Aein, another specter of the past. Taka was tired of his past shackling his actions, even as he looked upon his former comrade in arms. His eyes hovered on the sword held ready before him as he spoke firmly, “<You look good old friend.>”

Aeins reaction was what he expected, “<You aren’t Taka, do not pretend to be him. He died in Akashima fighting the Kuroi Taiyo!>” A finger pointed accusingly at Taka before he once again resumed his stance. The ronin sighed as he took up an Iaijutsu stance, preparing to strike first and hard. Aein looked upon the Ronin before he sheathed his own Katana and spoke furiously, “<And now you mock me by this duel. You are not him, do not pretend to be him. He was far above these petty acts.>”

“<You keep saying that, as if I died Aein, I am still here, as unceasing as the ocean. I will not be stopped by anything. If you will not let me pass then we shall duel for that honor,>” Taka replied firmly.

The others look as a small fight broke out amongst the others. Aein and Taka were in their own world as the Dark blade moved, carefully dropping his mask upon the ground. The Samurai looked upon the Ronin before he spoke finally a sense of their old relationship seeping through, “<You look horrible. You are succumbing to the taint, throw yourself upon your honor and end this farce Taka. Do not force me to kill you.>”

“<I ended up in this manner a year ago Aein, if anything I have only grown stronger and the taint has begun to lose the ground it was gaining on me. I can fight it, and I will prove it to you, no tricks, and no ruses. I will fight you as I am today,>” Taka replied simply.

Aein shook his head before he spoke, “<And what is this I hear of you calling a Gaijin master? No one born of outside of Akashima should be your Lord.>”

“<His cause is noble and pure. Which is more than I can say about yours…was I truly so lost that you felt a need to execute me like a common bandit?>”

Aein’s face became a mask at those words before he spoke firmly, “<Show me your stance and let us end this ridiculous twist of fate Ronin.>”

Taka took up his position as the two squared off, all else emptying in the world even as his eyes narrowed. The two of them watching the other for signs, Taka saw the subtle shift that indicated an imminent strike and moved with fluid grace, bringing his sword from within its sheath out. Aein smirked as he deflected the blow and carefully brought his blade tsuba first into his gut. The hilt of the sword wasn’t much, but with the strength of Aein and the weight of the hilt it was enough to catch Taka off guard, who was not wearing armor. As he was winded he saw the specters of his past taking on his current ally.

Guardians damnit! Not again!

Aein raised his blade to decapitate taka even as he shook his head, “<It was a good ruse Oni, but Taka would not have fallen as such. He was faster than this, smarter than this. Such crude swordsmanship was beneath him.>”

Taka coughed, as he shook his head, realizing something was off. There was no way Aein had grown that far ahead of him, not with the daily training the Ronin put himself through. Something was horribly off. Had his focused been shattered so completely? He carefully lifted himself even as Lilith’s words filtered through the fight. Taka merely shook his head trying to regain his focus before Aein moved in again. The katana flashed in the days light, slicing deep across Taka’s chest, and displaying the black blood upon it for all to see.

Taka watched as Aein came in again, with the intent of a killing blow, and taka barely managed to divert the blow aimed for his neck to one side, sending a similar stripe across his neck. He flinched in pain from the wound, as he locked eyes with his former classmate. He could see the anger the rage and the betrayal in the man’s eyes as he hissed, “<Die! You have no right using that body anymore!>”

“<I can’t, I have a duty to fulfill,>” Taka said somberly as Aein came in with another blow and the Dark blade again barely deflected it. This time he used his armor to take the brunt as he forced himself to his feet. He focused on his opponent even as his Ki flooded through the area, the first time in perhaps forever that he had done so, only to feel the wave stop cold when it came to Aein who shook his head.

“<You’re clouded, you can’t even focus properly, what manner of beast have you become Taka that you’d fall so low?>”

“<No beast, only a tired beaten warrior who came home in the hopes of seeing his family one last time…>” Taka replied as he deflected another blow, and another. As he resolved into action the deflections became cleaner and cleaner, showing more of the form he had been taught. No longer was this rote repetition of a defense kata, but was Taka taking stock of what was going on. He couldn’t attack and kill Aein, but he didn’t need to, only get away from the man. That was until Aein spoke once more;

“<I tire of this, he’s no warrior and they aren’t either. Kill them all and subdue Lady Kazumi, we’ll question her involvement with the tainted after the bodies have been properly disposed of…>”

At that moment a Priest stepped forward, the colorful robes done in reverence to the kami. A bolt of green lightning flew from her fingers as it struck Sachiko full in the back, causing the tainted woman to cry out in shock and pain. She hit the ground, smoke rising from her burnt flesh from where the light made contact a moan of agony leaving her lips. The priest merely nodded as she spoke, “<That’s one of them. I’ll kill that creature and move onto the next, any that resist should be treated as tainted as well…>”

Aein took up a ready stance his blade held at eye height even as his feet shifted farther apart. Taka recognized the half-moon death, a stance designed to give him multiple chances at feinting while forcing Taka to be wary of the counterattack. Taka carefully pulled the Wakizashi from it’s saya as he said softly, “<I am sorry my friend, but I can’t let you kill us all yet…>”