WHY WON'T YOU REMOVE YOUR ARMOR FOR ME?
They were some few thousand in all. They were ready, and they were valiant, eager to shed blood in an innumerable proportion; egged and cheered on by thousands more of like-minded people. They had prepared for this day a long time, trained under brave, war-worn commanders, trained for conquest and pillage and total domination that imperial Kutou would once again reclaim its place in this world as it had done in days of old.
If need be, Konan will be crushed and driven from existence as Kutou had done to the Hin tribe over a decade ago.
Even the gods were smiling upon them now. Seiryu himself had awakened from his ancient slumber. His Seishi were ready – a few of them who had remained alive; and the rest who had so willingly given up their lives for the cause would too, be remembered and honored above all others. They had returned from their glorious quest to summon the great Eastgod; though lesser in number than they had been when they first departed, and their Miko was with them; a fragile girl, but Miko nonetheless, for she has done her deed. She has summoned Seiryu for them, and what else was there to ask of her? A simple wish, or three?
Seiryu has granted her three omnipotent wishes. The great blue dragon-god of the eastern sky dwells within her, and made her god as he.
That was Nakago – the strongest, and most loyal of the Seishi's plan: Three, simple wishes to destroy or heal a world for the Miko's perusal, and him, lingering behind the insecure little girl of a Miko to veer her on.
The plain upon which they encamped, only a few miles away from Kutou's capital was a vast, barren stretch of pure aridity that went on for miles and miles on end under a vast concave of dull grey sky, made somber all the more for the weary troops of Konan who encamped at the opposite side, for this was a war they had never wished nor asked for. Now, the scales of the gods have even tipped against them entirely.
Nakago stood before his tent upon a jutting fissure of a small rocky hill with a clear view of his enemies' camp, his slender blue eyes tracing the encampment before him. His fair-skinned hands gripped the leather reins of his great brown steed. The animal had become restless, seeing the hubbub of activity brewing , small looking chariots moving, small Konan soldiers lining up and shouting at each other. It could not hear the noise, but like its master, could feel it, knowing that it would ride to war soon. A hot wave of wind rammed against horse and master in small, but sudden spurts, making it more restless. Nakago gently patted it at its side, stroking it by its long, coarse mane. He understood what it wanted, what it had been longing for. It was something it was reared for – something it lived for; like Nakago himself, the thrill of conflict, the excitement of war and conquest; served under superiors, sometimes forced to do their bidding; but in the end – a free spirited soul that no outsider had a part in. Together they had spanned the entire stretch of Kutou through wind and rain, jumped over ravines, raced herds of cattle and tore through sleepy villages.
As Nakago blinked, other thoughts began to enter his mind. All throughout his earlier youth he himself had been like that – reared, bound on a leash, trained for one purpose; trained under superiors who were so authoritative and omnipotent over him that they had every right to make him do their bidding whether such biddings were acceptable or not. But deep inside, he had this spirit that was entirely his own, not something they could control or ever would – a motive, hidden, obscure, covered by layers and layers of a domineering forces. He had allowed to be guided by this spirit alone, and as it matured, the spirit had become a motive. He remembered swearing to the heavens for its sake, swearing to the gods in front of their unseen faces.
With his eyes trailing from the great arid stretches westward to the point where the morning sun rose in a symphony of light and gold; the Konan encampment, he realized, spread all across the plain – like meat on a platter, like sheep before the waiting wolves. A gentle smirk appeared on his handsome countenance at the slightest thought of it. It was something he had not allowed himself to bother with in its entirety: why had they persisted with the war and mustered themselves to resist when Seiryu himself had banished their patron-god Suzaku, sealing him off to the depths of the nether? Perhaps they prefer to go down fighting than give in. They lost, anyway. Perhaps they were chasing foolish romantic visions far-fetched from reality – like hope and hollow promises they have made themselves. If those were a part of him (and they were not), they were gone now, left to a simpler time in a world that was once a part of him : now totally alien.
His horse whinnied gently, sensing movement from behind them. Soi, attired in a simple white garb that flowed down to her ankles came out of Nakago's tent. They had spend the night together, the way they had done so many times before, but it was a strangely sullen Nakago who was the first to rise without waking her. Her lovely red hair was loose, flowing like a banner in the dusty wind. Nakago did not notice her, or bothered to at present, but if he had taken the time to turn around and face his lover, he would have seen that her heart-shaped face and milk-white features were fresh and free of make-up, for she had not yet dressed for the day's battle that might as well be their last.
It was only when she approached him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder that he fully apprehended her presence. When Nakago casually turned around halfway, he saw at his leisure that her beautiful features had flourished much more so in the light of the morning, for her delicate garment had emphasized the vivacity of her womanly attractiveness. It was something he had not exactly seen before – a strange nobility that dare challenge queens and empresses, mothers and wives. His response however, was something else Soi had not expected nor anticipated.
"Order the troops to get ready in an hour," said Nakago, his manner formal and business-like as he turned his back on her.
"I .. will," replied Soi with slightly raised eyebrows.
"I have heard word that the Suzaku Seishi are coming to battle with their Miko," continued the Shogun, his voice cold and emotionless as he continued to stroke his restless animal. "Their persistence is interesting, but no matter. The day will end sooner than they know."
Soi backed away as she dropped her hand from her Shogun's shoulder. His long, golden hair emitted strange spots upon her eyes as the sun's rays fell on them. He had not even bothered to look at her as he spoke. There was something sort of a cold demeanor in his voice that she could not grasp at all.
"But why have they bothered to come?" she asked him. "Why not surrender themselves to us instead of coming when their powers have left them? Don't they realize that with Lady Yui now united with Seiryu, a simple wish is all we need to bring this to an end?" She halted as the horse made sounds of unrest and looked at the encampment stretching before them. "Have you any thoughts about that at all, Nakago?"
"They are fools," Nakago said simply.
"You too realize, of course, that our fates too depend totally upon Lady Yui," continued Soi. "If she wishes, we ourselves would fare all the worse. I'm sure you –"
"That is not something I have overlooked," he halted her in mid-speech, still keeping his broad shouldered back to his lover the same way he would talk to a common soldier, and not someone with whom he had shared his bed. He left, leading the horse with him, saying nothing else.
Within minutes, Soi had put on her armour and arranged her hair. As she discarded her feminine garment, throwing it on her bed, she looked at it and sighed.
What did she lack … what have she not done to tell him how she felt? But he would not care … he never cared. He never cared at all.
Her mind went back some months into the past, a little before all this madness started. She had bore him a child – a child she had lost. A child gone forever, born out of both love and pain … a child she would never see again. Nakago never knew that. But if he had, would he care?
He never cared. Never. He had eyes only for her, that insecure, selfish little girl of a Miko.
Soi looked away from the mirror, blinking back tears. A female Seishi stared back at her from its cold surface sadly. The shelf beside the mirror had an assortment of cosmetics she had used. They only mocked her – she knew, but she picked up a small glass bottle and opened it and collected the clear liquid streaming out of it at her fingertips and dabbed it behind her ears. She looked at herself again and breathed deeply.
She could not really bring herself to approach his tent. She would do anything to avoid him at this time; but the army commanders had informed her that all was ready and the troops were waiting for the Shogun's word. Suboshi was restless with impatience, as were the soldiers for the final battle – and victory as well, for who could stop them now?
Before Soi could lift the Shogun's tent flap, she was somewhat surprised by the appearance of the Seiryu no Miko who came out and bumped into her. As their eyes met, Yui frowned and ran off without a word, Soi's eyes lingering upon her for as long as they could. When Soi stepped inside Nakago's tent, the scene that welcomed her made her gasp in surprise and awe.
Nakago was sitting with his back to the entrance, sitting in front of something that looked like an illusion of a modern day city street with tall, rectangular dwellings, broad grey roads and chariots of steel. Soi clapped her hands to her mouth, stifling a small gasp. She had never seen such a magnificent sight in all her years at all.
"What .. was that?" she asked him as the vision faded. Nakago did not reply directly as he turned around in a casual fashion, but took the time to speculate her surprise and looked lavished.
"That was Lady Yui's homeworld," he replied. "A fascinating little sight, don't you think?"
"Well, I suppose …" she replied, but felt vaguely immersed in it as Yui's name sounded off her love's lips. "But what does it mean?"
Nakago's face twitched with a slight smirk as he left his seat and paced off, his back turned to her again. "To rule over it would be a glorious thing," he said.
But there was something Soi noticed in his tone that sounded ever so slightly – an indifference and vague interest lingering in his silky voice, almost as if Nakago was playing with his words.
Soi did not capture why Nakago would shift his attention upon a world they knew nothing of, or its existence at this particular moment, but made no contradiction to his proclamation. There were more pressing matters at hand.
Nakago sat back on his chair and gazed at her. The look he wore on his face and the way his eyes glittered made the hairs at the back of Soi's neck stand on end. What was he planning? Was this one war not enough? Was he trying to push Seiryu's power to an unknown realm … and what price was there to pay in this ordeal?
"I assume, you realize that Yui has made it all possible to our advantage," continued Nakago in that same business-like manner. "She has done us a good turn – knowing all the risks involved. She clearly has an edge over Suzaku no Miko when it comes to taking risks, for a price." He looked at her smoothly, and his lips trailed to a smile. "What would we do without her?"
She would not take it anymore. Her heart was boiling inside, her patience at an edge; and her passion domineering over her instincts.
"I am sure Yui has done you a good turn," she retorted. "Bearing in mind all the ends you had gone to for her. Why … I cannot imagine anything you would not go through to claim her, don't you think, Nakago? Even removing your armor , making yourself vulnerable for her?" she added sharply, feeling an intense heat rushing to her cheeks as his cold eyes rested on her. "But Nakago – why," she paused looking at him clearly in the eye, her nerves shivering. "Why won't you remove your armor for me?"
"I have removed my armor for you so many times," he replied in a disinterested manner, after a short pause, "that I have actually lost count of them."
"But that was only to boost your chi. It was essential," replied Soi, slightly alarmed at Nakago's lack of interest in her question. "You know the way my powers work. I .. I actually meant – "
Nakago vaguely lifted his gaze off her face, suddenly getting up from his seat and made for the entrance. As he lifted the tent flap, he turned back, his face inscrutable.
"There is only one woman who could give me what I want," he said coldly. "And that is not you."
As he left, Soi crumpled on the same seat upon which Nakago sat, tears stinging in her eyes.
Continued next chapter!
