Yes to all three

'Three... no, four ', Shiro observed while advancing towards them - better to take the battle away from the tent, ere the enemy attack the princess. A virgin would fetch a better price, so competent slavers wouldn't harm her just yet. But then, competent slavers wouldn't open a fight with a single archer either - if the attack didn't succeed it would warn the prey, if it... dead people couldn't be sold.

'Well, at least it looks like their sword-skills are on the same level', the ronin smiled as she reached the group. The first slaver had raised his hands for an over-head swing - far too slowly for Shiro who dodged to the right and let her katana trace a slow crsecent which lead it though her enemies throat.

Keeping her momentum she burst into the center of the group, bringing her blade quickly down for diagonal strike against the second man who still hadn't recovered.

'These guys are complete' - a subtle shift of the body to let a stab go wide, a short stroke - 'amateurs. They...' she cursed under her breath as she noticed movement near the tent.

The first group must had been a diversion for this. Two of the men carried two swords, the third, smaller than the others, carried the bound Masa in his arms.

Sparing the approaching ronin a single glance he muttered something to his companions, then turned away and hasted away quickly while the two drew their katana and faced Shiro.

The three faced off with drawn weapons. 'These are different than the farmers back there', she concluded while they mustered her stance with a bit too much attention to her female features.

For a moment she considered trying to use this against them, but then abandoned that idea - they were professionals and would treat her as dangerous warrior as long as she was waving a sharp blade in front of them. If she lost... Shiro suppressed the thought.

She quickly scanned the surroundings and and determined with mixed feelings that they were alone. On the one hand, fighting against two trained swordsmen would be hard enough without more enemies. On the other hand she'd have to take one of these alive to question.

'Well, maybe they'll have something on them which will tell me where they came from... and where their leader will be returning to now.'

Suddenly all three burst into action, the men with diagonally opposed slashes, the woman with a high parade to the right while gliding away from them and moving to the right. The next exchange started with a swift horizontal stroke to the head from Shiro which the right opponent caught with a block, and his companion trying to flank her while harassing her with with a wide slash.

'In single combat they'd be no match for me' - another set of strikes with no effect, accompanied by quick steps - ' but if I allow them to attack from opposing directions I'm done for.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of branches cracking under her feet.

The combatants had reached the edge of the clearing, Shiro noted with a feeling of distress.

On the more or less even grass she could've continued the the fight until one of them made a mistake, so she had hoped, but the uneven and dangerous ground they'd be on from here would slow down her, who was moving backward, more than them.

'I have to end this... now' the ronin decided and readied herself.

When the next attack came, it only slashed the air behind her as she sprung towards her other attacker, the point trained at him. A tiny movement of Shiro's hand sent the enemy blade trying obstruct the charge wide, and then her blade pierced the man's heart.

Without wasting a moment to reflect on the perfectly performed attack her off-hand went for the dagger to throw at her other opponent to delay him until she had recovered her blade, only to realize that she had given it to the princess a moment later.

'His wakizashi!', she shouted in her head.

Shiro had just reached out for its grip when a strong pull on her right arm and a kick into the back of her knee sent her into the grass, her back hitting the ground with enough **** to leave her in a daze.