Masako looked up from her cup of water in surprise when someone sat down next to her, and her eyes widened in surprise when she discovered that it was a group of men rather than just one that had gathered around her. “So what brings you to this part of town, Boy-ya?” the man who had sat down asked. Masako immediately pegged him as the leader of the group, and the thought that someone like that had sat down to talk to her caused her voice to tremble a little as she answered.

[color=indianred]”I—I’m on the road to Shikagawa,”[/color] Masako said, naming a city a day or two down the road. She remembered the name of the city from her father’s travels, but apart from the geological location she didn’t know much else about the city. If questioned, she’d have nothing to say in return, and that scared her. The man next to her cocked his head in amusement, revealing a long, brown scar on the side of his neck that was smooth with age. 

“Funny, shouldn’t you have taken another route? You’re going awfully far from the main route to Shikagawa,” the scarred man said, examining his fingernails as the other men chuckled. Suddenly, it dawned on Masako that she was surrounded. [i]I’m going to die here?[/i] she thought, eyes catching on a glint of metal at one of the men’s waist. A dagger. [i]Then so be it,[/i] Masako thought, eyes hardening. [i] But I didn’t run this far to go down without a fight.[/i] 

Masako clenched the ceramic cup in her hands a little tighter. If she hit one of the men with the cup and shattered it, she could use a shard to stab at least one more before they were upon her. She took a deep breath just as someone cleared their throat behind the crowd of men.

[hr]
[@Damiann47]