('No' by Public Enemy)
Musashi walks the road with Akari and Mariko, running around and playing
behind, diving into bushes and jumping out at each other and fighting with sticks, then tumbling back into the bush.
He maintains his stoic 'hero walk', hand rested casually on belt to the fabric of the broken blade as they roll around playing behind on their way.
They freeze and look then jump back to the bushes. His hand flies, unraveling the blade to the view.
____
A wave splashes against the bow of the departing ship, dipping the aft. At it's lowest point, Musashi's blade strikes the aft hull, then pulled taut in it's lowest dip.
Slacked with the counter splash rise, the woman set to be stoned in the village sails over from the snap-pull of the ribbon, landing behind the crow's nest, a small circular enclosure set on a slightly larger square platform.
She climbs behind and curls the blade's fabric around her arm, then laying down to sleep.
____
The village burns as she walks away into the wood.
Days pass as she wanders, sun raging across the sky while she walks the path, off the path, to the hunt, the feast, and to the path, the sun chases the moon.
She settles into the cave to sleep ...
________________
The scene pulls angrily back to the Magistrate and the dervish rumbling.
The magistrate leans back and rests his hand on the blade's hilt to his right, looking at his guest, then up to the woman walking down the stairs behind the dervish.
Magistrate - A smile, returned as she walks to the kitchen. Then after she's gone he leans in, "I will marry her one day you know."
The dervish stares in rage, his furnace chest burning and grinding, breathing hard through gritted teeth.
The Magistrate smiles leaning back to read, Mariko and Akari watch the guest with curiosity, occasionally whispering to each other.
________________
A man's arm is raised before a beggar. Musashi cracks his neck, grabbing his two blades, long and short as he falls.
Musashi - To the beggar, "That's not as easy as it looks."
Samurai behind - "! You !"
Musashi - Glancing behind then back to the the beggar, then a drink, "Would you like their coins ?" He smiles and turns twirling with blades spinning ...
('Take Me to the River' by Annie Lennox)
Gara, the priestess of the temple watches the bandit choke
on his wine. His two swords drawn by Hidarite and Migite, used then on the
two bandits behind them as the temple turns to action.
____The stranger catches a stone thrown at her in the village.
____
Musashi lets loose his ribbon blade ~
____
Time slows to near stop as the stranger leans back, un-ravelling the ribbon blade with a spiral behind her. Stones nearly hover as she kicks one back to the thrower, turning over as the blade enters an attacker.
She pulls hard as the kicked stone strikes the other, pulling the man down as the blade flies to the next target.
____
Temple tools then stolen blades are used to quell the drunken attackers, led by Hidarite and Migite while the Gara watches lighting her pipe. She observes their method with approval as would a teacher.
She exhales smoke with a laugh at the crashing sound.
____
Musashi strangles one over his shoulder while shoving the jagged blade beneath and armor plate on another. He tosses one coin bag into the pile before the beggar then kicks the other over as it falls.
The beggar laughs clapping ...
____
In slow time the blade spins through the crowd cutting, a swirling of cloud over head. Tears fly from her eyes as she spins, it rains. A lightning and thunder brooding above.
In the spinning views Mariko and Akari dance through the crowd as it looks up.
____
Musashi sits with the beggar sharing his wine and telling a tale, gesturing to the sky. Akari and Mariko laugh with them.
____
Lightning strikes the village structures igniting them in a swirling view of the stranger's dance with the clouds above, Akari and Mariko spinning between.
____
Akari and Mariko watch the temple burn with the priestesses, turning then to walk away whispering.
____
Mariko and Akari follow Musashi down the path, playing as he resumes his 'hero walk', carrying the hunted rabbit, while they play and pretend the above scenes.
____
The stranger sleeps in her cave ...
____
The priestess lights smokes her pipe, looking over the fallen as they're looted.
Gara - "Time for a change."