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Reflections in the Waves - Abi-Hime's Perspective

By Ja'Aiden

Things are always so peaceful at times like this, thought Abi-Hime.

Of course, it's so rare these days that you can find a place this picturesque that isn't flooding with tourists. However, a little searching on the internet had led Abi-Hime to a wonderful little resort on one of the Okinawa islands called Iriomote, which at the moment was nearly abandoned thanks to a combination of the economic crash and the island's reputation for being a bit costly to visit. However, for someone of means, this is a benefit and Abi-Hime was certainly a woman of means.

And so Abi-Hime lounged peacefully on a towel watching the sunset from a spot on a beach seemingly miles away from any living person, or any sign of civilization. Nothing could be heard except the waves lapping the shore and the breeze blowing in the trees. It was perfect.

Abi-Hime had spent most of her life fighting – once to build a vast empire, now to build a vast economic empire. Funny how things changed – swords and bows were the weapons of choice back then, but these days you could do so much more with a good legal staff and a clever accountant. Of course, times were simpler then – if you wanted someone else's property you slaughtered them and took it, no need for all these mergers and lobbyists. However, the times change, and those who are wise change with them. Of course, Abi-Hime kept herself fit and regularly trained regardless – you never know when the times are going to change again, or what skills you'll need when they do.

Now she was reaping the benefits of her vast fortune. Letting her corporation run on autopilot making low-risk investments while she was away, she could leave it to its own devices for years, even decades at a time in the knowledge that everything would be just as she left it when she returned. And with her rare appearances made even less necessary thanks to E-Mail, she wouldn't have to face any frustrating questions about her age or lack of personal records. Meanwhile, Abi-Hime could theoretically sit back and live off of her earnings indefinitely.

This time, however, things were different. Abi-Hime didn't know quite what it was that worried her until she heard the soft cry of a bird off in the distance. My, that certainly brings back memories... and then it hit her – she had become bored, even frustrated, with this life of endless vacation. As messy as it was, she longed for the days when she could let loose and be vicious and bloodthirsty. Thinking back on those days now, so very much later, she felt that they were the best days of her life. And sadly, she felt she would never live to see those days again.

Abi-Hime pulled a wine cooler up to her lips and took a sip, and sighing, she set it down and looked up at the stars, just now starting to come out. These regrets about good days long past would still be waiting for her tomorrow. She closed her eyes and began to relax, her body already exhausted from a long, slovenly day of inactivity. It would take less than a second for her to fall asleep now. As it turned out, that was too long.

A hand had reached out to grab her hair and tug her head back. Abi-Hime's body, operating on reflex and instinct, curled inward and thrust her legs over her head, kicking the face of her mysterious attacker and spinning Abi-Hime into a backwards roll to a crouching position in the sand. It was only now that she could get a look at her attacker.

While Abi-Hime wore a revealing red two-piece string bikini she felt did a wonderful job both showing off her statuesque figure and complimenting her raven hair and antique gold necklace, the man who attacked her... no, girl, she corrected herself... this girl had a short, athletic figure, wore a form-fitting black neoprene wetsuit, and had short, brown hair. She looked like she could've been a surfer girl, although catching waves was obviously not what was on her mind.

"An assassin?" Abi-Hime asked in a perplexed tone.

"Could be," the girl smirked, seeming a little uncertain herself, "but if you hand over your purse and your necklace real nice and easy, I'll let you live and you can go on with your vacation."

"Oh. A thief," Abi-Hime sighed, disappointed, "No. No, I don't feel like indulging a thief today, thank you. Scurry along, now."

And with this, she turned around and began to brush the sand off of her towel.

If the girl had any sense, she'd realize she'd been let off easy and walk away.

"You know, we can still do that assassination thing if you want..." the girl grunted from behind her.

Abi-Hime smiled. She'd been more than reasonable, hadn't she? This looked like it would be fun.

"Very well," Abi-Hime said, turning around to see a confused look on the girl's face, "but first, your name."

"What?" the girl's brow furrowed, "What do you mean? Are you giving me your money or what?"

"If you can kill me," Abi-Hime said playfully, "you can have everything. But I'd at least like to know the name of my attacker."

The girl hesitated a moment. She seemed to be deciding whether or not it was worth the risk, revealing her name. With a final shrug, she seemed to decide it wouldn't matter.

"My name is Sayoko, bitch," the girl spat at her, "So are you ready to die now?"

"And I," Abi-Hime responded, ignoring the crude insult, "am Abi-Hime. Attack when you are ready."

Abi-Hime watched in amusement for a moment as Sayoko seemed to make a decision. Clearly, Abi-Hime's attitude had caught her off guard. Maybe this girl was smart enough to reconsider.

In a sudden burst of movement, Sayoko leap at Abi-Hime, the knife arcing down in front of her. Abi-Hime casually stepped out of its path. Sayoko pressed forward with her attack, wildly slicing at Abi-Hime, but each time, Abi-Hime calmly sidestepped or dodged the slash.

Sayoko's face kept getting angrier and angrier, and Abi-Hime was thoroughly enjoying playing with her prey. Every time the girl's knife hit air, her attack seemed to increase in its wild intensity, until finally Abi-Hime's arm struck out smoothly to grab Sayoko's wrist.

Now that she felt it should be clear to this girl that she was outclassed, Abi-Hime leaned in to ask her if maybe she'd changed her mind about all of this. However, the words never escaped her mouth, because the moment she did this, Sayoko rammed her knee into Abi-Hime's crotch, swiftly followed by a rising elbow to Abi-Hime's chin with Sayoko's free arm.

This was enough to stun Abi-Hime momentarily, and while Abi-Hime was caught off-guard by the pain, on an instinctual level she knew she needed to be ready for this to be followed immediately by another attack. Abi-Hime sidestepped, but apparently not quite fast enough, as this time the knife sliced through more than just air, and Abi-Hime felt the sting of the steel blade pulled across her stomach.

Abi-Hime took a few steps back from her enemy, who seemed to be reveling at scoring a hit on her. Without taking her eyes off of the girl, she reached down a few fingers to feel the wound. Only a flesh wound, negligible. With that out of the way, Abi-Hime brought the two bloody fingers up to her mouth, licked them clean, and smiled. Ah, a flesh wound! How many years has it been? Ah yes, the duel with the magistrate's son after you slaughtered his father. My, how that brings me back...

"Who the fuck are you, lady?" Sayoko asked, cutting into Abi-Hime's reminiscence.

Abi-Hime laughed, delighted. "Only those who fight me truly know me," she said, thrilling in the moment, "but they do not know me for long."

The girl responded by wildly slicing at Abi-Hime with numerous short, slicing strokes. Abi-Hime had little choice but to back up as the girl pressed forward. She got a renewed admiration for her opponent's resourcefulness – the girl had apparently recognized that Abi-Hime was too fast to fight with standard knife strokes, so she had changed her approach to keep Abi-Hime from dodging. And as Abi-Hime was pushed back, she could hear the water lapping on the beach getting closer and closer, and knew that if she kept getting pushed back in this way, that was where this fight would end.

Near the water's edge, Abi-Hime decided to go on the offensive, diving in between two of the girl's strikes to punch her in the gut, stunning the girl for long enough to kick the knife our of her hands, the blade spinning through the air and landing somewhere in the water. This was followed by an uppercut that flung Sayoko back into the water. As the girl quickly regained her footing and stood up, Abi-Hime calmly followed her into the water, and the two squared off, waist-deep in the ocean's calm waters.

Sayoko flung her arm out to backhand Abi-Hime, but Abi-Hime ducked it and responded with a swinging punch which was blocked. Abi-Hime found herself quickly flashing back to fights of old, and couldn't remember the last time she'd actually had a hand-to-hand battle. However, now was no longer the time for reminiscence. Abi-Hime threw a left hook at the girl, who wasn't prepared for it and was sent spinning. However, she recovered quickly, and used the momentum of spinning back to move into a left hook of her own, which Abi-Hime again ducked.

Both girls were swinging now, their arms tangled up in each other. Abi-Hime flung an elbow to the girl's head, which she blocked and countered with a strong jab to Abi-Hime's gut, the impact sending shivers over her body and causing her to fling her hands up in the air, and before she had a chance to recover, the girl threw an elbow into Abi-Hime's chest, squeezing into her left breast and causing her to fall back into the water.

As Abi-Hime rose again, she deflected the girl's incoming punch, and responded with an elbow to the face, which was blocked, and then raised her other elbow to strike the face, which connected.

They continued to strike at each other, with their arms. Punch, block, punch, connect. Finally, one of Sayoko's swings was caught in Abi-Hime's hand, and she twisted the the girl's arm around until she was bent over backwards, her footing lost. Abi-Hime reached a hand behind the girl's shoulder, to steady her, and to gain control over her – if she fell in the water now, they would just begin this dance anew, and Abi-Hime was ready to finish it.

Moments later, Abi-Hime pushed Sayoko forward into the water in front of her, using her hand to hold the girl under the surface. The girl tried to twist out of this, but Abi-Hime was prepared, already wrapping her other arm around the girl's neck and putting her into a headlock, with her hand now on the girl's head, pushing her down and keeping her underwater.

The girl thrashed wildly, but Abi-Hime held strong, her discipline still perfect after all these years, this moment the culmination of all her training – the moment when she would bring death to another. The girl tried to loosen the Abi-Hime's grip, push her off, and threw a few feeble elbows backwards in hopes of making the woman relent, but Abi-Hime knew that the girl was already dead at this point – she just didn't know it herself yet.

The girl's resistance was beginning to slip, now her only resistance was her hands prying at the headlock... and now only her fingers. Even so, Abi-Hime held firm, waiting until this task was completed. Suddenly, the girl had a spasm of movement, which Abi-Hime took as a sign that the girl's breath had stopped holding out and she had now taken in a lungful of water. The girl was once again thrashing wildly to escape, but now there was no thought or reason to it – just the mad struggle for survival. It didn't matter, though. Abi-Hime kept the girl in place.

As the girl's efforts once again died down, Abi-Hime knew that this was it, the end. Soon the girl would lose consciousness, and would be nothing more than a body. Somehow, this moment always felt intimate to her in a way that no friendship or love-making could match. This girl was sharing with Abi-Hime a moment which she would have with no other, and Abi-Hime always felt like this created a strange bond, a connection that was briefly, strangely, something like love. She held no grudges against those she killed. Quite the contrary – she felt grateful for being able to share this moment with them.

As an extension of this unusual affection, Abi-Hime caressed the girl's hair as the life drained from her, comforting Sayoko in her final moments. Abi-Hime was never quite sure how much of the calm that followed was a result of death, and how much was a result of the peace that this connection created, but she imagined that this moment of peace was a beautiful thing to leave the world with, and she hoped she might experience it too someday, if she ever met someone who would best her in combat.

Abi-Hime held Sayoko in her arms a minute or two after she stopped moving, both as a precaution and as a sign of respect. Releasing her, Abi-Hime's mind turned to practicalities. She needn't tell anyone she was attacked at all – she'd just go back and tell people she saw someone who looked like they had drowned. That would spare the world from the story of a multimillionaire in a life-or-death struggle on the beach, a story she'd prefer not to explain.

Abi-Hime walked over to the side and found the knife, the light of the last few rays of the sunset glinting off of it in the water. She fished it out and then made sure it was cleansed in the water, leaving no detectable traces of her blood, before flinging it as hard as she could out to the sea. Then, turning one last time to the body of her enemy, she removed her necklace and brought it near the girl, who had eyed it so hungrily not long before.

"Here," Abi-Hime said quietly, "You've earned this. Sayoko."

And with that, she dropped the gold necklace into the water. Perhaps the authorities would find it and she'd just explain she must have dropped it in the excitement over discovering the corpse. Perhaps they would overlook it, and it would either be gradually pulled into the sea, or discovered by some lucky tourist at a later time. But at least for a while, it would rest here under the water as a monument to the place where she had a good fight with a worthy foe, who would let Abi-Hime share in the moment of her death.

"I think," Abi-Hime said absent-mindedly to herself as she began her walk back, "that this is the best vacation I've had in a very long time."

Description
Reflections in the Waves - Abi-Hime's Perspective

By Ja'Aiden

Things are always so peaceful at times like this, thought Abi-Hime.

Of course, it's so rare these days that you can find a place this picturesque that isn't flooding with tourists. However, a little searching on the internet had led Abi-Hime to a wonderful little resort on one of the Okinawa islands called Iriomote, which at the moment was nearly abandoned thanks to a combination of the economic crash and the island's reputation for being a bit costly to visit. However, for someone of means, this is a benefit and Abi-Hime was certainly a woman of means.

And so Abi-Hime lounged peacefully on a towel watching the sunset from a spot on a beach seemingly miles away from any living person, or any sign of civilization. Nothing could be heard except the waves lapping the shore and the breeze blowing in the trees. It was perfect.

Abi-Hime had spent most of her life fighting – once to build a vast empire, now to build a vast economic empire. Funny how things changed – swords and bows were the weapons of choice back then, but these days you could do so much more with a good legal staff and a clever accountant. Of course, times were simpler then – if you wanted someone else's property you slaughtered them and took it, no need for all these mergers and lobbyists. However, the times change, and those who are wise change with them. Of course, Abi-Hime kept herself fit and regularly trained regardless – you never know when the times are going to change again, or what skills you'll need when they do.

Now she was reaping the benefits of her vast fortune. Letting her corporation run on autopilot making low-risk investments while she was away, she could leave it to its own devices for years, even decades at a time in the knowledge that everything would be just as she left it when she returned. And with her rare appearances made even less necessary thanks to E-Mail, she wouldn't have to face any frustrating questions about her age or lack of personal records. Meanwhile, Abi-Hime could theoretically sit back and live off of her earnings indefinitely.

This time, however, things were different. Abi-Hime didn't know quite what it was that worried her until she heard the soft cry of a bird off in the distance. My, that certainly brings back memories... and then it hit her – she had become bored, even frustrated, with this life of endless vacation. As messy as it was, she longed for the days when she could let loose and be vicious and bloodthirsty. Thinking back on those days now, so very much later, she felt that they were the best days of her life. And sadly, she felt she would never live to see those days again.

Abi-Hime pulled a wine cooler up to her lips and took a sip, and sighing, she set it down and looked up at the stars, just now starting to come out. These regrets about good days long past would still be waiting for her tomorrow. She closed her eyes and began to relax, her body already exhausted from a long, slovenly day of inactivity. It would take less than a second for her to fall asleep now. As it turned out, that was too long.

A hand had reached out to grab her hair and tug her head back. Abi-Hime's body, operating on reflex and instinct, curled inward and thrust her legs over her head, kicking the face of her mysterious attacker and spinning Abi-Hime into a backwards roll to a crouching position in the sand. It was only now that she could get a look at her attacker.

While Abi-Hime wore a revealing red two-piece string bikini she felt did a wonderful job both showing off her statuesque figure and complimenting her raven hair and antique gold necklace, the man who attacked her... no, girl, she corrected herself... this girl had a short, athletic figure, wore a form-fitting black neoprene wetsuit, and had short, brown hair. She looked like she could've been a surfer girl, although catching waves was obviously not what was on her mind.

"An assassin?" Abi-Hime asked in a perplexed tone.

"Could be," the girl smirked, seeming a little uncertain herself, "but if you hand over your purse and your necklace real nice and easy, I'll let you live and you can go on with your vacation."

"Oh. A thief," Abi-Hime sighed, disappointed, "No. No, I don't feel like indulging a thief today, thank you. Scurry along, now."

And with this, she turned around and began to brush the sand off of her towel.

If the girl had any sense, she'd realize she'd been let off easy and walk away.

"You know, we can still do that assassination thing if you want..." the girl grunted from behind her.

Abi-Hime smiled. She'd been more than reasonable, hadn't she? This looked like it would be fun.

"Very well," Abi-Hime said, turning around to see a confused look on the girl's face, "but first, your name."

"What?" the girl's brow furrowed, "What do you mean? Are you giving me your money or what?"

"If you can kill me," Abi-Hime said playfully, "you can have everything. But I'd at least like to know the name of my attacker."

The girl hesitated a moment. She seemed to be deciding whether or not it was worth the risk, revealing her name. With a final shrug, she seemed to decide it wouldn't matter.

"My name is Sayoko, bitch," the girl spat at her, "So are you ready to die now?"

"And I," Abi-Hime responded, ignoring the crude insult, "am Abi-Hime. Attack when you are ready."

Abi-Hime watched in amusement for a moment as Sayoko seemed to make a decision. Clearly, Abi-Hime's attitude had caught her off guard. Maybe this girl was smart enough to reconsider.

In a sudden burst of movement, Sayoko leap at Abi-Hime, the knife arcing down in front of her. Abi-Hime casually stepped out of its path. Sayoko pressed forward with her attack, wildly slicing at Abi-Hime, but each time, Abi-Hime calmly sidestepped or dodged the slash.

Sayoko's face kept getting angrier and angrier, and Abi-Hime was thoroughly enjoying playing with her prey. Every time the girl's knife hit air, her attack seemed to increase in its wild intensity, until finally Abi-Hime's arm struck out smoothly to grab Sayoko's wrist.

Now that she felt it should be clear to this girl that she was outclassed, Abi-Hime leaned in to ask her if maybe she'd changed her mind about all of this. However, the words never escaped her mouth, because the moment she did this, Sayoko rammed her knee into Abi-Hime's crotch, swiftly followed by a rising elbow to Abi-Hime's chin with Sayoko's free arm.

This was enough to stun Abi-Hime momentarily, and while Abi-Hime was caught off-guard by the pain, on an instinctual level she knew she needed to be ready for this to be followed immediately by another attack. Abi-Hime sidestepped, but apparently not quite fast enough, as this time the knife sliced through more than just air, and Abi-Hime felt the sting of the steel blade pulled across her stomach.

Abi-Hime took a few steps back from her enemy, who seemed to be reveling at scoring a hit on her. Without taking her eyes off of the girl, she reached down a few fingers to feel the wound. Only a flesh wound, negligible. With that out of the way, Abi-Hime brought the two bloody fingers up to her mouth, licked them clean, and smiled. Ah, a flesh wound! How many years has it been? Ah yes, the duel with the magistrate's son after you slaughtered his father. My, how that brings me back...

"Who the fuck are you, lady?" Sayoko asked, cutting into Abi-Hime's reminiscence.

Abi-Hime laughed, delighted. "Only those who fight me truly know me," she said, thrilling in the moment, "but they do not know me for long."

The girl responded by wildly slicing at Abi-Hime with numerous short, slicing strokes. Abi-Hime had little choice but to back up as the girl pressed forward. She got a renewed admiration for her opponent's resourcefulness – the girl had apparently recognized that Abi-Hime was too fast to fight with standard knife strokes, so she had changed her approach to keep Abi-Hime from dodging. And as Abi-Hime was pushed back, she could hear the water lapping on the beach getting closer and closer, and knew that if she kept getting pushed back in this way, that was where this fight would end.

Near the water's edge, Abi-Hime decided to go on the offensive, diving in between two of the girl's strikes to punch her in the gut, stunning the girl for long enough to kick the knife our of her hands, the blade spinning through the air and landing somewhere in the water. This was followed by an uppercut that flung Sayoko back into the water. As the girl quickly regained her footing and stood up, Abi-Hime calmly followed her into the water, and the two squared off, waist-deep in the ocean's calm waters.

Sayoko flung her arm out to backhand Abi-Hime, but Abi-Hime ducked it and responded with a swinging punch which was blocked. Abi-Hime found herself quickly flashing back to fights of old, and couldn't remember the last time she'd actually had a hand-to-hand battle. However, now was no longer the time for reminiscence. Abi-Hime threw a left hook at the girl, who wasn't prepared for it and was sent spinning. However, she recovered quickly, and used the momentum of spinning back to move into a left hook of her own, which Abi-Hime again ducked.

Both girls were swinging now, their arms tangled up in each other. Abi-Hime flung an elbow to the girl's head, which she blocked and countered with a strong jab to Abi-Hime's gut, the impact sending shivers over her body and causing her to fling her hands up in the air, and before she had a chance to recover, the girl threw an elbow into Abi-Hime's chest, squeezing into her left breast and causing her to fall back into the water.

As Abi-Hime rose again, she deflected the girl's incoming punch, and responded with an elbow to the face, which was blocked, and then raised her other elbow to strike the face, which connected.

They continued to strike at each other, with their arms. Punch, block, punch, connect. Finally, one of Sayoko's swings was caught in Abi-Hime's hand, and she twisted the the girl's arm around until she was bent over backwards, her footing lost. Abi-Hime reached a hand behind the girl's shoulder, to steady her, and to gain control over her – if she fell in the water now, they would just begin this dance anew, and Abi-Hime was ready to finish it.

Moments later, Abi-Hime pushed Sayoko forward into the water in front of her, using her hand to hold the girl under the surface. The girl tried to twist out of this, but Abi-Hime was prepared, already wrapping her other arm around the girl's neck and putting her into a headlock, with her hand now on the girl's head, pushing her down and keeping her underwater.

The girl thrashed wildly, but Abi-Hime held strong, her discipline still perfect after all these years, this moment the culmination of all her training – the moment when she would bring death to another. The girl tried to loosen the Abi-Hime's grip, push her off, and threw a few feeble elbows backwards in hopes of making the woman relent, but Abi-Hime knew that the girl was already dead at this point – she just didn't know it herself yet.

The girl's resistance was beginning to slip, now her only resistance was her hands prying at the headlock... and now only her fingers. Even so, Abi-Hime held firm, waiting until this task was completed. Suddenly, the girl had a spasm of movement, which Abi-Hime took as a sign that the girl's breath had stopped holding out and she had now taken in a lungful of water. The girl was once again thrashing wildly to escape, but now there was no thought or reason to it – just the mad struggle for survival. It didn't matter, though. Abi-Hime kept the girl in place.

As the girl's efforts once again died down, Abi-Hime knew that this was it, the end. Soon the girl would lose consciousness, and would be nothing more than a body. Somehow, this moment always felt intimate to her in a way that no friendship or love-making could match. This girl was sharing with Abi-Hime a moment which she would have with no other, and Abi-Hime always felt like this created a strange bond, a connection that was briefly, strangely, something like love. She held no grudges against those she killed. Quite the contrary – she felt grateful for being able to share this moment with them.

As an extension of this unusual affection, Abi-Hime caressed the girl's hair as the life drained from her, comforting Sayoko in her final moments. Abi-Hime was never quite sure how much of the calm that followed was a result of death, and how much was a result of the peace that this connection created, but she imagined that this moment of peace was a beautiful thing to leave the world with, and she hoped she might experience it too someday, if she ever met someone who would best her in combat.

Abi-Hime held Sayoko in her arms a minute or two after she stopped moving, both as a precaution and as a sign of respect. Releasing her, Abi-Hime's mind turned to practicalities. She needn't tell anyone she was attacked at all – she'd just go back and tell people she saw someone who looked like they had drowned. That would spare the world from the story of a multimillionaire in a life-or-death struggle on the beach, a story she'd prefer not to explain.

Abi-Hime walked over to the side and found the knife, the light of the last few rays of the sunset glinting off of it in the water. She fished it out and then made sure it was cleansed in the water, leaving no detectable traces of her blood, before flinging it as hard as she could out to the sea. Then, turning one last time to the body of her enemy, she removed her necklace and brought it near the girl, who had eyed it so hungrily not long before.

"Here," Abi-Hime said quietly, "You've earned this. Sayoko."

And with that, she dropped the gold necklace into the water. Perhaps the authorities would find it and she'd just explain she must have dropped it in the excitement over discovering the corpse. Perhaps they would overlook it, and it would either be gradually pulled into the sea, or discovered by some lucky tourist at a later time. But at least for a while, it would rest here under the water as a monument to the place where she had a good fight with a worthy foe, who would let Abi-Hime share in the moment of her death.

"I think," Abi-Hime said absent-mindedly to herself as she began her walk back, "that this is the best vacation I've had in a very long time."