"Usagi-san, what are you doing?" Colt's sensei scolded disapprovingly. "Your
gempukku is only one month away and you are still not ready. You are going to
carry the name of the honorable Hare to the Topaz Championship tournament.
Again, like I showed you. Jump off your enemy like the earth, let the air kami
carry you though the air as the gently place you back on earth."
"Hai, sensei. Let me try this again." Colt panted, as if he hadn't done this a
hundred times before. As Usagi Colt leapt to the training dummy, he saw a slight
grin on his sensei's face, as if the young hare was the victim of a cruel joke.
Colt didn't think it was so funny as he firmly planted his foot into the dummy,
knocking it over before landing beside two halves of was a represention of some
poor enemy's skull. "Like that?" Colt panted with a slight grin on his face, as
the joke now became funny.
"Hai," the sensei chuckeled, "But now what am I to train students with? You may
go Colt. Now, I need to figure out how to put the thing back together... again."
As the young Usagi stepped out of the dojo, he felt Lord Sun's warmth rain down
upon Shiro Usagi. The fortunes blessed Usagi Colt on days like this. For how
often is training cut short because you've accidently broken the main training
tool? And on such a perfect day. Normally, the young hare went home to practice
more Jiujutsu with his father. But not today. No, today he felt like
'practicing' with his best friend, Ujina Aki. Where was he. Well, he should have
been a little more alert.
"Got you Usagi!" Colt felt his arms forcefully pinned to his side as he heard
Aki's voice behind him. "How are you going to get out of this predictiment?
Without your arms?" Aki sounded confident.
"Like this!" Colt snapped back, much like his head as he slammed it into Aki's
face, freeing up his arms. "Ujina-san, I didn't mean to hit you so hard." Colt
became worried about his friend. "Aki, is your nose bleeding?"
Ujina Aki checked, and not only was it bleeding, but broken. "Hai. I forgot that
you sometimes don't realize how strong you really are. The fortune Bishamon has
really blessed you." Aki complained with a now naislly voice. "Help me find a
healer, Usagi, for I'm finding it hard to breath."
As Usagi Colt helped his friend to the healer, he saw that Shiro Usagi had two
visitors. Fox clan by the colors of the kimonos. An older man and a beautiful
young woman. They were having their travel paper checked by a guard when they
both noticed the two hares. Immediately after getting handed back their travel
papers, the two foxes came over to the two hares.
"Can we help you two?" the old man spoke with a voice as comforting as a
grandfather. "You seem to be in pain, uh, Ujina-san. Move your hand."
As the elder fox tended to Ujina Aki, Colt couldn't help but stare at the
apprentice. She watched her sensei intentelly as he called upon the kami to fix
the broken nose. She wore a tan kimono with a green obi that matched her eyes.
Her hair was red and bright as a fire kami. Colt never saw a creature of such
beauty. He couldn't find the words to express his feeling, for he had never felt
like this before. The young Usagi started to think "What do I say? How do I act?
Will she answer back? I have to calm down." Indeed, the young hare's thoughs
were racing, competing only with his heart.
"And you are?" said the young lady. Colt opened his mouth, but the words
wouldn't come out.
Ujina Aki leaned in whispering distance of Usagi Colt. "Come on, say something.
You look stupid with your mouth hanging agape. Say something or shut it."
Usagi tried to say something, but still nothing. It was like the air kami took
his words and made them go strait up instead of to the young lady's ear.
After a few seconds of unconfortable silence, Aki spoke. "This is Usagi Colt. My
friend and I were playing when the accident happened."
The young fox looked suprised. "Colt? What kind of name is Colt?" Her voice was
beautiful, only rivaled by her looks.
"Mother gave it to me." Colt FINALLY found his voice. "She said it's a reminder
of her former life. Her first life as she puts it. But tell me about yourself."
Usagi Colt became completely oblivious to the perfect day that Lord Sun gave the
land, the fact that he broke his friends nose, or the fact that her sensei was
standing right next to to his appentice and the two hares.
"Umh, Kitsune Yuna, come let us get a place to stay. Good day, Colt." the elder
fox said angerly.
After a while, Aki laughed. "Nice going Usagi-san. In one day, you broke a
training dummy, my nose, and then made yourself look like an idiot in front a
pair of visitors. Wow, now I'm impressed."
Later that night, as the foxes were traveling around, Usagi Colt saw them again.
As he approched, he saw the elder stare at him. "Excuse me, Kitsune-sama. I
didn't mean to come off as a lecherous kid earlier today. I don't know what
happened. I guess I lost my head back there. I..." Usagi was cut off mid stream.
"Apologie accepted, young one. It seems that after talking to young Kitsune
Yuna, she... well... she's taken to you. I was young once. Tell you what, sense
we're going to be here for two months, how about you take her for a tour of
Shiro Usagi tomarrow. If its okay with her, that is." He seemed to have calmed
down sense their last encounter.
"Really? I... I can?" Colt never had been so happy.
"Just ask her if she'll go." the elder Kitsune said, waiving his hand at the
young lady.
As the hare approched, he ran though the words in his head, so as not to forget
them. "Hai, Kitsune-sama, I was wondering if you wanted to take a small tour
around town tomarrow?" His voice was a little squeky, but the words came out at
least.
"Hai, I'd love to." Yuna smiled as only a young girl could. The smile could have
stopped time itself if time had only bothered to look and not slowly take it.
"Then tomarrow morning then. I shall be waiting." Usagi said, bowing deeply.
"Hai, see you tomarrow." Kitsune Yuna said, smiling and bowing as well.
Colt barely slept that night. His dreams were no longer of winning the Topaz
Championship, being the best samauri Rokugan has ever seen, or even his future
without Kitsune Yuna. But still he got a little sleep and took Kitsune Yuna on a
small tour. A week after the tour, the fox and the hare became really close. One
might call it young love, but the fox an the hare were so much more.
After the topaz championship, Usagi Colt, now a man, went to the inn to find
Kitsune Yuna to find that she and her sensei had left. Colt asked everyone he
could, but no one saw the two foxes leave. He had to find Ujina Aki. He sees any
and everything leaving the city. But where is he.
"Still to slow, Usagi-san." It was Aki, now playing the same game with a bokken
of a tanto, holding it to Colts throat.
"A born skirmisher, Aki. Say, did you see the two foxes leave?" Usagi Colt
sounded bewildered and concerned about the answer.
"No I haven't seen them. Why?" Ujina Aki said, just as bewildered as Colt.
"She's gone. Both foxes, gone." Usagi Colt was now very concerened.
"They have to still be in the city, Usagi-san. No one leaves this city without
an Ujina skirmisher knowing about it. They're watching us right now and we don't
even know it... at least you don't." Aki said, with confidence. "I can tell you
tonight the direction they went."
"Hai, thank you Ujina-san. I don't deserve a friend such as you." Colt felt
relieved that he had a little help in tracking Kitsune Yuna down.
The next morning, Aki found Colt. "Usagi-san, you're not going to believe this
but no one knew who I was talking about."
"WHAT!?!? How can that be?" Colt now was really confused.
"They didn't see anyone of the fox clan, hare clan, hell not even the fox animal
was seen." the inflection in the Ujina's voice was one of confusion and
frustration.
Usagi Colt's toughts were now racing faster than before. "Where is she? Was she
real? A spirit? Or am I going crazy? Can't be, otherwise how could Ujina Aki see
them as well? I need answers." Colt thought, "Answers from Kitsune Yuna
herself... but where to start, for the empire is a vast land."