I swing with roundhouse kicks and power front kicks. And, for the next minute I try to use the Defensive Martial Dodging, and try to throw as many back kicks(both the tactical and intensified damage attacks) ,elbow strikes and flying side kicks as I can.
You power kick the one most directly in front of you, and feel his bones crunch beneath your foot as he staggers backwards a step or so. Your roundhouse connects with the next guy solidly but not fatally, but as you continue around the circle with another roundhouse and another power kick, one opponent dodges the attack and the other takes it on his wooden armor.
Your back kick catches the guy with the cracked ribs, finishing him; the power back kick catches the other guy you already hit, and is enough to finish him as well. The elbow then does serious damage to one of the other two who hit you, but the flying side kick does not find its victim.
The guy who took the elbow misses as you move out of his way, but the other deflects the kick with a hit with the katana, weakening you further. It wasn't that good a hit, but at this point another of those would kill you, as you are bleeding from wounds all over.
Glancing over, you see that one of the samurai is now holding the herbalist prisoner.
You can continue to fight; you have at least one of every attack left. You could surrender and hope they take you alive.
--M. J. Young
I hold my hands up and say "I surrender, you have defeated me, Honorable Bushi."
It's just my luck that they would captor the herbalist.
The bushi stop attacking, but remain wary.
"Bind him," the Samurai guarding the herbalist says. "He is still dange--"
The samurai falls off his horse rather awkwardly, as a man in black appears, silk cord in hand, and with a deft move wraps the samurai in it.
Several other men clad in black come from the direction of the hut; the one that tied up the samurai is now pulling the herbalist toward the trees to that side of the hut. The others are scattering, confusing the bushi and hurling what must be shurikens at them.
--M. J. Young
Now THAT was unexpected! But, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I follow the herbalist and the ninja.
if a bushi gets in the way, I use a flying side kick or an elbow strike.
Now THAT was unexpected!
"Second mistake: never presume a man does not have ninjas at his disposal."
I traced that to an obscure webcomic. Does it have a better known origin?
You race that direction, doing a flying power front kick which injures the bushi attempting to block your egress, and in a moment you are behind the house. One of the ninja is waving to you to follow him into the woods.
Most of your belongings are in the house.
--M. J. Young
I follow the ninja into the woods. I can get my belongings later.
I traced that to an obscure webcomic. Does it have a better known origin?
The first Google hit is Hyperwings, which I have never heard of, but the origin is Shortpacked! - a less obscure webcomic.
Yes, Shortpacked is the obscure webcomic I identified as the original source. I'd never encountered it before, and I have encountered a few, but then I'm hardly well-informed on webcomics despite knowing a couple of author/artists.
Not far into the woods, the ninja holds up what appears to be a net covered with leaves, and signals you to get under it. Someone else is doing much the same with the herbalist, who is moving more slowly but is complying with the directive.
--M. J. Young
I hide under the net covered with leaves.
It seems likely to me that you've got an average amateur level of ability at what we call "Ambush"--in essence, the ability to use your environment to hide--or in "Stealth Hiding"--the ability to avoid being seen by blending into your surrounds. Is there reason to think otherwise?
The bushi rush into the woods a moment later; you hear them, but cannot see them. They stumble past you, close enough that you feel their footfalls in the ground.
You spend a breathless eternity under leaves alongside a man you've never met who may just have saved your life. He seems to be listening intently, eyes closed, to whatever is happening outside.
The voices become distant, and official-sounding. Still your rescuer remains still. You feel claustrophobic, cramped, thirsty, sore, and uncomfortable in a dozen other ways, but he keeps you hidden.
The light fades. There is still sound, but it, too, leaves.
"We go now," your rescuer says, and slides forward out from under the net.
--M. J. Young
"Do we have enough time to get a few things from the herbalist's hut?"
If yes, I grab my things and whatever the the ninja or the herbalist recommended we take.
Else, I follow the ninja.
OOC:That sounds about right.
The ninja scans the area in view, and shakes his head.
"They will be watching. They expect you to return soon."
Without another word, he slips deeper into the woods. You feel the pain of the injuries you received in the battle.
--M. J. Young
I'm going to feel these wounds for a while.
I follow the ninja and try to be as stealthy as I can.
As you increase the distance from the herbalist's home, the group trades stealth for speed; you've probably gone a couple miles when they stop.
"Master," one says to the herbalist, "are you wounded?"
"Only my pride, Edge. I should not have been surprised so."
"Then you should tend to your apprentice."
"Yes, but I have no medicines with me. I may have to scavenge for something."
"We will help, if we are able."
He examines you, tearing bits of your clothes to make bandages for some of your wounds and bracing your ribs at a sore point. You feel a bit better.
"That is the best I can do here," he says. "He will need much rest."
"We can get him to a village where he can rest," Edge says, "but we should not leave you in the same place, or he will be found again."
Edge turns to you. "What should I call you?"
"Who trained you? Where did you learn your techniques?
"Where are you from?"
--M. J. Young
"My name is Eli. I don't know.
I can't remember past a year ago.
I think I was hit on the head or something."
"Hmmmm. Don't know what kind of name 'Eli' is, but I guess it doesn't matter. I'm called Edge, these are Pacer, Leap, Stars, and Flash. Obviously you're a ninja; you've been trained. But no one around here knows those techniques, so we don't know who trained you. It's more like Sumo than anything else, but it's not like any Sumo I've seen.
"Get some rest now. We'll be moving in the morning. Flash will bring you some food in a bit."
--M. J. Young
"There is one thing I want to ask before I eat and rest.
Why do the ninja fight the bushi? I can't remember.
"Would it not make more sense to ask why the bushi fight the ninja?" he replies, but seeing that you are genuinely confused, he sits beside you.
"Our most holy Mikado, Son of the Goddess, and his Kuge, may they be blessed and shielded from all worldly matters, give the Bushi power to run the country. The Shogun, highest of the Bushi, directs the Daimyo to collect rice from their people, and the Daimyo send their Samurai and Bushi to take the rice grown by the heimin. But the demands of the bushi exceed what the heimin can spare, and so the heimin live in starvation levels, surrounded by food they cannot afford to eat because the Bushi will demand it for their Daimyo, who will in turn give much of it to the Shogun. The wicked Shogun and all the Bushi with him live comfortably lives on the rice taken from the heimin. We steal it back from them, and return it to those who grew it so they can survive.
"Do you remember now?"
--M. J. Young
"That sounds familiar. Thank you Edge-san."
I try to relax as I wait for the food.
Yeah, it sounded familiar to me, too--somewhere between Robin Hood and Leverage. But hey, it's a good plot.
Food comes, dried rice cakes with honey; then everyone gets as comfortable as possible on the forest floor.
You are rousted from sleep in near total darkness, a hand over your mouth. Edge speaks: "Quiet! they are searching the woods; we must move quickly and quietly."
I believe you have your stick; that's the only gear you brought.
--M. J. Young
Actually, I only have the cloths on my back. There was no time to grab anything during our escape.
I try to follow Edge as quietly as I can.
You move clumsily through the forest; fortunately, the searchers are making so much noise themselves that they are unaware of your movement in the dark.
Your path at one point has you wading in the cold waters of a mountain stream, and through some difficult thickets, but also over some open rocky ground before you settle, perhaps two hours later as dawn approaches.
"Again, rest," Edge says.
--M. J. Young
I try to rest again.
The ground is not so soft as the forest glade in which you last rested, and you feel the ache of the wounds administered by your opponents, but you manage to sleep fitfully and awaken in daylight.
When you awaken, it is just you and edge; the others are gone.
"We must move as soon as you are able," he says. "The bushi still seek us."
--M. J. Young
"Let's go then."
When we are walking I say to Edge
"When we get to the village and I have recovered from my wounds,
Will you teach me your techniques?
My master didn't teach me anything that didn't pertain to his style."
"If we cannot return you to your own people," he says, "you will join us. We will see what you know and teach what you need to know."
You no longer have the herbalist traveling with you; he apparently is with one of the others. You spend another night in the forest, but Edge says that it is not really so far to the village, but necessary for the bushi to think that you went a different direction.
--M. J. Young
I rest and travel as instructed, until we arrive at the village.
You arrive at a village late the next day, similar to the one from which you left months ago, although perhaps a bit larger. It, too, is surrounded by rice paddies, and most of the population works in them.
Edge says, "I go no further with you now, friend. Ninja do not exist. From that cottage closest to us, count three more straight in and ask for Domei. Tell him you are wounded and were told you could receive care and assistance from him; tell him, too, that you were apprenticed to an herbalist, but he was taken in the night and you do not know where he is. All of that is true enough, and Domei will not ask questions you cannot answer.
"Someone will contact you soon."
--M. J. Young
I follow Edge's instructions.
Domei is younger than the herbalist you knew, but older than you. He apparently learned his craft from your teacher, and is the healer in this village.
Examining you, he notes that you will need a great deal of care. "You are fortunate to be alive," he says. "Hopefully we can treat your injuries well enough that you can continue to be fortunate."
He has a hut similar to the one in which you previously stayed, but a second smaller building behind it outfitted as a sort of guest bedroom. He says that you can stay there, and that he and his wife welcome you into their home, but please announce when you are entering.
His wife is at the moment out getting food.
--M. J. Young
"Thank you for your hospitality. I'm going to rest in your guest hut for now.
I'll try to help around here when I'm healed up a bit more."
"Your job for the moment is to become well. Rest now; there will be food in a couple hours."
You fall asleep on the mat, and are awakened a bit later by Domei, who has rice with bits of fish, and fresh hot green tea.
--M. J. Young
"Thank you, Domei-san. How long do you think it will take me to recover?"
I will eat the food as I listen to him.
"You will need to rest and recuperate for two to three weeks, at least," he answers. "We will do our best to shorten the time."
He asks about your time with your mentor, and what you learned from him.
--M. J. Young
I tell him about the herbalism I learned from my mentor.
He listens, nodding. "You could start your own practice, with what you've learned," he says; "but I think if you work with me you can learn more--that is, if you wish to do so. I do not know what you plan to do, and there is not that much work in a village so small as this, but with your master no longer in the mountain pass, we may get more."
He gives you different teas and broths during the day, some which he says will dull pain, some which will help healing, and some which will help you sleep. Most are already familiar to you, but he has a few that you had not known.
The bruising and other injuries go deep, and some of them do not show on the surface for a couple days after the fight. Gradually, though, you are restored to full strength. There comes a day when he tells you that you can resume your normal activities. As he promised, it has been about three weeks.
--M. J. Young
I will help Domei with his patients and around his house while I wait for the ninja.
You work with him for several weeks. Summer is drawing to an end.
After dark one cool night you are wakened with a hand over your mouth.
"Be still, Eli; it is Edge."
He waits for you to calm then moves a step away in the darkness.
"Come," he says. "You must not use your name tonight; you will be Mantis. Tell no one that you are Mantis when you are Eli; tell no one that you are Eli when you are Mantis. Only I and one other will know that Mantis is Eli.
"I have clothes for you, but it would be better if you do not change here."
He waits for you by the door.
--M. J. Young