Roanna woke up with a gasp, covered in sweat and panting. Her whole body was uncomfortably warm, a warm close to the one she felt when the air exploded before. Luckily, the feeling was quickly dying down, though the panic wasn't. Her own mana felt wrong, a cold and something feeling...wait, can something even be called a feeling? 

After thinking about that for a while, Roanna dismissed the train of thought. All that matters is that the feeling wasn't there any longer. What is more important is the fact that she is in some kind of room. The room itself looks nice, and the covering on the bed is a nice light purple color, and there was even some nice red flowers on the pillow. There was a small and subtle breeze that made the room not too hot and not too cold. There were also some flowers at the base of the bed, one that Roanna recognizes as the flowers of the Prime Minister, and there was some on the bed, which meant they were on her when she was sleeping.

Roanna was confused by this until she suddenly realized why people put flowers of their house or Clan in front of and on them. Yet, after thinking about it for a bit, she shook her head. That was impossible, after all. Plus, with the magic the Rōnin has, which Roanna could sense after she was done gawking at her skill in combat, she realized that the Rōnin had a lot of magic energy out in the air, which is why she was able to sense the crossbow. At least, that is what Roanna assumes happened. She could sense the crossbow and, because the Rōnin was facing the complete opposite direction so, which meant that she had to have used a lot of magic in able to detect the crossbow.

'Wait, why am I thinking that the Rōnin saved me? She's a Rōnin!' Roanna thought, but her own thoughts answered her own question.

'Why wouldn't she? She's a good person who helped you out. If she went this far, why wouldn't she help again? You were raised better than this.'

Nodding to herself, Roanna got out of bed and got ready to try the door when another door, not the sliding one but a more common wooden door, slammed open. Roanna blinked, then blinked again when she saw the Rōnin raise one arm up to strike her, pause, then promptly trip and fall to the ground due to her awkward and unprepared posture. She stayed there four four seconds before she jumped up and put one of her swords away, leaving her katana out.

"Y-you're awake!?" The Rōnin said, or did she ask? Roanna couldn't tell from the way she said it. It even sounded a bit like a demand.

"Y-yes, I am-" Roanna began before she frowned, Her throat hurt when she talked and her voice sounded frail and dry. 

"You...you do remember what happened, right?" The Rōnin asked, which caused Roanna to cock her head.

"Y-yeah, you s-saved me," Roanna said, frowning. She clearly remember all those events and, since the Rōnin is right here in front of her, after all, "Th-then I pa-"

Roanna broke off, coughing. Seeing this, a slight frown formed on the Rōnin's face. She was concerned, actually concerned, over this little girl. Of course, she wasn't as concerned as one would be, or should be, about a injured sick child. She wasn't one to care about things like these. In fact, she really couldn't have cared much at all. She herself actually found the injured young Lord at the very beginning, when she fell down the cliff. She decided, then and there, that if she managed to show her Janarn spirit, her Nostaliskian and Janarn heart, mind, and grit, she would help her. So, when the girl actually managed to stand up and move, let alone run when her killers came, or would-be-killers, she was actually and genuinely surprised. She decided, right then and there, that she will protect this girl and ruin her own pride by being saved and healed by a Rōnin.

'At least, that was the plan. Then, Douglas killed her...and now she's back like nothing even happened. The only reason that she could be alive would be her high magic.' 

"Wh-what's your n-name?" Roanna asked, leaning forward a little. As she did so, one of her bandages came loose, causing her to look down and examine her body. Somehow, she hasn't realized that all her wounds were either mostly healed or had bandages over them. 

"My name, huh?" The Rōnin asked, a bit taken back by the question. She honestly thought the young daughter of the Prime Minister would call her Rōnin, or Rōnin of the Swamp like most people do.

"My name is Sovanna. Now, what's yours?" Sovanna asked, sheathing her katana and putting her hands behind her back, "After all, it's only fair."

"M-my name is-" Roanna began before she once again broke out coughing. Then, instead of trying again, Roanna crouched down and pulled out a tiny hunting dagger from her boot, one which Sovanna decided to leave since she saw no harm.

What happened next was an actual surprise to the Rōnin. Roanna carved out her name on the floor, completely either forgetting or disregarding the fact that the house doesn't belong to her. At first, Sovanna thought she was doing it to be rude but, when she was done, after a good deal of struggling, she looked up at Sovanna, her eyes giving away the fact that she wanted praise.

Seeing the look, Sovanna stared, dumbfounded for almost a minute, before she burst out laughing.

"Ah, yer cute, you know that, right?" Sovanna said, clearing up the tears in her eyes. Upon hearing her words, Roanna started blushing furiously. 

"...Yer cute," Roanna whispered before, yet again, she broke out into a coughing fit, this time her coughs sounding much worse.

Sovanna's left eye twitched, just the slightest twitch, before she moved forward and picked Roanna up who, if she wasn't coughing, would probably be covering her head out of embarrassment, though her cheeks were even more red, and that wasn't from the coughing.

"Let's tuck you back in bed," Sovanna told Roanna, tucking her in and putting her hunting knife on the dresser besides the bed, "Stay here and get well. When you wake up, I'll serve you some food."

Roanna weakly gave a nod in response.

With no more reason to be here, Sovanna left the guest room and went out the door, leaving Roanna in the room alone.

 

 

........

 

 

Sovanna sat down on a log by a small lake a good way away from her house, or manor. Her eyes were trained at the calm surface of the pale water, her hands clenched together, and her hat resting besides her, revealing a golden crest tucked away near the top of her head. Unlike the crest the Sergeant Rōnin had, or former Sergeant, her crest was of a sun that has already rose and is now overlooking the land below. 

She didn't have a smile on her face, instead a frown with the corner of her mouth twitching every now and then, revealing her sharp teeth, and her eyes weren't narrowed, but still held an anger in them. The child, Roanna, is alive, and that complicates things. Once she found out earlier that she is the daughter of the Prime Minister, she went and looked into her and, in the process, learned her name and more of what the world outside her swamp is like. From what she found out, the Oda Clan is getting ready to declare war, or an "uprising". As such, along with a few Clans who are working with the Oda Clan, the Clans are getting ready for war, only a more war-war like the days of the past.

They were doing it subtly, of course, but that doesn't change the fact that they are. The Kensei* are training the samurai and getting ready to pay follow through with their oaths. The Sadisutou~oriāzu* will be holding up their side of their contracts, and the people were being trained, a chosen few going to train to become samurai. 

In this time, the fact that Roanna is alive, and in her care, meant her normal cozy life is over. Even if she went and threw Roanna out of the swamp, making her swear to not say anything about who saved her, the incoming fighting would drag into the swamp one-way or another. Without a doubt, the Oda Clan is responsible for sending assassins to go after Roanna, and taking care of her will put a target on her back as well. After all, no matter how hard she hides the child, they will learn of her being alive, and they will go after her again.

Because of this, the easiest choice would be the obvious one...or not. Once the fighting starts in the swamp, Sovanna could give Roanna to her house to have permission to ignore her house and existence, letting her live. She may be a skilled fighter but she cannot take on an army by herself, and any army from any Clan wouldn't hesitate to kill a Rōnin, no questions asked, no mercy given. At this point, with this title, even if she doesn't use Roanna as a bargaining chip, she would be made out to have been. At that, she could only sneer.

Yet, in the end, Sovanna chose the choice that suited her best. She will keep this child alive, angering the Oda Clan, and, when the Oda Clan comes to take her out, she will slaughter every last one of them that she can get close to. Her revenge against them is, without a doubt, going to be sweet. 

A smile formed on her face from just thinking of it. In her own head, she had mixed feelings about the old wars coming back, but, if she had to say what her biggest feeling would be, she will say relief. She hopes this new war drags out for a long time, and is just as brutal as the war she was in. The war that ruined her. Her honor, her glory, her fame, her friends, her new family, and shattered her goal so much that, now, she can only hope. Only hope that her goal will be achieved through the actions of others, something that bothered her so much that she has a hard time sleeping at night.

And, who knows. Maybe Roanna herself will be able to help. She'll have to use the child carefully, of course. But, until the time presents itself, all Sovanna can do is wait. Wait and wait and wait...

 

 

....Something she can do all too well.

 

"Hey! Sovanna, you okay?"

 

Sovanna perked up and turned her head, quickly changing her expression before she faced the man who called out to her. Said man was a big guy with blue eyes, broad shoulders, and a well-built handsome yet rugged body. His armor was foreign, being a mix of light grey and grey with a purple scarf below his neck with the arms of the scarf going down his back, and he had a strange light grey long two-sided straight sword that is foreign to Janarn. That would make sense if one learns that the man was not born in Janarn but came from the mainland, a much larger land mass known as Nostalisk, which is also the name of the world, which even the Janarn know. 

Since she found him along the shore, she was able to learn all about the mainland. How he got here is a mystery, but they both agreed that the ship he was on was destroyed, with the sea doing the rest. 

Though Sovanna will never tell the man, Darren Cross, this, she thinks him a gift from the Gods and maybe even an Apostle. She found him when she was at the end of her wits. Ragged, dirty, and looking for something to kill just for the sake of killing and taking her mind off her failures. She nearly killed him, using her magic to heal him up entirely, which left her so weakened that she could barely stand, then told him that she was going to kill him.

Even weakened and unused to the fighting style of Darren, she nearly beat him, stabbing him through the right side of his torso, her other arm ready to stab his neck, when he hit her on the forehead with the hilt of his sword and, with surprising and amazing speed, flicked his blade, cutting her face open, causing her weakened body to fail and lose consciousness. Yet, instead of killing her, he healed her, obviously not through the use of magic as she did him since he didn't have magic strong enough to do what she did, and brought her to a small little shack, one he made while she was still out cold.

The rest was simple. They went on a journey to find someplace to live, though Sovanna was using the journey as an excuse to find a Oda Devu to kill, which she did, and finally settled in a swamp they never managed to learn the name too. They've been here for seven years, living by themselves. 

Even though she was surprised when it happened, she knew it might happen eventually. She fell in love with him, or at least was very close to it. Darren seemed to have an inkling of how she feels towards him but never makes a move, much to Sovanna's disappointment and frustration. Yet, feelings of love aside, his presence here will not halt her plan. She knows conflict will come because of her actions, and if he dies because of it, then that's too bad. Sovanna is known simply as Rōnin for more than a single reason.

"Darren!" Sovanna cried, darting behind him and wrapping him in a hug. 

"Woah! Someone's happy to see me," Darren pointed out, giving Sovanna a warm smile as well as a raised eyebrow. He typically makes this expression sixteen times a day.

"Hmmm, yes. It's been a long day," Sovanna responded, snuggling deeper into Darren, ignoring the armor that he almost always constantly wears.

"Let me guess. It's about the dead girl, isn't it?" Darren asked, remembering seeing Sovanna bring her in and place her in the guest house.

"Well, you're correct about half of it," Sovanna said before, with an amused smirk, dropped the part he got wrong, "That girl isn't dead anymore."

"What!? She's a Revanimated*?" Darren asked, recalling how some mages used magic to raise the dead to continue fighting instead of healing them.

"Nope. She's just alive. It seems her high magic managed to save her, or at least that's my theory."

"Can I see her?" Darren asked, gently unclasping Sovanna's hands from around his waist.

"You can, but she's weak and, hopefully, listening to my advice to sleep and get better," Sovanna explained, walking over to her hat.

"Well, that's a shame," Darren sighed before wiping a leaf off his shoulder guard, "Did you figure out her identity?"

Sovanna paused for the briefest moment before she put on her hat and turned around. She has left out quite a lot of details and, seeing no need to tell Darren them now, decided to continue leaving him in the dark, hopefully until it's too late.

"No. All I got is that she is from a Lord's house, and not a lesser Lord. There will be assassins after her, as well as samurai, which may be an assassin in disguise."

Sovanna was lying. No samurai would be an assassin like that. Honor is everything for a Janarn, especially one that hasn't 'fallen'. Even the Janarn in the backwaters have honor. However, in order to keep an eye and keep Darren in check, Sovanna didn't tell them everything about Janarn society, and told him to stay away from the more civilized places since they will most likely lynch him.

That last part isn't entirely a lie either. As an complete outsider, many Janarn would assume him to be a rogue Rōnin Ravaner*. To not only be from a foreign land, which makes many think the Ravaner are mongrels, and some of the elders to think that using them would be dishonorable, the fact that there is a Rōnin one would put them in an even lower standard. In other, more simpler words, Darren would be treated worse than a Rōnin. He might as well be a loose prisoner at that point. 

That is why, if the two ever need to go to any public normal places not ruled by the backwaters, Sovanna would go.

"So, how do we know who can we trust?" Darren asked, casting a worried glance towards the barely visible guest house through the trees, "I mean, unless you plan to adopt her, something I doubt she or her father would want, let alone allow, we have to bring her back to her family."

Sovanna cocked her head, confused, before responding with slightly narrowed eyes.

"No, we don't. Besides, we'll know when and who to give her back to. Just trust me."

Darren met Sovanna's eyes and, for a while, they stared at each other. Then, after a minute or two, Darren nodded.

"You know that I do have trust issues because of you, right?" Darren asked, causing Sovanna to snort out of amusement. 

"Indeed. Yet, I assume that nod was a nod that meant you do trust me on ths, right?" 

"Yeah," Darren said, sighing, "I'll trust you on this."

Sovanna closed her eyes and gave a sweet smile.

"Perfect!" She exclaimed, her voice song-like...

 

....

 

....

 

....though the odd gleam in her eyes, hidden by her eyelids, would have made Darren question if he saw it.

 

 

 

 

Sadisutou~oriāzu: This group of people live up in the Valley of Mountains and, in order to make sure their own beliefs, land, people, supplies, and way of life isn't threatened, they made pacts with the Emperor to serve their Clans if need be and payment. Despite fighting wars for the Clans out of an agreement, one would be foolish to take a Sadisutou~oriāzu lightly, for they are known for their cruelty, brutality, and love for battle. Their beliefs rely on blood and, when they pay their dues, they take prisoners with them to do some kind of bloodsport, that "sport" being unknown to the outside world. Unlike what one would think, Sadisutou~oriāzu have great discipline, and have a code of honor very close to what a normal Janarn would have.

 

Kensei: Masters of the sword, these sensei teach anyone who wants to be taught the way of the sword, and often help train the Devu, including Elite Samurai, , and etc. Their weapon, the tachi, a blade at thirty-eight inches long, longer than it's original form, is perfect for their fighting style of slipping in between their enemies defences. Even if Kensei have a unique fighting style, they are adaptable and, as such, can fight against any sword technique they face...well, almost any.

 

Revanimated: Dead bodies brought back to life with only partial remains of their soul in order to fight some more. Not as strong as their former selves normally, once they serve their purpose, they go back to being dead until they get brought back to life by a mag that can actually heal them fully.

 

Ravaner: These people came from a strange island and have settled in along the coasts. They are known for their jolly personality, light blue in their outfits, strange weapons, and a strange new weapon known as a click-boom, a small curved device that fires a small dart-like projectile at high speeds, high penetration, and works at mid-range to close range.