Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu (Bret Rudnick) Subject: [VampQ] Blood on the Wind -- Part 1 Message-ID: Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1993 20:33:10 GMT ================================================ [VampQ] Blood on the Wind -- Part 1 [Admin] a side post written by: Bret Rudnick (Tomonobu Fujiwara) Bluestar Dreamer (Bluestar Dreamer) Synopsis: Separated by a magical storm, two of the adventurers in search of the Vampire Orchid are attacked by a mercenary force. =============================================== Tomonobu struggled for every step against the storm. It was if the winds and rain were alive, and fighting him for every inch. He heard swords clashing all around him, yet he could find no battle. His sword Onigoroshi [Admin: Daemon-slayer] was in his hand, held ready to fend off any coming attack. But none came. "Bluestar!" the ronin called out again. Tomonobu had come in search of the blue-haired elf after Bluestar Dreamer had mysteriously vanished from his side. The oriental cursed the elf under his breath. "That horse-headed daemon wears the rank of samurai, yet he shows no respect for the code of Bushido!" He called out again but got no response other than the howling wind and the echoes of ghostly battles he could not see. Suddenly, there was a change in the clashing steel. It sounded tangible. And close, Tomonobu thought, fighting harder to move toward a battle he could fight. Tomonobu struggled over a small hillside and was surprised to find that the clearing in front of him was untouched by the weather. The wind was silent, and the view clear. As he focused on it, the world around him began to dim and fade. But the scene was far from calm. Bluestar Dreamer stood with both katana and wakizashi drawn, fending off a group of mercenaries who surrounded the moon elf. The elf was a whirlwind of motion, blades swirling around him to keep the enemies and their weapons away from him. Tomonobu did not hesitate. Katana raised above his head, the ronin rushed into the fray calling to Bluestar. "Yaroo! What have you gotten yourself into!?!" "Not much," Bluestar called above the noise, His katana cutting deep into a mercenary shoulder. "I was just waiting for someone to show off to!" Tomonobu sneered at Bluestar's humour. Anyone who knew anything about fighting knew to save his breath for combat, not jokes. Tomonobu spun his Katana at one of the mercenaries. The blade cut deep into the warrior's shoulder and knee. "Breaking the Corners!" Tomonobu called out as the mercenary fell. A quick swipe finished the fallen enemy. Bluestar nodded ducking a swinging sword. The Elf sprang into the mercenary, knocking the fighter back with his shoulder. "Body Strike!" Blue called back. I can play this game, he thought. "Fire and stone cuts!" Dreamer called out, bashing his Katana against the mercenary's sword several times, driving the blade to the ground. When the mercenary's guard was lost, Blue's wakizashi gutted the warrior. "Continuous Cut!" Tomonobu called, as he split a mercenary from his top left shoulder to lower right thigh. His motions became ever more fluid as he fell into his Suio school techniques. The back-and-forth action continued for awhile, with additional cries of "Flowing Water", "Red Leaves", and others. The mercenaries would not let up their attack. Even as Bluestar felled the last one standing (and brought the count up to an even six for each of the samurai) the enemies had rushed to their deaths without even a hint of hesitation. Bluestar and Tomonobu were untouched, which was rather remarkable, considering the fury of the onslaught. They stood and faced one another, a cold fury burning in each pair of eyes. ================================================ ( to be continued...> -- |----------B. Rudnick -- e-mail: rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu --------| |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | All that we see or seem, Is but a dream within a dream -- E.A. Poe | |--------------------------------------------------------------------|