"Zen!… Zen!… Zen!" Shirayuki's screams were endless, there was a hallway with many doors, Zen was running and out of breathe, he ran from door to door, kicking each one open, screaming "Shirayuki! Where are you?" until Zen kicked open the one door that unleashed all his nightmares, it was too late, Atri stood on top of Shirayuki pulling out his sword from her chest, her blood began to pour across the floor, "Shirayuki!" Zen suddenly woke up screaming her name, he was panting and short of breathe, Shirayuki sat beside Zen during a picnic, they were having tea in the Wistal castle garden and she asked "Zen are you alright, you dozed off a while back, so I let you sleep, but you seemed to be moving a lot, I tried waking you up by calling your name so many times, but you didn't seem to hear m…me" Shirayuki met with a hug after waking up Zen, she returned his hug by placing her arms around his back and putting her face into his shoulder coat "Zen…?" she said "Shirayuki, don't scare me like that" Zen said, and Shirayuki realized immediately that Zen recently had a nightmare, one that involved her.
The night of the attack, everyone slept peacefully in the Wistal castle, a group of men lurked around the walls, they threw ropes up high with metal hooks until they caught hold of the wall and began to climb up, at least there would be two hundred of them, their leader whom Zen had taken as a best friend, but the other who did not take Zen as his friend but instead thought of Zen as his enemy, remembering the night he planned to shoot Zen with the arrow but failing after Mitsuhide came in the way and slashed his stomach, Atri had finally climbed up the castle wall, now he was twenty years old, and swore to finish what he had planned out to do, he had only one thing on his mind and that was…. To get back at Zen and Izana for killing all his people back then, however, Atri had no intentions of killing Zen or Izana yet he wanted them to feel the same pain he did when Izana killed his father that night of battle in Wistal castle, he had only one goal on his mind and that was to kill off their beloved Shirayuki instead.
Izana's eyes opened, he got up from bed, as he put on his boots and grabbed his sword, his wife Haki woke up sleepily, she was beautiful with long light-colored hair and shining grey eyes, rubbing her eyes she asked "Izana, where are you going at this time of night?" Izana turned back, kissed her head saying "I feel somethings wrong… no matter what happens, stay in our bedroom and call for Wistal guards", Haki held a strand of his hair and nodded "Alright, be careful" and kissed Izana's lips before he left to check on the castle.
"Shi… Shirayuki… no wait! St… stop!" Zen said in his sleep as he began to toss and turn in his bed, he was having yet another nightmare until suddenly he was woken up by a sound of a huge canon ball blast, the guards were running through the hallways, he quickly put on his boots, coat and grabbed his sword, he stepped out of his room and stopped one of the running guards, the guard said in a hurry "Your Highness, there has been an attack on the castle's East building!" upon hearing this, Zen's eyes widened and his heart began to pound, he couldn't believe what he had just heard, an attack on the East building that was… that was where the court herbalists stayed in the castle. Zen pulled out his sword and yelled "Shirayuki!" as he ran quickly towards the East side of the castle.
Upon arriving to the scene, he found Izana fighting off the attackers, but the leader was nowhere to be found, Zen quickly drew his sword and joined in on the battle with his brother, as the two fought together to kill off Atri's men, Zen yelled "Izana! Where is Shirayuki!?" Izana answered "Ugh…! I don't know, as soon as I heard the blast, I came running here, but when I got here, Shirayuki was already missing, I instructed Garack to take Ryuu to my quarters and have them wait there with Haki until I was to return, Zen! I'll go check the West building while Obi checks the South building and you go check the North building for Shirayuki!" Zen and Obi nodded and began to run for the North and South buildings as instructed.
Izana arrived to the West building and met with Atri, sword to sword, they fought, Izana looked into Atri's eyes and said "Atri, how could it be, how are you even alive!" Atri spat out blood and said "That doesn't matter, I have nothing I want from you, but Shirayuki instead" Izana drew his sword harder and said in anger "I demand you to tell me where she is! Where is my brothers fiancée you imbecile!" as Izana was about to strike Atri, he heard a slight cry, suddenly Izana looked behind him to find Shirayuki up the floor and Atri took the chance and with his sword, sliced through Izana's left shoulder, the sight was horrible, one of Atri's men had tied Shirayuki's hands and threw her down the stairs at the same moment he had finally found her, she hit her shoulders hard on the sharp concrete stairs before landing hard on her stomach, Izana, with a bleeding shoulder along with Wistal guards, fought as hard as he could, he quickly caught Atri off guard and ran over to Shirayuki's aid, as he arrived to her, Shirayuki yelled "Your majesty, behind you!" Atri suddenly kicked Izana in the back, but he was strong, he drew his sword fast and hit Atri's side causing him to fall over, Izana said untying her ropes "Shirayuki, I'm sending you off with a Wistal guard, to the nearest North building from here, you'll be safer there with Zen".
More and more men broke in and began to attack the Wistal castle, before they knew it, there were now at least a thousand men from what started out to be two hundred, slowly by slowly, Wistal guards were being killed off, Zen quickly sent a help signal and asked Obi to go to Tanburun and ask for immediate aid, as the night progressed it was harder and harder to keep up with the growing number of attacks.
Zen ran over to the West Building to find Izana, on the way he had to push through so many attackers that one of them ended up slitting his arm and caused a red gash, it was true, Zen was tired from all the fighting, his face also had a deep scratch and his arms felt heavy, upon arriving, he was shocked to see Izana, his coat was all bloody from being stabbed in the shoulder earlier, he also looked tired from all the fighting, Zen quickly fought off the other attackers and ran over to Izana, as he got to him, he said "Izana! I met with Obi and asked him to go to Tanburun for help, upon meeting, Obi also told me that you had found Shirayuki and that one of the attackers had pushed her down the stairs, I came running as soon as possible" as Zen said this, Izana's eyes widened, "Zen! You idiot! Why did you leave your post, I just sent off Shirayuki to the North building!" Zen was shocked "Izana… you mean Shirayuki's in the North building… all alone?" upon hearing this Zen rushed back over to the North building. Izana yelled "I'll take care of the attackers here, you go find Shirayuki!"
Upon arriving back at the North building, his nightmare began to play out, he was running door to door, kicking each and every open while screaming "Shirayuki! Where are you?" as he got to a particular door, it was as his nightmare had portrayed, upon arriving to the scene, Zen kicked open that one door and was too late, Atri stood on top of Shirayuki pulling out his sword from her chest, her blood began to pour across the floor, Zen's eyes widened from fear and shock, he yelled "Nooooo! Shirayuki!" he quickly drew his sword and dashed over to Atri and they fought a tough battle, Zen kicked Atri's leg and Atri punched him in the abdomen, they both came in close combat until their swords met and Zen looked into Atri's eyes trying to hold back his tears, "Why, Atri why would you do this, why take it out on Shirayuki, she never did anything to you! So why her and why not me!" Zen was practically out of breath but Atri smiled and said "Zen, do you remember the night your brother Izana killed my father, even though Shirayuki was a commoner like me, stabbing her was a hard decision, but one I had to carry out, you see, I want you and Izana to feel the same pain as I did when I lost my father, I want you to also feel what it's like to lose someone you love most!" as Atri spoke, Izana dashed in with guards who wore the Tanburun uniform, for once Zen felt extremely thankful to towards Prince Raj for sending off Tanburunian guards immediately "Give it up Atri!" Izana yelled, as he drew his sword in to attack Atri, he ordered "Zen! Take Shirayuki to Haki, you'll find Garack there! I'll take care of this imbecile once and for all!".
As Zen got over to Shirayuki, his tears gave away and he couldn't hold them in any longer, Shirayuki lay there in a pool of her own blood, her whole body bruised from being thrown off the castle stairs, she was helpless and needed medical help as soon as possible, Zen quickly picked up Shirayuki in a bridal manner and darted towards Haki where Garack was being guarded in safety, upon carrying her, he ran as fast as he had ever run in his life, his tears flew by the wind, he couldn't dare to look down, he didn't want to see Shirayuki, she was took weak, he sobbed as he spoke" Shi… Shirayuki, please say something…. Please I beg you!, two Tanburunian guards ran by Zen's side to attack anyone who dared to stop them on the way.
Upon arriving, the guards burst open the door to his majesty's chambers, as Zen appeared to be carrying Shirayuki in his arms, everybody present in the room, Haki, Garack and Ryuu all saw the shocking sight, Zen stood there holding Shirayuki, he did not dare to look down but what everyone else saw was, that his whole body had been covered in Shirayuki's blood, Garack quickly rushed over to Shirayuki, and took them to the medical building, upon arriving, Zen laid down Shirayuki on one of the beds, the attack on Wistal castle had ended and more and more Clarines doctors from nearby Wistal hospitals where rushed to the castle, even doctors from Tanburun had arrived to attend to the soldiers who helped fight off the attack.
Garack closed the doors and quickly told Zen to go outside, as seeing Shirayuki's wound could cause him to worry, but he stayed instead saying "Garack, Shirayuki is my fiancée now and I swore to be with her, no matter what" upon hearing this, Garack said "Alright, start off by handing me the bandages over there". He did as instructed, as Garack uncovered Shirayuki's wound, Zen grit his teeth and shut his eyes tight as a tear poured down his left cheek. Zen had seen many sword wounds before, he had even seen his enemies flesh being ripped apart and not to mention the hundreds of men he had killed by his own sword, but no, this was… this was different, this time one of those victims was his own… Shirayuki", as Garack began to stitch up the wound, Zen sat there, helpless and feeling guilty, if he had not left the North building, who could have stopped Atri from his attack, but no, he was foolish enough to leave his post thinking Shirayuki was still with Izana.
Zen put both his palms on his forehead and looked to the ground, he began to cry out of guilt, not being able to control himself, he had failed to protect the one person he held most dear in his life, and now Shirayuki was on the verge of death, she had bled so much, he felt that her whole body was half the weight when he picked her up the evening before the attack. It was just as the nightmare had predicted.
Garack began to wrap medicinal bandages around both Shirayuki's arms and legs, as well as her neck and shoulders, the hard fall from the stairs had left purple bruises all over her body. When she was done, she said "Zen, let me attend to the gash on your arm, you're losing blood" as Garack wrapped a bandage around Zen's arm, he looked over to Shirayuki and thought to himself wishing that all of this had happened to him instead of her, she had nothing to do with any of the events that happened ten years ago, yet she was caught in the middle of his and Izana's battle, as he was thinking this, a knock came at the door, it was Izana, he walked into the room, his shoulder and arm had been all bandaged up, although Izana's wound was a little too deep, some of the blood began to seep through and Garack offered to change the bandage once more, as one of the soldier doctors had wrapped him up earlier in a hurry, since there were so many soldiers to attend to, compared to the few number of doctors available, His Majesty Izana was no exception, he had always put his men first, even if he was the king of Clarines.
Izana knelt down beside Zen and spoke with guilt "I'm so sorry little brother, I should have been more aware of Atri" Zen looked up to Izana and was unable to hold back the tears and hugged him. As what any big brother would do, Izana held Zen and let him take in tonights events, Izana knew it was hard on him, if it was Haki in the place of Shirayuki, Izana would have felt the same pain as Zen, but even though, Shirayuki was still his younger brothers fiancée and he treated Shirayuki like how a big brother would treat any little sister, Izana looked down to Zen and placed his chin on his head saying "I'm so sorry Zen, I promise you, I will protect both of you more from now on" as Izana said this he closed his eyes.
The dawn began to fade in with a shade of dark blue, it was five in the morning, Izana, after sleeping on one of the beds next to Shirayuki's got some rest, as Izana woke up from his nap he saw that Zen had been sitting in the same chair beside Shirayuki's bed as he did five hours ago, Zen hadn't moved his eyes off one bit from Shirayuki, he was really afraid of losing her, since she had lost a lot of blood on the way while carrying her, she could faint at any moment and go into shock and he would have to call Garack immediately.
Haki finally walked into the medical room and brought a change of clothes for her husband and Zen, she looked over to Shirayuki and gracefully brushed her hand across her forehead, a tear poured down her left cheek, "Who could dare hurt such an innocent girl, Shirayuki never did anything to deserve this" Izana stepped up to his wife and hugged her from behind, "Haki…" he spoke in a weak voice, she sensed the guilt in his voice and softly touched his injured shoulder saying, "Izana, it's all over now" she turned back to keep a hand on Zen's shoulder, he looked miserable but it was still important to change his clothes, the reason she had come, Zen wouldn't listen to anyone but he might listen to Haki, she softly asked "Zen…Please change your clothes, you've been in those all night and…." she stopped herself from saying "they have been stained with blood…" Haki slowly knelt down beside Zen and gently placed the clothes next to him.
A while later, Zen got up from his chair and said "Haki… I trust you to look after Shirayuki while I change". Haki nodded gently, as she sat beside Izana who held her in his arms. Upon arriving to the nearest bathroom, Zen turned to face the mirror, he had been avoiding to look at himself, to look down to his body, his mouth opened in awe, he couldn't bare to look in the mirror but was stuck with what he finally saw, his entire coat was ripped and his white shirt all the way down to his legs had been stained with patches of Shirayuki's blood.
The night he was carrying her and running, he knew she was bleeding along the way and could feel the cold wet blood pouring around his fingers but he didn't realize it was thiiiiiiiiis much blood" his knees became weak and he knelt beside the mirror, sobbing, "Shi… Shi… Shirayuki, I'm… I'm so sorry".
Zen cried for a while until a knock came on the bathroom door, Haki said in a voice that sounded happy "Zen! Zen! Once you're done, come see Shirayuki, she's awake" Zen was wiping a tear and as soon as he heard this, he grabbed the handle door, he was done changing and dashed out to see his beloved fiancée, he quickly ran up to her bed side and took hold of her bandaged hand. Tears of joy poured down his cheek, he had been so worried all night, she was finally awake "Shirayuki…" he said as he looked down into her eyes, even now Shirayuki was in a lot of pain, she still managed to raise her other hand and wipe Zen's tears cupping his face, until a tear poured down Shirayuki's cheek as she found the energy to say "Ze… Zen, please… please don't cry, I'm right here" Shirayuki couldn't see him cry, it was too painful.
Two weeks had passed by and Shirayuki could finally stand up again, Zen held her arms gently helping her walk to the main Wistal castle garden. They arrived to garden dinner table where Izana, Haki, Kiki, Mitsuhide, Obi, Garack and Ryuu were all here, it was a beautiful evening for a lovely dinner, Izana smiled and rose a glass saying "To Shirayuki, we are all glad to see you doing better" as Zen helped Shirayuki sit down, she sat saying "Thank you everyone, for all your bravery and support helping us get through such a time" Zen took a seat beside Shirayuki as always, Haki smiled and everybody rose their glasses as Haki said "To Shirayuki, let us all have a good dinner, shall we".
After everyone had dinner and left for their rooms, Shirayuki decided to take a walk, as being in bed for two weeks, she really needed this one she told Zen, as they walked together, she asked "Zen, what happened to Atri that night" Zen looked a little surprised but then answered "After I picked you up and left Atri to my bother, upon leaving the room, I heard Atri scream for his life, Izana had put a sword to his chest and left Atri to die" Shirayuki looked to the ground and said "Atri was your best friend wasn't he?" Zen looked into Shirayuki's eyes and spoke in a soft voice "No, he was never my best friend, in life you can only have one best friend and that is you" upon saying this Zen very gently held Shirayuki's neck and kissed her gracefully in the moonlight lit sky, they kissed passionately than ever. The End
So what do you guys think of my story?