Ryu didn't know what kind of creature the figure in front of him was, so he was completely terrified by the sight in front of him.
Ryu was standing still, frozen in fear. It was like an ant against an elephant. Ryu stood there for a while, the silence deafening, until the Tengu spoke up.
"You are under arrest, do not resist," it yelled in an authoritative tone.
Ryu felt a shiver in his spine when the Tengu spoke.
Ryu put up a fighting stance out of instinct and fear. The Tengu saw it as a sign of resistance and raised its naginata, "Have no regrets in the after-life," and in a flash, it charged at Ryu, preparing to slash. The blade swung towards Ryu's head. Fortunately, he bent his back backward to avoid the slash. The blade missed, but the Tengu somehow maneuvered its body to be able to strike Ryu again. Ryu attempted to block with his forearms against the naginata's blade.
"Ah-"
Though it only lasted a blink, when the blade connected his arms, a flash of blue appeared.
*BOOM*
A huge explosion of dust occurred from the force of the strike.
While the dust hadn't settled yet, the Tengu thought Ryu died. The Tengu walked out of the dust and when he was visible, the crowd applauded.
"Good work, Ms. Miyako!" "Thank you for your service!" and such cheers.
Miyako was the Tengu's name. The crowd cheered as if the Tengu was their hero.
The Tengu's body was slowly dissolving into the air, slowly revealing a woman.
The woman was in a uniform that looked like just the other soldiers wore. She had black, bun hair to maximize efficiency. Her face had tons of scars, though not to the point she was unrecognizable. She had black monolid eyes. Even under a uniform, her muscles bulged out. She was quite tall, nearly 5'10. Her height only contributes to her authoritative figure. Even with her toned and lean body, she was still emanating elegance.
She shouted, "Everyone, stay away from here to avoid any further casualties."
Though she had authority, the crowd's love for her was too overwhelming.
The crowd was screaming and saying random stuff like:
"We love you, Miss Miyako!" "PLEASE MARRY ME, MISS MIYAKO!" "Let's publicly hang that guy!" "What?" "NO PUBLIC HANGINGS, PLEASE!" "HANG HIM!" "Does anyone here think her Tengu Shift is hotter?" "What?" "What?"
The crowds' cheers were getting more and more unintelligible. Miyako could only sigh in disappointment, though she ultimately smiled, "These guys..."
The dust finally settled and Miyako turned around, expecting a bloody body of a man on the ground, but there was no blood...
Ryu was lying down on the ground, unconscious due to the force of the blow. Miyako's mouth opened, "I- I swear I cut him with my blade, so why does he have no wound..."
Though shocked, she shook her head and went near Ryu, investigating his body, "My eyes are playing tricks on me..."
After more investigation of his body, "No way... He really isn't injured..." Well, aside from a few bruises.
Miyako sighed, still surprised. Her body glowed, and the glowing body of light morphed back into the familiar figure, the Tengu. She picked up Ryu without a hint of effort due to the strength of her Shift. Using her wings, Miyako flies away from the crowd. The crowd cheered for Miyako as she disappeared from the scene.
While flying, she could see the whole view of the city. She couldn't get enough of this view no matter how many times she had seen it. She breathed the fresh air up above the sky and then dived down like a falcon.
After a while, she reached another station. She landed with her claw feet on the ground.
A soldier ran out of the building and greeted her, "It's an honor to see you here, Ma'am!"
He bowed down in front of Miyako.
Miyako shifted back into her human form and yelled.
"Stand up, soldier, we have a problem here," she said in a stern tone.
The soldier stood up. The soldier was taller than her, standing at a height of 6'2, and looked average-looking.
Miyako smiled at him, "You don't have to be so formal around me, Ryota."
Ryota stood back up and faced her, "Thank you, Miyako..." He smiled sheepishly.
Miyako took Ryu from her shoulder and laid him down on the ground.
"Take care of this criminal for me," she commanded.
"Yes ma'am!" Ryota saluted her.
After that, Miyako shifted back into her Tengu form. Miyako's wings raised, and in a blink, it flapped down, creating a huge wind dust on the ground. Ryota covered his eyes with his hands. He smiled and looked up at the sky, "You're as amazing as ever, Miyako..." His cheeks were slightly pink. He looked down at Ryu, who was still knocked unconscious, and sneered at him, "Lucky bastard."
Ryota picked up Ryu and carried him into the building.
...
Ryota was carrying Ryu on his shoulder, as he walked around the interior of the building, he opened a lock with a key. When the door opened, it revealed a flight of wooden stairs descending down, getting darker and darker the more below you are.
Ryota went down with Ryu, still unconscious. As he was going down, it got darker and darker underground.
...
The stairs ended and the soldier was greeted by the sight of dimly lit underground cells, with bars made of wood, dirty from the age. As he was walking down the hall, many men rattled the bars, screaming with anger. Ryota kept a stern face as he brought Ryota with him. He arrived at the very last cell of the hall and opened the lock. Ryota opened the door and threw Ryu inside and went inside with him. He chained Ryu up to the wall. While he was locking Ryu up, a voice of an old man spoke, "New guy, huh?" Ryota ignored the man. "Don't be too rough with that kid." The old man laughed after. The old man's features were obscured due to the darkness of the whole place.
After locking Ryu up, he left and stood outside the cell, "That shouldn't have happened to you, sir..." He held back tears.
The old man went silent until he spoke again, "I didn't have a choice, Ryota."
Ryota stood outside silently for a while and walked away. The screams of angry prisoners and the rattling of bars came up again.
The old man was silent and observed Ryu, "Got roughed up, huh?"
He laughed.
...
...