"Hmm..." Lucius whispered to himself, trying to recall exactly what they were, or better yet what he wanted them to be in this story.
"A samurai is a great warrior... a protector. They live their lives according to a set of principles called the Bushido code... the way of the warrior. They are more than just fighters, they are noble even in their way of life," Lucius said after some thought.
Apart from the few times he had seen them on television, he couldn't quite remember what exactly their deal was. However, he did remember a few things he had read on the Bushido code, something he had been quite interested in.
"The way of the warrior," Alpha whispered to himself, his head down-turned in thought.
"The Samurai in our story is an unnamed warrior, a prince and son to a useless king," Lucius began.
"Useless king?" Alpha asked before Lucius could go on.
"A Captain with no talent for it," Lucius replied briefly.
"As things go, the useless king's orders eventually led his commune to fall to the hands of an enemy. And whilst his people were slaughtered, and his warriors fought against the enemy, he was sound asleep in his quarters," he continued.
"He slept while his commune was being attacked? What kind of captain does that?" Alpha asked, a hint of anger in his tone.
"Indeed, what kind of captain..." Lucius whispered to himself, before going on; "His son, the unnamed samurai, believing that his father would soon come, fought alongside the samurai that served the king."
"Sadly, their enemies were very powerful, and the samurai began to fall one by one until only a single warrior was left fighting for the king," he continued.
"The blind samurai," Alpha whispered.
"Indeed, the blind samurai. Even though he had no eyes, he fought as if he could see the enemies' every move. What he lacked for in sight, he made up for in tenacity and courage. And even when faced with an enemy he had no chance of winning against, he continued to wage war," Lucius replied.
"He died, didn't he," Alpha asked, a sort of sadness in his tone.
"No... quite the opposite. Against all odds, the blind samurai was victorious," Lucius replied.
Alpha's mouth moved in an odd way as if to show that he was confused with Lucius's story.
"You're wondering how a blind samurai was able to do that, aren't you?" he asked, to which Alpha nodded his head.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know either. Some say that the blind can see a world that those of us with eyes can't. But I think you're in a better position than me to answer that question," Lucius replied.
Alpha thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head in defeat.
"Questions worth answering cannot be solved in a single day. You can take your time, maybe one day you'll be able to tell me," Lucius said quickly.
Alpha remained silent for a few more moments, opening and closing his mouth as if debating on whether to voice what he was thinking.
Even after a few minutes had passed, Lucius did not try to force him to speak, he wanted Alpha to find his own way. To ask the questions he saw fit, and find the answers he needed to believe in.
For now, Lucius's role was that of a guide, nothing more.
Though even if he wanted this, he wasn't completely sure if it was the right way to go about it, after all this was new territory even for him. He had to admit, he wasn't the best parent, and his near non-existent relationship with his Earth son was a testament to this fact.
"Do you think I could be a Samurai?" Alpha asked finally.
Lucius was tempted to say yes immediately, but once again, remembered the detriment of misplaced hope. The whole point of the story was to make Alpha aware that things that seemed impossible could be made possible. He wasn't trying to indoctrinate him into samurai-hood.
"I think you have the qualities to become one. But whether or not you can, is entirely up to you," he replied finally. Right as he was about to add onto that, Avankor and Trel walked into the room.
"Havon, we've prepared everything," Avankor whispered to him.
"Thank you," Lucius replied tiredly, not even bothering to look at him.
"Alpha, I'll be back in a few hours. We can continue our discussion then," Lucius said softly, before turning to Trel. "Can you stay beside him and help him move around? He hasn't gotten used to the darkness, so he might hurt himself bump-" he was about to say before Alpha interrupted.
"I'll be okay," he said.
Lucius looked at him for a moment, before giving a sort of half smile -one filled with more sadness than joy.
"Then I'll leave you be," he said before turning to leave.
"Captain," Alpha called out right as they were about to leave.
"When you come back, can you tell me about the Binshu-" he tried saying, mumbling the last word as he tried to figure out how exactly it was said.
"Bushido code? Of course," Lucius replied.
*
"What did you guys use to cut the meat?" Lucius asked as he stared at the state that the remaining meat was in.
They had loaded the cart with what looked like a half-ravaged carcass, and even the cart itself seemed to have incurred some damage from when they tried removing the meat.
"Cut?" Avankor asked in confusion. That in itself answered Lucius's question. The meat looked half ravaged because that was exactly what had happened to it.
The Zeldrave had eaten it right from the body, and sure Lucius could understand that hygiene wasn't exactly something primitive creatures had to worry about, but giving Shavak a half-eaten carcass felt like an insult.
"So you guys have no weapons?" Lucius asked as he used Elmando to repair the damaged areas of the cart.
"We have weapons," Avankor replied, gesturing towards the warriors that were currently under Lucius's service. Each of them was wielding a wooden spear with a sharp-bone tip.
These spears looked identical to the ones in the Chames's den.
"I take it you guys got those from the Immaculate Forest as well?" Lucius asked, now creating a sort of air-tight cover around the remaining meat in order to prevent its scent from lifting into the air whilst they were traveling.
"How did you know?" Avankor asked in surprise.
