As they relayed their situations to one another, Shinimaru and Helix had managed to find a relatively secluded area. A few minutes of scouring had landed them a decent prize: a run-down maintenance building. While not the most appealing of options, the smell alone was signal enough that the structure hadn't been used recently by any stretch of the word. So, as the two lounged back in their twin, gouged-out booth seats, they allowed themselves the slightest moment of laxity.
"So," Helix began, readjusting the makeshift jacket-tourniquet Shinimaru had fashioned around his waist. "these people you're looking for. You have their names?"
Shin's mouth twitched in a tensed, cross smile---though it quickly corrected itself. "We weren't given that luxury."
Helix frowned, leaned back and exhaled. Eyes fixed on the ceiling, deep in thought, he asked: "Well, rebels of the Old Creed, are they?"
Shin nodded. "We all are."
Helix sat on this for a moment, plainly deep in thought---his lips moving in silence as he ruminated. Finally, he leveled his head back to lock eyes with Shin.
"The Shimin," he said. "Have you heard of the Shimin?"
Shin leaned forward, forehead creasing. "Of course," he said, tone flat and drawling. "why?"
"Your confusion is a testament to the... quality of your investigative lengths." Helix said, with an undertone of humor, but a broader inflection of disappointment. Shin's face didn't move.
"Anyway," Helix continued. "I can't especially poke fun at your confusion. Getting information out of there is difficult---intentionally so. An associate of mine, though, managed to acquire some pretty substantial information; well, substantial to your inquiries, at least."
Shin bobbed his head, a gesture for Helix to continue. The boy settled deeper into his chair, and, in a breathy voice, said: "Manji the Iron. A few weeks back, this purported heretical traditionalist was taken into custody." Helix allowed the words to hang in the air, as if waiting for a response.
Shin drew his lips thin. "No names, dude," he said, his tone ever-dry. "Sounds like we're on the right track, though. Keep going."
Helix exhaled, continued: "He was taken in under suspicion of insurrection. The outpost he was found holed up in was fairly secluded---far from Kitsuji or the Garrison Cities. Its placement was described as 'deliberately hidden'. What put him under such intense scrutiny, though, was his intentional slaughter of his co-conspirators. All 25 of them."
Once again, Helix paused. Shin clicked his tongue this time. "Go on."
"Aside from the obvious combat skill necessary to do something such as this," Helix said. "The implications of why something like this must have been done shocked the patrollers nearly as much as him willingly going along with them. Their knee-jerk assumption was that he must have not been entirely confident that they wouldn't compromise whatever operations they had going on."
"So," Shin said, leaning back. "I can with some confidence say that this man is one of our samurai. But simply knowing that doesn't get us much of anywhere. I'm not one for redundant statements usually, but the entire point of the Shimin is that you can't leave. That's the entire point of most huge prisons, I'd say."
Helix narrowed his eyes at the green-haired man. "Well, I wouldn't have brought all of that up if I didn't have at least some sort of an idea of how we might be able to employ our knowledge of it. Or is that just the kind of plan-making you're used to?"
Shin bit back a retort, crossed his arms. "What's your big idea, then?"
Helix grinned dryly. "The Annual Ozoku," he said. "That's my big idea."
Helix stared at Shin expectantly. The man simply rubbed his forehead. In a played-out tone, he asked: "What's the Anal Ozoku...?"
"Annual, dude," Helix said, grinning wider. It was clear he enjoyed this conversational upper hand he had. "Anyway, the Annual Ozoku is a tournament. It's held every year at the heart of Kitsuji---it's essentially a huge PR thing for the ruling body at the time. They promise the victor a single wish, and to make the competition more 'enthralling', they allow convicts to participate. If I had to guess, they're letting this Manji man participate as well, but likely drastically hindered."
Shin pursed his lips, allowing the idea to float in his mind for a moment. Finally, he said: "That's quite the presumption. So, if I'm assuming correctly, we're to enter this tournament, make contact with Manji... and escape somehow? All three of us?"
Helix raised his eyebrows, nodded. "Yeah," he said, satisfied. "Yeah."
Shin planted his hands on the tabletop, thrust himself upright. He outstretched his hand. "Best deal we have, then. Let's do it."
Helix smiled wide, clasping Shin's hand with his own. "Hell yeah."
--------
I awoke to nothing in particular. It was a slow sort of coming-to, my brain slowly trudging back to functionality. There was no warm embrace for me when I regained my bearings---nothing of the sort.
As I stood from my sprawled, floored heap of a position, I felt the last flitting hint of expectation in my chest flicker out. Concrete on all sides, maybe five feet from myself to each wall, from my roughly centered point. A cell. Deep impressions formed on my face. I doubted it was possible I could have frowned any more intensely.
Preconceived biases against prison cells aside, though, I resolved to calm myself. Not much could be accomplished if I was too hung up on one thing or the other. The wall directly in front of me, blatantly apparently, was unlike the others. It was comprised of vertical steel bars, allowed a generous view of the hall outside. I squinted.
The cells lining the wall ahead were vacant, but there were very plainly human noises coming from elsewhere in the prison---conversation atop conversation. There were no officials, guards, or watchmen of any sort as far as I could see. Though, even if there were, I doubt they'd have been able to do anything.
I took a few, light-footed steps toward the bars, and took one final scan of the area outside. It was clear as ever. Satisfied, I took a small step back, eyeing the locking mechanism to the far left of the barred door wall.
In one, swift motion, I swept my hand THROUGH the steel apparatus, fingers alight with crackling, red energy. The metal sizzled and distorted where my hand had passed, burning bright yellow color as it sloughed into magma. A few droplets hit the ground with simmering "plop" noises. Gingerly, I pushed the door open.
Stepping out, I took quick glances to either side. To the right, the hall ended---took a sharp turn, deeper into the prison if I had to guess. Along the walls, there were a few---maybe half a dozen---guards standing watch. The left, though, looked far more promising. There was more movement down that direction, but, more pressingly, there were also hints of daylight peering through. Small slits of it, but just enough to be promising. Even straining my eyes, though, it was hundreds of yards away, and I couldn't really make out specifics. I'd have to be proactive about this.
Taking a deep breath, I allow my chest to be consumed with the familiar, terrible heat. Red bolts of energy spring up at my feet, arc and jump around me. I exhale, and take one, striding step forward.
As my foot hits the ground, I refocus my vision, set my eyes ahead. There's a gate with barred doors maybe thirty feet away, beyond the small lobby area just in front of me. There were maybe thirty guards strewn about the place, tending to this that and the other. They were all armed, but with little more than a few batons and the occasional handgun.
After my quick assessment, I don't let myself come to a stop. Taking another step, I whirl toward a guard to my left. To my eyes, he was near immobile---moving at such insignificant speeds that I wouldn't even be perceptible to him. Hands moving swift and delicately, I stripped him of his clothes. Tucking the garments under my arm, I gave the man a final, faint push with the sole of my foot, his expression indicating total unawareness of his situation. With a final stride, I arrive on the other side of the front gates.
Exiting my state of light speed, I take a glance back at the lobby. It seemed my light push had done as intended. The guard's naked body had been hurled at his companion at the speed of light---and just as I had taken my small look back, his unclothed form had launched itself clear through the other man's body. The chaos only grew from there; chunks of gore sprayed in every direction, painting the lobby red in a fraction of the blink of an eye. As the situation sank into the dozens of shell-shocked guardsmen, a chorus of screams began to erupt from the antechamber. Satisfied then, I turned away. A pretty substantial distraction, that. Allowing the commotion to slip into the back of my mind, though, I was able to get a read on my setting.
I was in a city---one not too different from Kyoto back home. It was overcast above, a gentle flurry of snow blowing through. The streets weren't exactly busy, but there was enough foot-traffic that standing around dumbfounded still drew vexed looks. Squinting, I could vaguely make out the city limits, but beyond lay only a vast expanse of trees. I frowned. I had no clue where I was in relativity to the rest of the plateau, and thus, I had no clue where I was in relativity to the rest of the operation.
My perplexion quickly turned to anger. Kiri. This was all her doing, wasn't it? That much should have been obvious, but I had been so caught up in... other ordeals. Seeking privacy, I took a left turn from the prison gates, ducking into an alleyway. I continue my train of thought while slipping into the late guardsman's uniform.
I strain my brain for anything that might be of use in locating Kiri. That woman would be far from my only source of reliable information---I could easily pass as a guard and get a map or something of the sort. However, I knew this wouldn't be entirely an ordeal of practical utility. This would be, admittedly, mostly out of spite. Just flying around below cloud level and scanning the entire city was out of the question, for the very same reason simply flying out of here and scanning the whole plateau for my co-conspirators was: I doubted Douga would simply leave his land completely unmonitored. Getting caught for something so entirely avoidable was a humiliation I wasn't exactly yearning to undergo. So, slipping on the green, military cap to top off my disguise, I resolved and finalized my plan.
I would find Kiri, question her, find out where the fuck I was, and probably kill her or something.