Sahara (Chapter)

Sahara is Chapter 1 of Yuusaku Shibata's Sahara the Flower Samurai. Sahara Sanjūrō meets Yae Tokiro, a character that shares the goal of reach the Valley of the World Tree.

Summary
Sahara happens upon a boy trying to get across to the next town with a aircraft. After getting mistreated and not granted entry to the aircraft, Sahara's interest is peaked when he notices the boy has a flower with him. It apparently being something very rare in this dry and vast world.

Sahara helps the boy get on the aircraft with his sword which happens to be able to shape-shift to different forms of flowers or plant life. Safely on the ship he then finds out the kid is actually a girl, Yae Tokiro. Before long the aircraft is hijacked by a group of bandits. The bandits tie up everyone on the ship and starts looting after valuables. The leader of the bandits finds Yae's flower and demands to know where she came across it. She mentions a place called the Valley of the World Tree. The leader orders his subordinates to kill Sahara but he easily disposes of the bandits, at the same time the leader takes Yae hostage as he now realizes Sahara's real skill. Suddenly a sand-storm hits the ship and Yae is thrown out of the ship, Sahara jumps out to save her and lands safely once again with the help of his shape-shifting sword. The aircraft has landed a bit away for repair.

In panic, one of the passengers launches a distress rocket in a desperate attempt to be saved from the the threat of gigantic zombie robots which roam the desert between cities. Sahara and Yae rush over to the passengers just in time to see the aircraft getting sliced in half by a enormous zombie robot, killing the bandits who attempt to make a getaway. Sahara dispatches the robot and we get to see one more of Sahara's sword's forms, one which grows a forest when used to kill a automated zombie warrior. When the fight is over Sahara understands that what he is looking for is the same thing as Yae, he ask her if he can accompany her on her travels. She at first says no but then agrees on the term that Sahara will enter a contract in which he will protect her flower and her fathers ashes until they reach her father's homeland, the Valley of the World Tree.