Tangerine Business [Mission]

Posts : 65

Spoiler:

There was one thing that Galateia loved most of all – freedom. Nothing but the chilly spring breeze in the air, the sound of one’s own footsteps on the hard mountainous ground and the occasional sound of water passing down one of many mountain rivers. Sometimes the warrior needed to have some escape, sometimes she purposefully walked faster just so her companion lost her. She used to do it because she found his tracking skills and their game of hide-and-seek entertaining but now it’s much more because she craved freedom. It didn’t make sense to think that Aoi imposed on her freedom in any way, all he did was follow her silently as if just being around her gave him pleasure, still, sometimes the unexplained was still a fact…

It just so happened that Galateia found a small town which instantly made her that much more excited – there was a solid chance of her getting into a nice and honorable fight or getting something tasty to drink in there. The girl ruffled her own hair getting rainwater and sand out of it – she could’ve used a bath, even with her morning splashing in the water sessions it was ages since she bathed properly, it only took one nasty storm to get dust all over Teia’s hair and clothes.

The warrior entered the town slowly, looking around as if she had grown up there, as if there was a certain feeling of nostalgia to it. There could have been no such feeling to it, Galateia was there for the first time in her life, despite it not really making much sense at least it felt good. The only thing that the warrior had noticed were the strange staring looks from passing by people, ordinary villages gazed at her as if seeing a wandering warrior was a novelty these days…

“Well, well… Lil’lady shouldn’t you be at work? How will you make your dinner if not in Okano-san’s gardens?” a loud voice came from one of the less respectable establishments following two strong and loud laughs. Galateia turned at the source of the odd question and the laughter, two men walked out of the building sizing her up. “I do not know this Okano-san but if he is giving free money in his garden I’d be glad to accept his gift…” Galateia smiled for the two gentlemen obviously not catching their train of thought.

“Pffft, making fun of us, this bitch… I say let’s pummel her up, she’ll HAVE to work for Okano-san if she wants to repay the medical bills!” the second fellow yelled out causing the people around the area cover in fear and hide behind the closest counter. Galateia looked around curiously as she still didn’t understand just what was going on. The first man appeared to be less a man of words and more a man of stabbing people as he pulled a small blade and rushed at the girl warrior.

Right as he closed in his arm was locked in the girl’s long leg, Galateia had quite the long legs having her tall build in mind so she had no problem locking people up in her thighs. The warrior, being well taught in the art of knife combat by her parents, knew just the next logical step of the man locked up – to twist his wrist and leave a gash on Teia’s leg. For that reason she acted much faster, before the man realized he was locked up the girl just pressed harder and twisted her hip with all of her remarkable strength causing the man’s arm to break.

The poor fellow fell down on the ground, the other cursed at the warrior and dashed off somewhere. The one with the broken arm just kept weeping, still unable to believe what happened. “Curse you… Damned... Brawlers… One thing you all are good at… Picking tangerines…” the man kept bellowing before Teia started walking away. “You are honorable fighters, you came at me one at a time wishing honorable combat, I can respect that, train some more and let’s fight again.” Galateia exclaimed out in the air as she walked off the encounter.

Just couple of moments later a little girl caught up with her. “Lady-chan! Lady-chan! You must help me, you’re strong!” she was yelling out trying to catch Galateia’s attention. The warrior didn’t turn back before the girl stood directly in the nukenin’s way. “You beat up Okano’s people! My papa is locked up in Okano’s place and I want to save him, I train every day but… I cannot do it… They keep beating me!” from the sounds of it the kid started crying, it was then that the warrior kneeled up to the level of the kid’s eyes, she considered looking down on someone being disrespectful.

The girl was all beaten up, bruised and had one black eye, couple of missing teeth. Her clothes were dirty, they barely qualified as rags. Her weeps kept escalating before Teia’s hand landed on her dirty and messy hair as the warrior pat her on the head. “You’re a brave and noble warrior, little one. Keep fighting for the noble cause and you’ll succeed one day.” Galateia smiled at the kid as she stood up and simply started to walk away again. “Don’t you understand? Okano’s men will come after you, you’re a swordswoman, they’ll take you to the plantation by force!” the girl yelled out as her cries started picking up again.

“If they come for me, wishing to take my freedom, I’ll kill them.” Galateia replied as she kept walking at the same pace, fighting this kid’s fight for her was the most despicable thing imaginable and the warrior had no intention to do so. “You dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb fighter! Okano was right! You people have dumb brains, all of you! The lot of you are only good for one thing – labor!!!” the kid yelled out as she fell on her knees. Galateia turned back, something this kid said just made her get really pissed.

“It’s true, we warriors ARE only good at one thing but that thing is not whatever this “labor-thing” is, it’s fighting!” Galateia shouted out angrily, even offended by raising her fist in the air. “Then lend me your strength, warrior! Free my papa and other warriors from Okano’s slavery!” the girl begged lifting her tear ridden face in the air. “That Okano-guy… He uses warriors for anything less than fighting? That’s something that pisses me off! Girl… I’m sorry, I’m afraid I will fight your battle for you, if you ever feel bad about that come at me with your full strength!” Galateia yelled out at the kid as the little girl’s face shifted into happiness.

“FREE MY PAPA, LADY-CHAN!!!”

Posts : 65

“I think I may be lost…” Galateia thought as she looked around not being able to recognize the place. It was a spacious garden filled with some sort of fruit trees. The trees were quite large and the green stood out from the casual scenery of the Lightning Country. Galateia has only briefly heard of the Fire Country’s forests but this place suggested her how it would have looked. “My, my… Aren’t we lost?” a voice reached Teia’s ear. “Actually, yes… I think I took a wrong turn OOMPH!” Galateia started to explain before being punched in the face.

“Yeah right, as if someone could bypass Okano’s intricate security system by just taking the wrong turn! You came here for work?” the rude brawler asked. He was an interesting fellow – he wore a funny mask, one that reminded the girl of the Black Ops in Kumogakure. He couldn’t have killed one though, his punch barely left a mark and only pushed the girl away, it was quite fast though… “Oh… So I’m at Okano’s place, that makes things much more convenient…” Galateia gladly broke into giggles.

“Stop fooling around!” the fighter that “welcomed” her shouted out as he started throwing punches causing the girl to go on the defensive. Suddenly the girl felt a powerful impact to the back sending her crashing into one of the tangerine trees. Galateia could feel warm blood coming down her face – she must’ve hit the darn thing pretty hard and it was quite tough itself. “Oh, excuse me, Hirano, I didn’t see you there, I thought this girl was mine for the taking.” The other guard that must’ve hit her from the back apologized.

“YOU! YOU CHEATERS!” Galateia’s voice must’ve really intimidated the two men as they jumped back, they were clearly surprised by the fact that the girl took their deception on and lived. “Wow, she took my Air Wave technique unprotected and can stand up, impressive.” the one that attacked the warrior from behind scratched the back of his head and laughed out. The strange thing was not that the man laughed from her, it was because his face didn’t seem evil, in fact, it looked innocent and apologetic.

“We apologize, young lady, but you shouldn’t have come here!” the one named Hirano replied to Galateia’s outrage. Still, one thing that the girl hated was cheating fighters, even if they both have apologized it would have never worked. The girl just jumped up and charged at Hirano full of anger with her sword in her arm slashing at his direction, the two fighters passed through each other with their techniques colliding with each other’s. Pain, some strange sounds inside Galateia’s body and the girl coughed up blood. What was this?

“Hogo Kenpo!” Hirano explained as the girl tried to stand up through pain using nothing but sheer willpower. “The martial art that no sword will ever beat, it is unfortunate that I am your opponent, girl.” “Shut up! Cheater!” Galateia yelled out as she charged at the man again, she didn’t even see the man’s arms when he struck her, an endless flurry of weak but precise punches bombarded her body sending Galateia backwards, once again some more blood shot out of her mouth. “He’s hitting your organs, girl, you’d be wise to just turn around and leave you know…” the man who used “Air Wave” on her before spoke with a gentle tone – he really didn’t wish harm to her, did he?

Teia coughed and stood back up, she could feel pain all over her stomach area – that must’ve been the focus of the man’s style. Her sword felt so heavy, she must’ve taken quite a lot of damage, more than she could have imagined being able to take. Or maybe this man was one of those “assassin-fists” who stroke only the vital parts of one’s body to compensate for being puny. Galateia wasn’t too fond of those guys but in a way understood them, they wanted to be warriors just lacked the strength to be them.

“QUICKBLADE!” Galateia’s loud voice, twisted by pain yelled out as she started swinging at the man called Hirano. The two passed each other again, clashing their techniques with each other but once again Galateia fell down on the ground receiving every single blow the man threw. This time he targeted her joints, Hirano desperately wished to take her down. “Come on, Hirano… This girl had enough, don’t you think?” the nice guy asked with a sad tone, “I can’t help it, I’m hitting her in every soft spot but she doesn’t stay down…” Hirano shrugged not losing the sight of Galateia for a second.

“Give it up, girl, this mask belonged to a Black Ops member who praised his swordsmanship, you’re nowhere close his level and yet even he failed to beat my Hogo Kenpo.” Hirano shouted out looking around as about a hundred men surrounded the garden of tangerine trees. They must have all been Okano’s men. Galateia stood up and coughed blood up all over her white top – her vision was starting to get blurry, he must’ve tried really hard to hit her organs but while her organs took damage the overall damage Teia took wasn’t that great. Suddenly Hirano’s voice changed “You’re a stupid girl, if you have a death wish, then fine, I shall grant you your warrior’s death!”

The two ran at each other and jumped forward before clashing their attacks with each other again running past one another. Hirano’s mask cracked and fell down on his knees – one of his arms was broken and dislocated out of the shoulder. “H-H-How?!” the man pounded the ground, to him the battle was already over – he had only one hand to fight with. “My Hogo Kenpo beats any kenjutsu style, how!?” Galateia grinned as her blood covered face turned around to face her defeated opponent. “You were too cocky about you killing me to notice that I didn’t take my sword with me during my last clash, you didn’t clash with a sword but with my fists, one to punch your puny arm out of its puny socket, the other straight to your face!” Galateia grinned with her bloodied up smile.

“She got you there, Hirano…” the kind fighter who attacked Galateia’s back laughed out as the angry girl turned at him and lifted her fist at him. “Your turn, cheater!”

Spoiler:

Posts : 65

“Now, now, girl… You’ve done well, you’ve beat Hirano. I’ve seen him kill a Black Ops member once, there is no need for us to fight. You are in no condition and I am mostly to blame for that, I acknowledge my faults and…” the man tried to say something but Galateia had a nasty habit of not liking cheaters, she did not listen, just like that old man in the prison she had lost all control and become a killer. She charged at the man striking with a full combination of blows, holding nothing back.

Now that she used her Quickblade Galateia’s body was at its last straw, it wouldn’t have taken more to take her down for good so the girl didn’t wish to be hit again. For some reason the hundred men that she would have to fight later just stood and watched as she desperately used her Yoruma style against this man. Galateia hated using that, it symbolized her family: her hating parents who would have wanted nothing more but for their disappointment of a daughter to die, her cocky and arrogant brother who always was everything that father had always wanted.

“YORU NO HITOSASHI!”

Galateia’s delicate dance concluded not with a thrust but a slash. The man’s blood squirted out onto Galateia’s face and already messed up clothes as the man staggered back and fell down on the ground. He was losing a lot of blood and rapidly and yet… He was… Laughing… “Why?” Galateia did not understand, “Why didn’t you fight back properly, defend yourself?” the girl wanted to know. “Because I hit you unfairly before, I owed you a proper hit and I figured that the last hit would be the toughest… I think I miscalculated though, I don’t think I’m standing up after this…” the man on the ground laughed. Then his face got serious. “I have enough chakra for one more, leave now, girl, please!” the man said as the girl ignorantly took her fighting stance.

“AIRWAVE!”

A powerful gust of wind shot out of the man’s palm, Galateia thrusted her claymore into the ground and kneeled to defend against it. She had already been hit by it and knew how it worked, even if she didn’t face it. The damaging part wasn’t the gust itself, it was only half of it – the damaging part was the speedy force in which it tossed people around. Galateia could feel her armor and her clothes ripping to shreds, she could feel her body at its tensest point, at this point just about any other punch could’ve sent her down. As the gust finished Galateia lifted her head up, she used her sword to lift her tired body off the ground and tried to pull it out of the ground. She could barely even do that. She was tired…

“I suppose it’s a draw then, girl. I don’t want to bleed out so I’ll just keep laying down here, bleeding out slower than I would if I kept fighting, you can’t finish me because you just fought two of the strongest fighters in this small town… Please leave…” the kind man on the ground almost begged her. Galateia started staggering up to the man, she wasn’t going back, she wasn’t going to run away from a fight… She’ll fight… To the end… The hundred men around the garden held their swords and forks or whatever they carried to the place, some of them were afraid, some of them couldn’t wait but to stick their weapon into Galateia when she’s all done. The girl kept staggering to the man and kneeled up to him.

The man closed his eyes, he thought that she’d snap his neck or something but his eyes shot wide open once he felt Teia’s small and girly arm on his chest. “One… Two… Three… I win” she said with a tired voice as her hand then reached to the flask in the man’s pouch. Galateia flipped the entire flask up to her face and started drinking it like a horse. She then spilled it all over her wounded and tired body and started shouting out in pain.

The man on the ground laughed out as if he’d seen the funniest thing. “It’s tangerine juice, girl, it’s acidic, you don’t spill it on your wounds… What a silly girl…” “Shut up, Takato!” one of the hundred yelled out “Let’s kill her, guys!” the others yelled out as the hundred started rushing up to the girl but she looked them over with a killing glare. “So that’s what happened to this town’s fighters, huh?” she said with the same tired and broken voice “Attacking all hundred at once against a tired and beaten girl… Pathetic, I’ll tell everyone in Hell just how pathetic all you are! Selling your souls to this man…” she concluded as Galateia stretched out on the ground and relaxed waiting for the first sword to pierce her.

“But… But… We have nowhere to go, we have no money and since we have nothing to fight we can’t make money. We fighters are useless.” a voice instead of a blade reached Teia’s ear. The girl sat back up, her willpower and rage from hearing those words made her spirit burn much brighter than it had ever burnt before. “How dare you!!! A fighter complaining about having nothing to do is pathetic, it’s beyond pathetic. I’ve seen a kid spawned by one of you beaten and crying for her father, wishing to free her. Why don’t you fight to protect your families to begin with? Punch every asshole in the face who tries to hurt your kid, how about that?! A warriors battle is never over, not until they give up and stop looking for one! And as to having no money… I see an entire garden of tangerines, I see this big house… You guys are all fighters, aren’t you? You’re stronger than that idiot and his stupid security and if you’re not… To Hell with it then, at least you died fighting!”

The hundred started shouting out in the air, they started yelling out things like how they’ve never been paid once in two or three years and how they deserved to take everything away. Finally Galateia gathered her strength to stand up and sheathe her sword back, she had one more thing to do. The girl enraged by what she had witnessed this day entered the mansion and started looking around it until she could hear voices in a room. Galateia kicked the door down and quickly chopped down the two guards that rushed at her drinking down some more of that tangerine juice.

“Try offering me money! I dare you!” she uttered as she approached the businessman with her naked claymore covered with blood. “You’re just a useless dumb brawler with no brain, you don’t deserve to get paid! Brains make money, not…!” the man’s speech was cut short by his head being severed from his shoulders. “You’ve ruined this town’s spirit, you’ve held the heart of sword in your hands and pissed all over it… Aku-Soku-Zan, Okano!” Galateia shouted out as if the dead people in this mansion could still hear her. The two guards may not have been dead but the warrior cared little of them, maybe once they heal they will become fighters with more pride and heart.

Galateia turned around and wandered off into the tangerine garden. “That juice was good, I should get some and give Aoi some…” she thought as the warrior started making her way back to the town. She could see swordsmen and martial artists looting Okano’s mansion for their long deserved pay. Still holding her broken ribs Galateia kept walking forward, she had enough fighting for today. Maybe she’ll ask Hirano or Takato for a rematch tomorrow…

Spoiler:

[EXIT]

[MISSION COMPLETED]