There is a narrow path that leads to a booming city. A carriage took one such path. Its fare was manageable so people could afford it. Tengo rode in the middle of a man and a woman opposite a mother and her son. He had his head down, staring at his palm. The man beside him gave him quick glances. The women in the carriage were having a discussion about some dresses or other.
"Its really lovely, the design"
The woman beside him spoke.
"Well its true it is"
The other woman was hardly humble.
"Do tell where the fine tailor who made this for you is."
"Oh sure its–"
"Ah"
Someone sighed. It was a man, specifically the man beside Tengo. The man was Tengos father and the woman, his fathers mistress.
"What is it?" The woman asked.
"You should use your tongue to count your teeth Meredith"
"Oh Greeth, whatever do you mean?"
She giggled like a child. Some seconds passed before the women continued their discussion. Tengos knew the child opposite him was staring at him but he couldn't ask why, he didn't want to. The carriage came to a halt. It would have been fine if it wasn't in the middle of nowhere.
"That's strange"
The other woman muttered.
"I'll check it out"
And so the man got off the carriage and tugged the coach by his arm. The arm was limp and an arrow was stuck squarely in his forehead.
"No" His breath became shallow, he whispered to the passengers in the carriage about what he saw and what he had inferred. They were under attack. Most likely bandits. Tengo leapt off the carriage landing on his two feet looking from side to side without a care.
"What are we going to do?!"
The other woman clasped her son too her side. The path to the city had been mostly surrounded by grasses or shrubs though tall they couldn't do much to hide a person, but now this place was almost in the midst of trees so it was hard to see where anyone came from.
"This doesn't suit me at all"
A man came out of the thicket with a cross bow on his shoulder.
"Well well, you look like you're faring pretty well. Though I can't say I've struck gold."
"Is it money? We'll give you money"
Tengos father spoke.
"Of course its money, it's always money, money, money, money. Its tiring. So I'll be killing you all instead. I'll still take that money though"
All the while he looked like he needed rousing. He spoke like that too.
"Let my son go please, you can do whatever you want with me, but please spare my son!"
The other woman pleaded with her eyes but words meant nothing to this man.
"Whatever I want, huh? This is useless. I'm not into that stuff, why do you got to make it like that. I'm pissed,"
But he didn't look it at all.
"Maybe the leader's got to ease up on the women, making us look like a band of cocks"
He walked toward them with easy steps. The man drew his sword unceremoniously, it even looked forced like he was commanded to do so. Tengo's father was a hunter and so he always had a knife on him.
"Stay back, I'll handle him"
Tengos wasn't panicking but still his father put a hand on his head.
"It'll be alright now, leave it to your father"
Tengos nodded.
His father walked toward the man but at a faster pace in order to put more distance between the man and the passengers.
"Have at me!"
He shouted.
"Sure" the bandit mirrored, in a dilute tone.
They met in the grassy area. Tengo's father whipped his knife at the man reaching for his eye. He would stab his eye and dig into his brain. He would win. Life, wasn't that easy. The bandit flicked the knife with his sword, in that one sharp move, he shrugged off all the morale of the fight, the world now seemed dull and slow; as if it were in a doze. Tengo's father watched his knife deflected, his arm cut off, his other arm same and the horizon spin and turn before lowering to a staggeringly low depth. He was decapitated. But he saw it all happen, even till his head fell to the ground. What of the bandit? Tengo's father, who was supposed to be dead, looked up toward the bandit. He could see him better now, all his fear and blind rage had disappeared. The bandit was clean shaven, with black hair and he looked clean enough to fit into society without suspicion. His face was handsome and his eyes were heavy like they were half asleep, but the way he looked down on Tengo's father was the way you looked down at something ugly you didn't even want to step on, it wasn't disgust per say, it was just apathy.
"Next"
The bandit muttered as he walked past the now dead head of Tengo's father. The mistress was shaking slightly and Tengo was stiff. He didn't know what happened only that his father was on the ground. The mistress ran past Tengo toward her husband.
"No, this can't be! Greeth, dear!"
The bandit spared her none of his attention and just kept walking. Walking toward the other woman and her son. He sent their heads flying too.
"This is no better than flexing my arm, I'll just have to finish up quickly".
One thing was, whenever he cut them there wasn't so much as a drop of blood on his sword.
"You bastard!", The mistress was shaking with fury, the not so useful knife of the fallen hunter primed at the bandit.
"How dare you do this?! I'll kill you!" Her face was screwed up in anger, her hair disheveled. It stuck to her sweaty face.
The bandit wasn't pleased, or on close inspection he looked like he wasn't.
"Seriously, you can't just wait your turn can you?"
"He was everything to me, I'll kill you here! Now!"
"This is really strange, naturally the next scene should be you screaming and bawling your eyes out, but I don't mind, that would be boring."
The mistress rushed at the bandit and aimed for his gut, it was reckless and stupid and should have cost her her head at least. But it didn't. Something suddenly poked out through her chest, right in its centre. An arrow had made its home there and she dropped to the ground knees first.
"Careen, that little shit, what did I tell her about doing this every damn time." The bandit had an obvious frown, he looked furious.
Meanwhile The mistress was gurgling blood like a fountain.
"Ah, you haven't died, if duly trained you would make a fine warrior but don't mistake a woman's place. You couldn't even remember the simplest thing."
He gestured to something erect by the carriage.
"Ten–go" The mistress looked sad, her voice was weak, how could she forget?
"I'm so—" her head went flying. But it wasn't the bandit.
"Careen!" The bandit was fuming.
"She was being pesky, its annoying isn't it. I thought she should just die. Could you just kill the boy so we canp have at all their belongings I'm just itching to get me some good stuff, right?" she was all smiles for such a small girl. She wasn't much older than Tengo, but she killed as easy as breathing.
"No, that's four I've killed today. No more word from you, little shit. Damn, if it isn't kids or odd numbers. I hate it all. Hey brat, don't lag behind." he was referring to Tengo.
"If you want to live that is"
Tengo followed, it seemed like he wasn't there.
"Ah ah, no no, we aren't taking him are we? No, no!"
Careen through a fit, she was red with fury, normally you'd shrug it off but given what she had just done Tengo was on guard.
"No more out of you. You're just a tool. My tool, any tool of mine that's useless, gets destroyed. I'll make sure you get that by the time we reach the fort."
she began biting her nails, biting on the nails on each finger slowly.
"Where are we going?"
Tengo mouthed.
"To hell, your hell" the bandit said.