Without the Horse We Didn't Ride In On
It is the final task of the second day for the apprentices in the competition to find the most accomplished young samurai. We are collectively given the objective to find some eggs of a certain creature, needing to use our knowledge of hunting to locate and retrieve them. As luck would have it this is a group excercise and one of our number is skilled at hunting and, once we have journeyed the few miles out to the general area, finding the eggs becomes relatively straightforwards.
However, as we turn to make the return journey we are confronted by another contestant samurai, who reveals himself to be an enemy not only of the competition but also the clan who runs it. He admits to sabotaging a couple of the events already before calling us to draw our swords, and we fight.
During the swift combat I am viciously wounded, having taken a couple of firm blows, but our opponent and his small band are driven away. We are still left with the task of returning to the fortress, in time not to be disqualified, whilst I am unable to move faster than a painful limp.
Shika Akira has a solution, 'can't we just put her on a horse?'
'We don't have a horse.'
'Don't we?'
'No. If we did, it would have been perverse not to have ridden it out here rather than jogging the several miles, pulling a horse behind us.' It's a fair point, and it is instead decided that the strongest member of our group tries to carry me the distance.
It is a little uncomfortable for us both, but his strength and stamina get us back to the fortress in good time. We deliver the eggs safely to complete the challenge before reporting the incident with the disgraced samurai and his attempts to sabotage the competition.