The Lost

Summary: Balance must be regained between the Five Pillars of Kantou to put an end to the chaos the nation has fallen in since the Great War. But what did Sakuno, a common slave of unknown origins, have anything to do with it?
Pairing(s): RyoSak
Warning(s): AU. Rated T for language and themes, and the author can really suck at writing fighting scenes.

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable isn't mine.

Sakuno visibly shook as she fidgeted on the spot, wishing for nothing more than to blend in with the stone-cold wall behind her and escape the prying eyes and leer of the man standing at the other side of the dingy room. A putrid smell filled what thin air existed in the windowless dungeon, but Sakuno, having been living in somewhat similar conditions for a large part of her life, barely found this as a point of concern. The shackles on her thin wrists and ankles that kept her connected to the wall dully reflected the dim, yellowish light coming from the mounted cressets on either side of the only existing door, while the gray rag that passed as her clothing barely covered the more intimate parts of her body.

Please save me.

"Is this the one?" the man in front of her said in a gravelly voice, addressing someone that was not visible in Sakuno's line of vision. "She looks a bit smaller and…younger than what I expected."

There were no sounds aside from the light snapping of embers coming from the lighted cressets. Sakuno bowed her head lower to let her long, unkempt red-brown hair cover her face—a vain attempt to put as much space from her and the man as what was physically possible.

"Hmm…but she's the one, isn't she?" She didn't like the lewd tone in the man's voice. "Untouched, to top it all. That will do."

Heavy footsteps echoed off the stone floor, and Sakuno noncommittally took a step backward to press herself harder against the wall, her chains rattling loudly at the movement.

The man, having noticed her small action, chuckled in dark amusement. "Don't be scared, little girl. Come to your new master."

Sakuno turned to her side and squeezed her eyes shut, hugging herself mostly to stop herself from whimpering. Her previous master hated to hear her voice and would hit her with an iron rod whenever she made an unnecessary noise. Who knew what this new master could do to her?

She felt a large, beefy hand squeeze her shoulder possessively, making her flinch at the sudden contact. Then, in a faint rustle of robes, she felt the man's hot, rancid breath against her cheek.

"We will have lots of fun time together."

Please, she inwardly prayed, save me.

She almost breathed a sigh of relief when the man finally moved his face away and lifted the pressure off her shoulder to address once more his unknown companion.

"Get her in the carriage quickly. This place smells like shit."

Sakuno opened her eyes just in time to see the tail of the man's robes disappear through the door of the dungeon. Then, another figure blocked the doorway, the dim lighting underlining the serious lines in his face. He was dressed in what she recognized as the trademark uniform of servants to the Sasabes—an influential family who controlled the town's local businesses (such as prostitution and drug trafficking) and spread terror among the townspeople through collecting insanely high rent and taxes.

A small part of her mind that was still not clouded by hunger and fear figured out that her new master was most probably one of these infamous Sasabes.

She let the servant unlock the shackles, tether her with a chain leash and lead her out of the dungeon. She strained her eyes on her bare feet as they traversed the dim hallway with walls and floors made of the same material as the dungeon cell she was kept in, mentally counting as high as she could. Being a slave, she was illiterate and couldn't count past twenty, but concentrating on the little math she knew had always put her mind off of more stressful thoughts.

She had already counted as far as number twelve when they reached a spiral staircase, and Sasabe's servant gave a small tug at her chains to indicate her to go first. This time, she couldn't help but lift her head up as rays of sunlight seeped in from above—the first she had seen in what felt like years. The wretched cell she'd been cooped up in was windowless so she had no way of seeing the sky, and she had been there since her previous master had been killed in the Great War and all his possessions (which included her) were looted and sold to the black market.

Her previous jobs had also required her to stay indoors all the time, so she rarely ever felt natural light on her skin, giving it a dry, almost translucent pallor. Her cheeks were hollow and her lips were white and chapped. Her brown eyes were wide and doe-like, hidden behind overgrown fringes. Her greasy, auburn hair fell past her waist and felt like sandpaper from being unwashed for too long.

…14…15…16…

Sakuno squinted as sunlight hit her directly in the face, making her almost trip on her own foot. So warm…

…17…18…

Much to her surprise, however, the servant behind her suddenly spoke up in a low whisper.

"Once we get outside, when I say, 'duck,' do it. Understand?"

Unsure if he was directing it at her, Sakuno chose not respond. But then, he yanked her chains rather forcefully.

"I said, do you understand?" he practically hissed on her ear.

She felt her heart skip a beat out of fear. "Y-Yes…" she mumbled despite her confusion, her voice cracking from lack of use.

They were two steps away from the top of the stairs.

…19…

One step.

…20—

"DUCK!"

Sakuno barely registered the barren forest clearing they emerged at when she was brought facedown on the grassy soil, breaking her nose in the process. Somewhere from overhead, there was a man's scream and something heavy fell with a loud 'thud' not too far from where she was lying.

"CHAAARGE!" someone cried out, and suddenly, she was in a middle of a battlefield.

What's happening?! Sakuno's mind froze as a cacophony of men's shouts and grunts filled the air, shortly followed by loud neighing of horses and the clashing of metal to metal as there were suddenly a hundred heavy footsteps shaking the ground. There were painful and shrill screams from every direction and Sakuno could see a body lying lifelessly to her right—in a pool of blood.

She screwed her eyes shut to avoid looking at it and bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming. I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared—

The servant, who had thrown his weight over her to keep her in position, grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him, forcing her to open her eyes to look at him.

"You have to get out of here!" he shouted over the noise. "On the count of three, we run across the clearing. Stay close to me at all costs! Do you understand?!"

But what she noticed instead were his bold, golden-brown eyes, boring into her own and seemingly freezing her in place. She had forgotten the last time that anyone had looked her in the eye the same way he did. Like she was actually a human being.

Who is he?

Then she thought about what he'd said. Why did he want her to be safe? Was it for Sasabe?

"Do. You. Understand?!" he hollered in her face. Only the seriousness of the situation and the urgency in his voice made her get back to her senses and nod mutely.

He finally tore his eyes away from her and looked ahead. "ONE!"

Why is he doing this?

"TWO!"

Why did he sound like…like he's helping me escape?

"THREE!"

Again, she was roughly hoisted up and dragged along by the chain into the chaos of countless battling men, with Sasabe's servant protectively placing himself in front of her to block any attacks or stray arrows headed their way. Out of instinct, she gripped his arm and ducked her head lower, solely concentrating on the path ahead. The servant pulled out a sword from its sheath on his side and killed anyone who stood in their way without an ounce of hesitation. Sakuno felt like fainting at the sight of blood splattering everywhere: on the grass, on the servant's sword, on her clothes, on her cheek.

I don't want to die.

Suddenly, out of practically nowhere, she was knocked off her feet.

Her vision went temporarily white from the sudden impact of her head to the ground. As if from a long distance, she faintly heard the servant's voice telling her to get up. Her right temple felt numb and heavy, and she had lost control of her own limbs.

I don't want to die.

She dimly wondered if this was as far as she could go.

Please, save me.

"Pull yourself together!"

She felt a hand supporting the back of her head. Those golden-brown eyes entered her line of vision once again. She felt something warm dripping on her cheek, then realized a second later that it was coming from a trail of blood dribbling from the side of his mouth.

"Can you get up?" he asked, slipping an arm at the small of her back to lift her in a sitting position. Still feeling heady, Sakuno mustered up her remaining strength and brought herself back to her feet, leaning against him for leverage.

"Hurry—" he was saying, but then Sakuno saw something over his shoulder that made her scream.

"LOOK OUT!" She violently pushed him away, just in time to save him from a stray arrow coming his way—and letting it pierce right through her body instead. She gasped, wide-eyed, at the excruciating pain in her abdomen, falling first to her knees before collapsing to the ground lifelessly.

Maybe this is really the end.

Sakuno, at the tender age of seventeen, was going to die. She would die and leave no traces of her existence on this world. She would die before she could earn her own freedom, before she could even know who her mother and father were. She would die with no good memories to keep. She would die as a nameless slave, and no one would weep for her and tell stories about her. The would be no one to remember her.

It was a sad ending, even for someone like her.

Everything around her seemed to move in slow motion. Her vision was becoming dimmer and dimmer, the din around her growing more distant by the minute. Life was slowly extinguishing within her, and it was odd how she felt at peace, like she'd known that this would happen all along.

"…oi, oi…don't…!"

Almost painfully, she shifted her eyes and saw him, Sasabe's mysterious servant, his face incredibly close to hers. His beautiful eyes were stricken with fear, while his mouth moved and formed words she could no longer comprehend. If Sakuno would delude herself, she'd believe that he was weeping for her.

Seeing a complete stranger begging her not to die seemed a whole lot better than nothing. It made Sakuno feel like she was valuable, even for just a short moment. At least she could depart knowing that someone actually knew that she had lived until this moment.

She smiled at the thought.

Then everything faded into black.

Ryoma hitched his breath as the girl lying in his arms began to lose consciousness.

"Oi!" He lightly shook her, but her limp body did not respond. "Oi, don't! Dammit, you can't die here!" He quickly checked for her pulse, and was relieved to find one. Fortunately, the arrow sticking out of her torso missed a vital part by a mere inch, but she could still die from blood loss if her wound was not attended to immediately.

He would not forgive himself if another innocent life was lost in his hands.

"Echizen!"

Ryoma quickly looked up and spotted Momoshiro, engaged in a one-on-one battle with one of Sasabe's hunch men. The spiky-haired man gave him a minute's glance before swinging his axe violently at his opponent. "Where the hell is the cargo?!" He quickly dodged the sword that was meant to spear his heart. "Tezuka said five minutes!"

Ryoma looked back down on the scrawny, injured girl, mainly just to make sure that she was still breathing. "I've got it!"

"Good!" Momoshiro delivered the final blow and his enemy was knocked unconscious. He then pulled out a whistle tied around his neck and blew on it—their signal to retreat into the woods. "Come on!" he yelled at Ryoma, hoisting his axe over his shoulder and sprinting away.

Grimacing slightly, Ryoma gripped the protruding end of the arrow in the girl's body and used his entire arm's strength to pull it out, causing more of her blood to spill on her clothes. He ripped the sleeve of his shirt and used it to bandage the wound, knotting it as tightly as he could to impede the severe bleeding. Healing had been his worst subject in the Guild, but he was pretty sure that even his makeshift work could hold up until they reached the medics.

As gently as possible, he snaked his arms around her back and beneath her knees and lifted her off the ground. He was about to break into a jog to hide in the trees when a snow-white horse came galloping along his way.

"What are you doing, Echizen?!" demanded the white horse's rider, frowning heavily at the girl in Ryoma's arms.

"Securing the cargo," Ryoma simply replied. "Bring her up, Fuji! She's gravely injured!"

Fuji's usually closed lids flew open and revealed shocked electric-blue eyes. "This girl is the cargo?!"

From the distance, the sound of Momoshiro's whistle reverberated once more, an urgent call for them to get a move on.

"Are you sure you are not mistaken, Echizen?" Fuji pressed on, concern marring his usually smiling face. He was distracted, however, when one of Sasabe's remaining men came charging at him with a spiked club. "Hoist her up!" he quickly ordered, before lifting his bow and arrow and aiming at his assailant.

Ryoma hastily transferred the girl on Fuji's saddle and strapped her securely. "Bring her straight to Oishi," he said to Fuji, who nodded at him before pulling the reins and taking off into the woods.

With one final glance at the bloody mess they have created, Ryoma turned on his heel and went on his own way. Despite his profession, he disliked lingering in battlefields for too long, as the eerie silence that took over after an encounter often made him feel uneasy and, at times, even nauseous.

He had barely made it far, however, when a hand shot up from the ground and grabbed him by the ankle, almost making him trip and lose his balance.

In a speed that was almost invisible to the eye, he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at his attacker, who turned out to be a badly beaten-up Sasabe lying half-dead on the ground.

"W-Who…" Sasabe stammered, his breath in ragged gasps. "W-Who…are…you…?"

That made Ryoma smirk. "I'm the one who's going to put men like you in their proper place," he said bluntly, looking down at Sasabe with eyes filled with cold hatred. "Who knew your ranks could be infiltrated so easily?"

Fear was evident in Sasabe's face. "P-P-Please…" he whispered. "Spare me…"

At that, Ryoma's look hardened even more, his lips unfurling into an angry scowl. "Should've thought of doing that to all those families you slaughtered, huh?" he said in a low, dangerous voice. "Should've thought of that before leaving thousands of people homeless."

"T-Those eyes…" Sasabe wheezed, still not letting go of Ryoma. "Y-You're…y-you're the…S-Samurai's…"

"That's right," Ryoma said derisively. "I am the Samurai's son, Ryoma Echizen."

With that, he kicked Sasabe's hand away and drove his sword through his heart. He gazed down unblinkingly as Sasabe sputtered blood and finally lay motionless on the ground, eyes still staring right back at him.

"Mada mada dane."

A bit action-packed for a first chapter, don't you think? In writing this, I imagined Ryoma and the team looking like bandits rather than English knights, just in case someone gets curious of this. The timeline and setting of this story should be parallel to Dark-Age Europe, as of course, it is set in an alternate universe.

University is killing me, so review for this poor soul? :)

P.S. I know, lame title. :(