Authors: Matt Stephens
"Yasi!" Tecca called out in relief, and he ran to her side. She stepped between him and the Riverfolk without hesitation, her sword held out to the side, ready to swing.
The attackers saw this new opponent and hesitated, drawing their own weapons, Throwing knives, spear gun, machete.
Yasi's grin was cold. "I want to thank you boys. You have no idea how bad I was feeling about myself until just this moment."
There was no hesitation as she strode toward them, in no particular hurry. The Riverfolk split up, taking her from opposite sides. They had been trained, they knew how to fight as a team, how to avoid getting in each others way. Yasi didn't care.
She struck, wasting no time on elaborate techniques. No showing off, no holding back, no doubts or worries. This wasn't a sparring session with a friend, this wasn't showing off her agility to Shinobi recruits, or making sure the kids respected the warriors of their world through intimidation.
This was an execution in the making.
The New York Ninja was cutting loose.
~oo00oo~
Vincent woke up to numb agony.
Worse than the pain was the sheer weakness in his limbs.
How long was I lying here?
He thought bleakly.
How long have I been unconscious?
His limbs moved like they were filled with lead. He could feel the darkness creeping in on the edges of his vision. He gasped as fire lanced through his spine, and he started to crawl.
~oo00oo~
They fought back, bigger than she was, brutal and warmed up. She met them with cold fire. Her sword flashed in the moonlight, but Yasi knew better than to limit herself to it, her whole body was a toned, lethal weapon. What she lacked in size she made up for with grace, and her twisting form was impossible to predict or pin down. They were throwing everything they had at her and weren't even getting close.
Yasi's sword flashed, again and again; sharp enough to slice the spear-gun clean in half. She was able to block the machete; her sword stronger and sharper. Their blades chipped against the katana, but Yasi was not satisfied with that, slicing lower, through her enemies themselves. The first of them howled at she took his arm off at the elbow. He dropped, leaving Yasi with only two opponents.
But Yasi was wasting no time on showing off, she needed to wrap this up fast and see to her friend. The Riverfolk fought as a team, withdrawing out of sword-length when the other got in tighter. The one that pulled back had throwing blades, and he took aim, ready to throw. Yasi flicked her blade up to hold it like a spear, and she beat him to it, throwing her sword forward. It tore into him savagely, and she turned to her final opponent, not wasting the time it took to watch the second fall down.
The final opponent tried to get in close, to make sure she could not use any of her martial-arts moves to throw him or give her attacks any power. Yasi didn't even blink. She let him get close, clapping her hands around his neck. He was easily two feet taller than her, and she planted a boot on his knee, boosting herself up to climb his body like a jungle gym. In seconds she had a leg wrapped tightly around his head, putting him into the bend of her knee, and she dropped. The weight of her body brought her leg around, and his head with it. There was a crack, and the Riverfolk Warrior dropped with her.
Tecca was still clutching the crossbow, apparently forgetting that he could have reloaded it by now. Yasi took it off him. "Where's Vincent?"
~oo00oo~
It felt like hours, and he'd only managed to drag himself eight feet down the alley.
He had to get out of the alley. He had to get back to the street, where somebody would see him. He reached one arm out. He reached, grasped the concrete and pulled himself forward. Gasping for breath after that exertion alone, he did it again.
Reach, grasp, PULL! Another six inches. Reach, grasp, PULL! Five inches that time. Reach, grasp, PULL! Nine inches. Getting faster.
Things were going dark, even in the night time. He wasn't going to make it to the street. It was twenty feet away; an impossible distance.
His vision started to tunnel, the rain cooling his blood as the darkness closed in, and all he saw ahead of him was a sewer grate.
"…Help…" He pleaded weakly. "...h'lp... help me..." Somehow, he heard his voice, like it had become a living thing. His words passed into the grating and suddenly became alive, echoing down the pipes into the darkness beneath New York City.
Vincent was just so tired, so tired…
"Oh no..." He heard a voice from another life whisper gently over him, whiskey and promise in her worried tone. "Vincent? Vincent, it's me. Can you hear me?"
Calloused fingers stroked his face and he gasped wetly. "Yasi? Is that you?" He croaked, and passed out again.
~oo00oo~
Connie checked her make-up for the fourth time. She knew how good she looked in this dress. Vincent had seen it six months before on the morning of their one-year anniversary and was still trying to get his breath back when they'd met that night...
She wasn't vain by any stretch, and wasn't used to being the centre of attention. Vincent put her at ease about that, making her feel beautiful no matter where they were... But she was still waiting for him, and she felt people's eyes on her.
She fiddled with her watch, her silverware, her napkin. He was late. He was supposed to be here over half an hour earlier. Being on time wasn't either of their strong suits. Vincent could have been caught up by something. Once, she'd thought he'd stood her up and discovered it was because he'd helped a total stranger fix a flat tire...
Connie checked her make-up again, more to give her fingers something to do than anything else.
Where is he?
SEVEN: "That's Round One…"
It had taken Yasi and Tecca together to hoist Vincent down to the Labyrinth. The entrance was close, and even with her odd cargo, Yasi's footsteps through the labyrinth were certain. The Gremlins and the Borrowers were willing to help the Shinobi, mostly out of fear; but Yasi knew that she was going to catch hell for this.
The Healers didn't care that their patient came from Above, they went right to work, and Yasi quickly sent Tecca back to the surface. One glance at Dorcan's expression and she decided to go with the boy.
By the time they reached the surface, it was too late. Wotcha's body had been discovered, as well as the limb Yasi had personally sliced off. The Riverfolk had vanished. People were already gathering around to look. Police tape kept Yasi from getting any closer, searchlights set up to shine on the crime scene.
Their manhole was certain to be noticed, so the two of them doubled back and found another way up, observing the scene from a rooftop across the street.
Tecca never took his eyes off Wotcha; even as the NYPD swarmed.
Yasi reached out and rested a hand awkwardly on his shoulder, but the boy flinched away, still scared of her.
Yasi drew her hand back, and wrapped the long black coat around herself, drawing inward. "You okay?"
"I missed." Tecca said dully. "She was lying on the ground, and I had the crossbow, and I missed."
"It would have changed nothing." Yasi said seriously. "They left one behind to finish off her and Vincent, the rest chased you. You can't reload a manual crossbow that fast. You would have been chased by two instead of three and it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference."
"I know."
He was still shying away from her. She drew herself taller, casting a silhouette against the night sky, and put a little more power and force into her voice. It was a perception trick that could make grown men shudder. Archivist used the technique all the time, and Yasi used it now. "Tecca." She commanded. "Look at me."
The boy did so, tears still streaming down his face.
"Wotcha loved you, and she had faith in you. I have faith in her, and so I turn to you. You're The Watcher now. Whatever reason they had, their plans are only beginning, and I will stop them. The Riverfolk have forgotten that our Eyes are on them always. And you, Tecca: You are our Eyes now. Do you understand?"
Tecca wiped his face instantly, getting his eyes clear at once. His shoulders straightened. "Yes Shinobi,"
"Then keep watch." The New York Ninja commanded. "Sooner or later, someone will come. Someone that's not a part of the City Authorities."
"Someone will come for Vincent." Tecca thought aloud.
"When they do, you will follow." Yasi told him. "Whoever attacked Vincent failed, and their next step will be to find him again. They'll go to his loved ones."
"Are you sure?" Tecca frowned.
"I would." Yasi said simply. "I'll send backup for you."
"You think I'll need it?"
"Sooner or later. Probably sooner." Yasi confirmed; and unslung her scabbard, drawing it a few inches, so that the blade was visible. "The Sensei said that this blade was made by the greatest Master of the last five hundred years. It has passed down through generations of Kendo Masters, teacher to apprentice. The Sensei said that this sword in motion was the wrath of the lightning. For longer than you've been alive, Wotcha and I kept watch, her over the city, and me over the Underside. When the sword was needed, she told me where." She paused, drawing the sword and lowering it to rest the flat of the blade on his shoulder gently. "As her chief apprentice, and her kin... You are The Watcher now. You direct the Lightning."
Tecca shivered, and turned his eyes back to the crime scene. "I'm ready." He declared, turning back to her. "I won't..."
She was gone.
"...let you down."
~oo00oo~
Vincent felt like his brain was disconnected from his body. He felt movement, but wasn't sure if he was being moved, or if he was imagining it. He couldn't make his eyes open, couldn't make his limbs move... But he didn't see any reason why he should. There was a distant ache, which felt like it should be worse. It was almost a pleasant feeling, to be apart from his body, and let the sounds of his surroundings wash over him.
Voices. He heard voices. Familiar voices.
Keeper's voice was sharp with disapproval. "This is ridiculous. I told you to do it quietly. This is not doing things quietly. This is smack dab in the middle of the
opposite
of doing things quietly!"
Another voice answered her, with the familiar balance of whiskey and promise. "I know what you're going to say…"
"Good. Then I won't waste time." Keeper snapped. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that if I didn't bring him down here, he would have died."
Yasi?
Vincent whispered, but only in his own mind.
"But why here?" Keeper demanded. "They have hospitals up there too!"
"I couldn't take him to go to an Above hospital. If I did it myself, there would have been questions. If I called an ambulance, it wouldn't have got there in time. He was lying there next to one of ours, as well as three Riverfolk... if I let his own kind treat him, there would have been questions he couldn't answer. He recovers here; he can tell his people anything he wants when he goes back."
"Would you still have decided that if it was someone you didn't know?" Keeper challenged.
"I had to make a choice. I could either bring him here, or I could let him die!" Yasi argued.
"Then why didn't you let him die?" Keeper demanded.
Don't I get a vote in this?
Vincent wanted to say, but he still couldn't seem to make his eyes open.
"Why would Riverfolk come to the surface to attack Vincent?" Archivist asked, his deep voice, like the rolling thunder, was unmistakable.
"They wouldn't. They can't. Wotcha found bodies over near the Hudson. They were stripped, but they showed all the physical symptoms of a fatal case of the Bends."
The voices faded slightly, the tones becoming jumbled. He was having trouble finding voices, putting them with names and faces. The words washed over his muddled brain. Except Yasi. Her voice was still crystal clear to him.
"When was this?"
"Years ago. I told you about it."
"Oh, that. I thought that was a clan war."
"So did I, but apparently not. Somebody cleared out the Lowlands and the River." Yasi explained. Even in his state, Vincent could tell she was worried. "Whoever's down there now... It's not us. Not even Riverfolk."
"As I recall, we couldn't find anything down there to tell us one way or another. Well. Except for the graffiti."
"And you didn't tell Vincent about that, did you?"
"No." Yasi said calmly. "I also didn't tell him about Owen. So before you get sore at me for bringing him here; just remember; any one of us could have stopped this long before now. It's my mess to clean up."
"Does Tecca know about Wotcha?"
"The kid's not an idiot. He already knew. I put him back to work. Dorcan's up there now with his team." Yasi answered. "What about Connie?"