"Okay, today you all will be hunting for the village!" Lord Mirai declared, his hands on his hips as he stood before us at the gates. He carried a look that only gave me a bad feeling—a chill of fear and uncertainty crawled up my spine.
Many others gripped their blades, the same emotion churning within them. Their confidence wavered, having only wielded a weapon as recently as yesterday. Despite it not being a real battle, our hearts felt like they were seizing up in our chests.
"You okay?" one of my comrades asked, his expression filled with concern, though it was clear he carried his own anxiety. His name was Benimaru, one of the warriors who had joined alongside me in this makeshift army of six.
He shared a complexion similar to mine, but his iris color was a mystery—his eyes always seemed to remain shut. The most intriguing thing about him, though, was his blonde hair, a rare trait in Edo, or most of Japan.
"I'm fine…" I muttered, turning to face the front once more. The sound of my blade shifting at my side accompanied me as Lord Mirai continued his speech for our first hunting send-off.
"You all were exceptional during the course of this month," he praised, as usual not giving his full effort even in his compliments. His gaze panned across all of us, a soft smile on his face. "However, now it's time to put those skills to the test, while also giving you a new skill entirely."
"You will work as a team.
Whoever leads and whoever follows will be up to you," he informed us. "This will be the only time I'm overseeing you as well. This will be our main source of food, so you'd better get used to it after today."
"Yes, my lord!" we all said in unison, and before we knew it, we were off into the forest. But there was nothing that could have prepared us for what was to come.
The sun had reached its apex, shining down on the forest that kept us covered. Patches of sunlight leaked through the leaves, glistening in our eyes as we searched.
"What are we even looking for anyway?" pondered one of our six samurai, a bald-headed man named Fuu. He carried a katana at his side that he hardly knew how to use, always complaining it was too light for his liking.
"I say we should hunt rabbits. They're easier to catch and plentiful," suggested a young boy with dark blue-tinted hair, wide brown eyes, and a confident smile. His name was Takeshi.
"Even so, catching them would be a hassle, Takeshi," another argued, folding his arms as he walked. He clearly wasn't at the ready, his eyes wandering up toward the sky as though his mind was elsewhere, no longer aware of his surroundings. His name was Renma.
"Could always look for bird eggs," our final member threw in, he was the latest to the batch, seemingly indecisive on whether he wanted to fight for this place, even now. He had long cyan hair, his bangs exceeded the length of his ears, framing his childlike face and yellow gaze. He's known by us as Aoi Ren.
As they bickered amongst themselves, I remained quiet, the eeriness of the forest unsettling to me. It was as if nothing was left behind; the occasional song of chirping birds, the sound of frogs croaking by the nearby pond—all swept up in the wind.
"Weird…" was all I could manage to mutter as the feeling ate away at me. Even the grass had stopped their carefree dance as the wind had stopped for a brief moment.
"Pst—hey, over here!" Takeshi hissed with a gleeful grin. He kneeled nearby a bush, his hands moving the branch just enough to see. We huddled around him in curiosity, our eyes widening to meet a rabbit sitting so carelessly in the middle of a clear patch in the forest.
Its fur was as white as pure fresh snowfall. Its button-black eyes scanned the area around it as it nibbled on whatever food it found within the area.
"I got this," Fuu said with a malicious grin, pushing past all of us despite our silent protests as he carefully unsheathed his blade. However, the minute he stepped foot on its plainfield, it was alerted, its head snapping to its newly found adversary with its beady black eyes.
The tension in the air thickened as Fuu stood frozen, his cocky grin fading into a more uneasy expression under the rabbit's unwavering gaze. It seemed unnatural for a rabbit to hold such intense eye contact, especially with a predator so close. My grip tightened on my own weapon as I watched, something about this moment filling me with dread.
The rabbit tilted its head slightly, still watching Fuu as if calculating his every move. The air felt heavy again—silent. Even the wind, which had briefly returned, seemed to halt once more, leaving the forest in an eerie stillness.
"Why is he hesitating?" Renma muttered under his breath, his casual demeanor now replaced with concern.
Fuu, visibly sweating now, took another step, raising his katana as he prepared to strike. But as soon as his foot touched the ground again, the rabbit bolted, faster than any of us could have anticipated. It wasn't just quick—it was unnaturally fast, a blur of white fur that disappeared into the thick brush in an instant.
"What the hell...?" Fuu lowered his sword in disbelief, his bravado completely shattered, and as if to add salt to injury, something heavy pushed off his shoulders in a hurry, causing him to stumble to the ground, his face buried in the grass.
"It's getting away!" Aoi exclaimed with an almost cheery sound to his voice as he started to chase after the rabbit, not looking back to the comrade he used as leverage to be airborne.
The rabbit ran as fast as it could, but Aoi's movements were swift and graceful. With ease, he kept his pace, dodging the many trees the rabbit would squeeze through just to get him off its tail.
The boy raised his arms to grab onto a branch, using the momentum to lift him up and push off it to another. The gap in his sandals acted as leverage on the thick branches as he jumped from one to another.
"And he's gone—" Benimaru murmured, his hand over his gaze to help him make out the small silhouettes.
"We better get moving or we'll lose both of them!" Renma declared, making his way through the bush, bumping into Fuu along the way, causing him to fall back into the high grass below.
"Hey, watch it!" He roared as he stumbled to his feet once more, the others trampling over him as well before I finally came to his aid.
Uncertainty clouded my vision all the while, something telling me that this would be no ordinary game of chase the rabbit…