DREAMS of a CLOUD
Peruse the many random ramblings of a writer-in-training as I build stories and develop my craft.
19 September 2023 part 2
That was when the charging ushi-oni arrived and crushed both with its spider legs, each as large as Hanako herself. Hanako narrowly avoided its charge, and swung at a bearded blue oni that appeared beside her. He blocked the attack with his tetsubo and uppercut her with his offhand, jarring her out of her rage.
All at once, all the pain she’d been ignoring crashed down on her at once. Burns stretched down both arms and her sides, and by the pain she felt each time she drew breath, Hanako was fairly certain she’d at least cracked her ribs.
29 October 2022
Once she arrived, over half of it was already aflame. Soon she arrived at a makeshift tent that had been set up, which seemed to serve as a hospital of sorts. Among the handful inside, the boy who’d lifted a sword too big for him lay on a cot, clutching his stomach. His sister sat next to him, clutching his arm as she pleaded, “Satoru! Satoru!”
28 October 2022
“I only do the will of the shogun.”
They held each other’s gaze for just a moment. With a yell, they charged at each other at the same moment. Once they’d crossed paths, the blade of the general’s sword fell to the ground where it had been cut, and he began to bleed at the throat. Yet he still had time to whisper, “Magnificent,” before he collapsed to the ground.
Moments later, Hanako sank to her knees, and for the first time she noticed the tears that had been streaming down her face. She looked down at her blood soaked hands, and then screamed to the sky.
24 October 2022
The archers fired at Hanko, but she dodged them and closed in on the nearest swordsman. She drove her fist into his solar plexus and dropped him, and then kicked one of the fallen trees into the chest of the other one.
Suzune began to laugh, and unable to contain herself any longer, she jumped in. She swung the kanabo down as she landed, but Hanako rolled backward, clearing the log behind her.