I woke with a start at the sound of creaking wood. I sat up slowly, quietly; and allowed my eyes to adjust to the absence of light in the room. A man stood in the doorway to the room from the front of the shop. He didn’t notice me, but I was hidden from view by a halberd I had made just the day before.

The katana Lord Sesshomaru told me to fix was on the worktable between us. He went to the money bag beside the katana and grabbed them both. I stood immediately, which seemed to startle him. “You would be wise to put those down. I will not be kind enough to allow you to live if you run. My family depends on those items staying where you found them.” I said. The man smirked and bolted for the front of the shop.

Figures he would run. With that thought I ran after him, my black hip-length hair flowing behind me. He stopped running a few minutes later and turned the katana on me. “You won’t stop me. I need this to survive.” He said. “I warned you not to run. My family’s life is at stake. Give me back the katana and I’ll let you live. You can have the money, just give me the katana.” I ordered.

“I don’t think so onna. Why don’t you go back to that shop before you get hurt?” he suggested, obviously mocking me. “To underestimate me is a big mistake. Give me the katana and you can live and take the money with you. All I want is the katana.” I ground out. “If you want it, come and take it; if you can.” He taunted, taking up a fighting stance in front of me.

He was the first to move, lunging at me with the katana. I dodged to the left and he sliced into my right arm. Pain lanced through me as I continued to dodge his attacks and watched for an opening. Finally, he tripped up and I was able to grab the katana from him.

“I’ll let you live this once. But if you steal from me again, I will kill you.” With that, I ran back to my shop. I fired up the kiln immediately. The man had ruined the sharpening and polish I had done today and it had to be redone immediately. The stone was the first thing to touch the blade after it glowed. I sharpened it furiously for an hour before deciding to let it cool.

Pain lanced through my arm and I stumbled. I’ve lost a lot of blood. With that thought I grabbed a good, long piece of metal and put it in a fire. I had to heat the bandages to put over the wound. I didn’t have the time to burn it closed; or the will power. I pulled the metal out and placed it over the clean bandages. Once they were warm, I wrapped them around my arm where the wound was.

When the bandages were secure, I pulled the katana out of the water and gathered the oil and cloth to polish it again. My body slumped over the blade and before I knew what was happening: I had fallen asleep, hunched over it protectively on my table.