed them within intercept distance of the intruders. All Yuki and Saki could do was follow as they caught glimpses of other black silhouettes coming out of the neighboring cars. Chiharu knew where she was going leading everyone from the sounds that she could pick up from the enemy. 'They're making far more noise than I would have expected. But they're very close.' Once she was in range of them keeping in advance she ordered her men to spread out to flank them as they closed. Yuki and Saki stayed behind Chiharu waiting for the moment.

Chiharu waited grinding her hand against the hilt of her short blade strapped to her back. She was fighting the urge to charge in knowing that her enemy and vengeance was in front of her. In the end it was Saki holding her back that kept her from moving any further. However, in the distance the noises came to an end. 'They've stop! Why? Did they discover us?' The answer for Chiharu came soon as she heard sounds of screaming. It was of men being killed, but she did not know whose it was. 'Is it them or my men? Did they kill my men, just like Grandfather?' Her eyes narrowed and power applied to her muscles as Saki could not stop her any longer. Chiharu leapt from their hiding and charged straight for the noise.

"Damn girl! Come on, Yuki!" Saki rushed to her feet following after the rage blinded Chiharu. They arrived quickly behind her as she had already stopped finding a dead body. It was one of Chiharu's men from the house. They found another next to him. Chiharu ran off into the dark of the forest leaving them behind. "Chiharu! Don't go alone!"

Chiharu eyes could not see anything, but revenge. They had killed her Grandfather and now her men as well. She would have them die for what they had done. She kept running to where she believed the enemy to be. However, her foot tripped on a wire trap sending her to the ground completely open.

A masked shadow leapt out of the nearby brush with a blade held high to make the strike. "The Chinen Clan dies tonight!"

The forest seemed to grow very still as Chiharu collapsed to the ground from the trap making the noise of the man bursting out from brush accented. Enough time was given for her to turn her head in the moments that slowly passed to see the moonlit stained blade in the man's hand held up to strike her down. Surprised, all she could do was look on in shock at the trick she had fallen for. "The Chinen Clan dies tonight!"

Chiharu could only see the black form of the man engulf her as he drew closer to her. Everything that surrounded her faded from sight and she could not even feel or see what happened next. Blackness came over her eyes as the sound of blood sprayed through the air and the dull sound of a blade penetrating flesh. '…Grandfather…' Paralysis held for the moment as Chiharu simply lay where she was unable to move still out of her body not aware of her surroundings.

A branch snapped and plants shifted from someone walking. The noise alerted Chiharu immediately restarting her body and snapping her back up to her feet. Realization did not set in for another second when she saw that there was one of her family's dogs standing over a b****y man that had attempted to attack her. Her mind replayed the events coming to the conclusion that the dog had jumped in preventing the attack and killed the man. They were trained to hunt and track with them in her line of work. 'But we didn't send out the dogs… they were not to be found… where were they?' Another footstep rustled the plants nearby spinning Chiharu around with her short blade held up ready to strike.

"Your pets seemed restless…" said a voice from out of sight that had a familiar sound to it. The noise came even closer to Chiharu until appearing in front of her. Out of the shadows of the forest night was Haruo wearing the kimono that he had been given after the bath.

Chiharu narrowed her eyes with concern, but relaxed her muscles. "I thought you were still sleeping…"

"…I was…" Alongside Haruo came another one of Chiharu's dogs keeping at his side as though it seemed natural for the animal.

The scene left her off center getting a strange feeling from him. She had tried to fight him earlier seeing how strong he must have been, but it was different from before. 'He couldn't have left when we did. He'd have to been gone before or during the attack. What's going on?' Chiharu tightened her hand on the hilt of her blade becoming suspicious of the boy.

However, both of their attentions were drawn away by a scream. Haruo ran past Chiharu with the dogs taking up sides keeping pace with him. Chiharu stood frozen unable to move for a moment. It could not be explained, but nothing answered her calls. '…I…Grandfather…'

'…Chiharu!'

'Grandfather?!' Her eyes blinked and she could feel her body moving again bursting through the forest following the noise that was picking up in front of her. It became clear to her that there was someone running followed by a second possibly third person. She tracked the sounds into a small clearing in the forest. When she came in sight of the fight her dogs were already leaping towards two of the assassins.

Saki had been keeping ahead of the two men that were chasing her after Chiharu had run off. However, she had become cornered by them in the clearing when she was rescued by Haruo and the dogs. Yuki arrived slowly behind them holding his arm with a shallow cut. "Chiharu!" said the two of them upon seeing her arriving still alive.

The two men beat off the dogs sending them yelping to the ground. They pulled themselves together into a defensive stance seeing that they were now out numbered. In a better light it became clear to them that they were dressed in similar attire as Chiharu making it clear that they were ninja as well. They both had medium length katana drawn keeping their movements careful.

Chiharu saw the two men and could not wait a moment longer as she charged towards them without a care to the others. "Die assassin!" She brought her short blade to bear on first man, who parried her strike. Force from the charge was sent through the clash rattling the blades as they sparked. Chiharu jumped back and dodged around them as the second man came in for support. Her eyes were pulled down with her brow in wrinkled rage as she yelled with each strike she made.

The fight between the granddaughter and her murderers began to play as Saki and Yuki watched hesitant to make a move. In a fast paced exchange of blades that they were witnessing they were both out of their element. Saki had speed and reflexes, but weapons were not her thing and Yuki had experience in street brawls, albeit in the past. They wanted to help her, but they would have been in the way. Yuki rested his hand, from holding his wound, on Saki's shoulder to give her some reassurance.

'Saki wants to help… but knows there's little she could do,' Yuki thought to himself as he watched on the edge of his toes at the fight. He had seen Chiharu briefly fighting with Saki to know how skilled she was, however what he was seeing now went beyond it. It felt as though her rage and anger were driving her to be faster even though she was being blinded at the same time. 'She can't see, but her instincts are sharp enough to make up for it. It's the only thing keeping her alive.'

Clashing blades echoed through the forest were brought to a pale dullness when compared to the screams followed up by Chiharu as she struggled to keep her ground. The fight was drawing her back to give up ground as the two ninja worked together to strike in quick succession. The man playing back up for the moment came around striking awkwardly at Chiharu that forced her to parry unevenly. Off balance from the strike, she was turned away from the coming strike from the main. She was unable to get away from the strike quickly holding up her metal guard on her forearm to catch the blade. The katana's blade sparked off the metal cutting into it a little as it passed by in the thrust to cut into the upper arm of Chiharu. Wounded with a shallow cut and bleeding Chiharu nearly tripped over her feet to back up into a defensive position.