Blast from the Past 4: Berries and Bird Food

Anja followed the crawling Runa with the eyes, still smiling about her denial of being hot. She was a little bit confused about her having additional crackers and was about to say something when the blade pointed at her, looking at it with big eyes and instantly stopping every attempt to move fast or say something before instinctively raising her hands slightly beside her.

Logic told her that Runa was honor bound to be her prisoner, but reality told her that it was a blade pointing at her when her eyes turned back to being normal. So she was a bit shaky with the answer.
"I've done things to others I am not proud of, but I was a child without a choice, just an opinion nobody wanted to hear. Things changed since I am on my own. So yes, I would be satisfied."

Runa gave the blonde a cold stare with her blue eye as she listened to her words carefully. She remained silent for a few more seconds before slowly withdrawing her blade and put it back to the sheath. There was never a definite answer to the question, although Raven's answer was admirable on it's own way, or so the short haired girl thought.

"I've promised myself not to kill anyone anymore, unless the situation calls for it," she said plainly as she wrapped her sword with the cloth again and place it on the floor. "I'm not about to make that exception soon."

The short haired girl would then kneel in front of Raven, lowering her head slightly and opened her left eye again as she returned to her submissive self. Hopefully she didn't scare the blonde too much.

"It's a pity that you're not taking a servant. You are an excellent lady," she would say afterwards. "A non-mainstream one, that is," she added quickly.

To say that it's a rare occurrence for her to praise someone else was an understatement. She didn't even remember when was the last time such thing happened. Right now Runa's heart began to race again as she felt a slight heat on her back. Her body was just not used to complimenting words, after all, receiving and giving all alike.

A really long sigh and a gulp escaped Anja when the blade disappeared in front of her. Runa was really a Ronin, and a Killer. Her senses had not betrayed her thinking of her as no ordinary person, but she was not after her as it seemed.
"The volcano does not want to see the glacier killing."
She stated roughly, thinking of the closed red eye before relaxing more and watching at the kneeling Runa. It hurt. Really hurt her to see someone kneeling in a non-playful servitude before her, competing with her getting filmed as a child and the giant dog that had led the pack of Dobermans guarding the mansion of her mistress.

"You would have hated me as your lady if my custodian had reached her goal. Still served faithfully as I see you here, but with resent. Money and Power. It would be all about the money and power. I would have sacrificed you in a heartbeat for a petty goal. Toyed with your loyalty. Betrayed you. Treated you like a dog just cause I could. Or even treated you worse than a dog. Mistress always loved her dogs more than her girls. Except for me, the little heiress and princess."
She couldn't stand the kneeling any longer and halfway looked at the ceiling with glittering eyes, suppressing the desire to cry with iron discipline.
"Please. Sit down, lie down or get up. I can't stand that kneeling."

"Interesting observation, but not quite accurate," Runa said with her still expression at Raven's remark about her eyes. "My left is impaired as a result of the drug. The pill I took earlier? It's the antidote."

As she watched the blonde avoiding eye contact and heard her words afterwards, Runa nodded in understanding before she sat down in a Japanese traditional way of sitting. This way, she could probably still show her humbleness without irritating the blonde. Hopefully.

"Better?" she asked flatly.

It seemed that Raven was similar to herself, subjected to a life of servitude for a period of time. Runa thought that she was kind of fortunate that her lady was a gentle and caring woman for the most part, although there were times when she was treated as a stress-relieving object by her. She's not about to compare her experience with the blonde. Sufferings were not mean to be compared with each other unlike happiness.

"I, too, was just a tool for my lady. But I thought that if I could have died for her back then, that would have been the greatest joy in my life," Runa would say as she look at the floor, frowning slightly. "Sadly, I couldn't."

"Better."
Anja swallowed the frog that had taken hold in her throat, taking a deep breath before turning her gaze fully back on Runa. She did not need to see that the girl would have positioned herself more favorable. Of course that enables a good sight of interesting body parts, but any sensual thought she may have had or a funny comment had been brutally squashed with that little trip to the past.

She heaved her upper body up, shaking her head and looked again with a more controlled look at Runa.
"When you like serving so much, why didn't you choose another master? I am not really competent in history, but a Ronin is allowed to find a new Daimyo if his master and his honor allows it. Hasn't to be a hitwoman of course. Broken, but not dead. Often heard my mistress say that to thugs and mercs."
Anja had a guess what the answer could be, but Runa was a person full of surprises.

"By the time I was released of my service, everyone I knew was already gone," Runa replied as her plain expression returned. "Not that there was a better master within the circle. To this day, I haven't found anyone else worthy enough to be serve..."

She paused a bit, glancing at Raven before looking back at the floor.

"...and the ones I've thought as worthy to serve apparently didn't like the idea of being a master. What a world."

Runa smiled faintly at her own attempt to light up the mood a little as she closed her eyes. It was probably another futile effort. She would open her eyes again and looked at Raven. The short haired girl wasn't sure if the blonde would like to continue talking like this or if she preferred to do something else. Meanwhile, she could heard the rain outside getting heavier. It didn't look like she could leave soon, unless of course, her captor wished for her to do so.

The Blonde smiled mildly. Not even now could Runa look at her, which made her adorable and pitiful all at once in Anja's eyes.
"I am sorry, Runa-chan."
Anja had no need for a servant, and certainly not for a killer. But maybe there was a middle ground with something for the both of them.

Even if she did not like to admit it, she felt pretty lonely sometimes with only Mr. Crow and her old picture as company.
"If it means this much to you, you can stay with me for a few weeks until the construction site is in use again. Or let me crash at your place if you have a better one, with your bag full of crackers I ain't sure about the rest of your possessions."
She was grinning widely, finding back to her good mood.
"It is not sufficient time to really show you how to wrestle in a flashy style, but probably enough for you to start in a club or small league. Every dork can do backyard wrestling or get his skull bashed in with a glow-stick in a gym, but a woman with talent and basic wrestling education is a rare find."
She took again a deep breath.
"And as you're probably used to this master-servant relationship, I'll train you like you are in a Puro wrestling environment. As a Sensei, not a Daimyo."

"It's not your fault, everyone has their own way of life," Runa calmly replied. "And there's no such thing as the right or the wrong way to live, that's what I believe."

Hearing Raven's offer about staying with her for a while slightly brightened up the short haired girl's face, for a second or so until her usual expression returned. She did have a place to stay, a small room in a rather rundown apartment just a few blocks from the part. Her lady rented the place until a few more months. However, bringing the girl there wasn't really an option, unfortunately. Raven might find something she shouldn't have by accident, and since the blonde didn't want to be her next lady, Runa thought that it'd be better if she stayed at the girl's place instead. She had already slept in almost every place imaginable anyways, from a hotel room to an open ground in the middle of a jungle.

Being Raven's apprentice sounded pretty fair too. A few weeks could be pretty short, but the short haired girl thought that it'd be better than spending her days in emptiness like she's been doing these last few months.

"I'll be in your care from today, then, Karasu-sensei," she would say, bowing herself politely.

A lot could happen in a few weeks. Anja was not sure how this would unfold at all, but she was at least ready to give it a try after just drifting around. And somehow she had the impression the Runa had done the same and both would benefit from their agreement.

"Ok then. Grab yourself a sponge from the kitchen, and fill a bucket with water. You'll wash me while I tell you something about the business. Then we change positions, and you think about the differences and similarities of sword wielding to wrestling and tell them to me."
The training of a puro wrestler did not really differ from a sumowrestler. It was ungrateful, degrading, humiliating and full of obstacles. Runa would probably love it, at least that was what Anja was thinking with a nod to herself.

"Understood," she replied flatly.

Like an obedient servant she was, Runa would do what her captor ordered her, taking a sponge from the kitchen and filled a bucket with a water before she returned to the blonde's side. The short haired girl dipped the sponge and gave it a squeeze before she would begin to wash Raven gently, starting from the back.

The atmosphere was sure different, but Runa washed her lady quite often. Once she finished with the back she would go in front of her captor and sat back in a traditional position before doing the girl's front. Kneeling would be easier, but Runa didn't want to cause some sort of uneasiness to Raven since the girl didn't seem to like it.