It was at the twilight of the evening when Nariko reached the furthest of the buildings she had seen from the vantage point on the mountain. There were a lot more of them and much more tightly packed, because the foothills provided stable ground to build upon. If the woods wouldn't have been so eerily quiet for the recent while, she would have expected to meet the inhabitants, but no sounds were forthcoming from anywhere, only the wind rustling the treetops.
The sight that opened up to her when she left the treeline, though, made her snap to a battle ready stance instantly. Her eyes roamed over the open area dotted with obviously very recent versions of the domes, showing very little wear. Pristine, except for large holes in most of them, complete collapse of others. Decorated tables in front of the entrances, little of which remained in one piece, covered in rubble and other remains of destruction. The sight in front of her answered any guess of where the people might have gone.
In the form of piles of dead bodies.
The stench of decay had already fled the place, so Nariko was utterly surprised by what she found. What in the world happened here? While keeping an eye on her surroundings, she stepped closer to a body. From what she could tell, factoring in that it was late in one of the longest winter periods her people knew of, it seemed appropriate to guess their time of demise in months, maybe even as long as a year, this high up near the usually colder mountains. At least on the other side of it. Anyway, how could nobody know of this?
The answer came in the form of a few dead that were obviously not locals. One of them, strangely in the midst of the battle, a standard bearer. The flag he carried bore the insignia of King Bohan. Unbelievable. Nariko's hand left her sword's hilt, sure that the troops have long since left. She knew, because her clan watched them closely at home, preparing, in case the man knew about the prophecy and the sword. Instead of anger, sadness or even empathy, Nariko simply felt empty at the sight before her, not allowing herself to grieve for these strangers. So much pointless death.
Nariko wandered through the battlefield, her step careful, lest she steps into a trap that some of the king's troops were known for. The body count rising quickly with each new direction she took. He cut down a civilization that no one seemed to know about. Why? This she looks over the masses of unarmed dead. Men, women, children, no distinction between them, but the size of their remains. Easily a hundred by what she can see alone. doesn't look like an opposing force. It is more like a slaughter for the sake of it.
She turned to leave, seeing how she could do nothing for these bodies, not even give them a proper burial as the ground was frozen too hard. And she really didn't want to stay, because the feeling arose that this will be a sight seen much too often in her future. Besides, they have laid here for so long, their spirits either found peace in the heavens or will never find it again. A flare of anger adds another thought Unless Bohan joins them, so they can take their revenge on his spirit. But she was certain that wouldn't happen any time soon, mainly because her own people would rather wait and see how that monster continued its warring and pillaging.
One of the piles of rock a few steps behind her suddenly collapsed with a clutter that resounded like a gunshot into the utter silence. That in itself, it wouldn't have startled Nariko as much as it did, but the clearly audible sound of a sharp intake of breath had her ready for battle once more. But there was no more sound or movement, aside from the last pebbles of the pile that slid off the larger rock and left only a small, short lived stream of dust trickling down its side quietly.
Before she took any chances in turning her back on the unexpectedly sudden unstable pile, she inched closer, prepared to draw her sword at any minute inconsistency. The closer she got, the more audible became a ragged, pained and desperately muted breathing – whimpering really – from underneath. Good god, don't tell me someone survived in this... She refused to name it again, its senselessness apparent enough by itself.
Only three steps away at best, Nariko slowly unsheathed her sword. Just when it was halfway out, a figure exploded from underneath the dirt pile, directly in her direction. She didn't even have the time to wonder why it didn't flee, but attacked instead.
Left with no other choice, because she didn't want to kill anyone who might have survived here this long, Nariko realigned her center of gravity, raised her foot and timed it just so that the figure connects with it and absorbed its forward motion, basically catching it. Bending her knee for what would now be a powerful shove instead of a blow, she heaves the surprisingly light, but fiercely, determinedly screaming figure away from herself. Only then did she draw her sword, uncertain what might be forthcoming now. Before she even fully rose the sword, a duo of arrows flew toward her. But as she was prepared to evade anything first, attack later, she managed to do so efficiently.
Now that the other person – as it had to be, handling weaponry – turned out to be armed, Nariko decided on a preemptive attack, burst into a sprint and closed the short distance in the blink of an eye. Briefly, during the quick dash, the question of why there were no more arrows coming, when the person could eject two of them nearly at once entered her mind. No matter. her mind supplied.
She raised her sword, its blunt side turned toward the attacker, for a powerful blow, wanting to end this uneven fight as quickly as possible, when her last step took her directly in front of the other person. The moment she saw the curled up figure, cowering pained and defenseless, her mind brought back the pictures of her father, with his sword lifted above his head, ready to take her life. Startled, shocked, Nariko stopped dead in her tracks, horrified that this would happen now, or at all.
In the moments until she regained her bearings, she watched the figure closely. Covered more than dressed in dirty, worn and torn rags, it didn't seem likely they were much use against the cold weather. Nariko could tell that the effort of attacking took every bit of energy the little creature had left. The girl, as it turned out, was malnourished near death, breathing very strained, but she couldn't see any obvious signs of injury. Her makeshift clothes were drenched in mud and other grime, but not a single sign on her that suggested she belonged with Bohan.
Good god. her mind repeated. Nariko's sword slowly lowered to her side, all notions for a fight gone, worry and grief finally taking its place. Heavy enough, the sword embeds itself, standing upright in the patch of sufficiently soft soil underneath the two of them, as it left her hand. She knelt down next to the little thing in front of her, unsure of what to do.
But she underestimated the inhuman strength of a frantically cornered, so she finds herself laying on her back a moment later. Already the girl had picked up a big stone, lifted over her head to bring it down and defend herself as best she can, with everything she has. Nariko almost laughed out loud, tears pricking at her eyes. What a strange coincidence. Three times nearly the same picture, three different conclusions. In hindsight, she doubted there was much intent, other than defense.
Nariko quickly had her hands up in defense herself and grabbed the tiny arms of her opponent, shushing soothingly all the while writhing around the little thing to lock her in place. It proved a difficult task, as this girl seemed to be lithe and strong, despite the seeming lack of energy only moments earlier, Nariko had to put quite a bit of strength into holding the girl in place.
"It's okay! Shh, calm down!" she tries. Nariko didn't believe for a moment this girl gave up when she felt the struggles lessen. She was certain that she only lost her last reserves of power with that last ditch attempt to fend of the attacker. "Shh..." The stone fell out of the girl's hands and she stops moving entirely, just as suddenly as everything began, this time with the girl on her back, quiet, unmoving.
Resigned. Resigned to her fate. Nariko thought, but didn't allow herself to feel pity for the girl. The instinct of a person in this kind of situation is on the very peak of efficiency, which might mean she could have picked up on the changing mood and that would have only made things worse again. "Shh..." she soothed still, wearing a genuine smile now, at the valiantness of this girl. It seemed to work, defusing the situation as well, because the raggedly breathing girl looked up at her, extremely wary, but with a hint of curiosity in huge, turquoise eyes... She expected to be dead already.
For a moment, they stared at each other, until Nariko decided to open her hand with which she held the scrawny arms in place above the girls head, pinned to the ground. She didn't immediately let up the downward pressure, but the girl showed no sign of twitching out her now freed hands, so Nariko slowly raised her own arms and, equally slowly sat herself upright, straddling the figure whose breathing had slightly normalized. Good. Now what?
On a whim, cocking her head at the girl, looking for any reaction to being partially freed, but none forthcoming, Nariko slowly got up and took her weight off the girl entirely. So she doesn't scare her again, she remained in a squatting position, leaving enough room for the girl to scramble away from her a little. Just out of reach, even if Nariko were to jump from her position, which would take a moment longer to propel herself than for the girl to escape.
Her smile still in place, Nariko greeted with a quiet, simple "Hello." As if she sensed the forthcoming action, the girl tensed up rigidly before Nariko spoke, but remained in her place about threesteps away. "So you do understand I don't mean you any harm?" Does she even speak my language? The question answers itself, when the girl actually nods. Well, that was unexpected. It's amazing that she is still up and alive. But why did she stay?
"Can you fully understand me?" Another nod.
"Are you the only one?" Nod.
"Can you tell how long it's been?" She doesn't go into details with her questions, knowing full well that anything could set the girl off again, aside that it was obvious, really, what she meant. But, contrary to anything Nariko could have imagined, the girl smiled at her, picked up a twig and scribbled the number Five into the sand. Five months, I suppose.
"How do you know?" A shrug.
"How old are you?" Another scribble told Nariko the girl was sixteen years old.
"Have you been alone the entire time?" Nod.
"How did you survive?" The girl cocked her head, perhaps in imitation and the only answer given is a finger pointed at Nariko's side and a wave of a hand that indicated toward their surroundings. When Nariko turned around to look at what the girl had pointed, she realized that next to her laid the device with which the girl shot the arrows. So she picked up whatever she could find and actually hunted for food. That makes it all the more unnecessary to stay.
Nariko shifted her weight to one side, wanting to stand up as she felt confident the girl wouldn't dash away again, after trusting her enough to...well, converse, in her own way. "Can you tell me, somehow, why you didn't leave...hey!" But, again at her initial motion, the girl leapt past her like a flash and picked up something that Nariko didn't notice before. All that energy left. Amazing.
The back of the girl was turned to her, but even then with just enough space separating the two, so an escape attempt should have turned out successful, Nariko got up fully and turned toward the girl. Who turned around quickly, smiling brightly and presented the thing she picked up.
Oh heavens no! Nariko found herself staring at a hollow, ironically grinning skull, pristine, aside from a few spots of dirt from where it had laid a moment ago and a mark under the jaw bone that clearly indicating the way this person perished. It was then thatshe realized just how far beyond mere shock the girl was over the surrounding bloodshed. "Oh god, who is that?" The rather unnecessary question slipped out before she could stop herself, but, of course, there was no answer. She doesn't talk.
Taken aback by the distraught, but confused expression on the girl's face as she hugged the skull close to her chest, she didn't know what to say or do. But she gathered Oh..it must be a family member, or some else close. Surprisingly, the girl picked up another tool to scribble in the sand. When the girl finished, Nariko felt her heart skip a beat and she choked up as she read the single word.
Mother.
Tears clouded her vision, but she suppressed them from overflowing as best she could. A very difficult task, when the one causing them smiled at her brightly, as if she'd just proudly introduced her family. Then and there Nariko decided that she would at least try to help the girl, if at all possible, how ever she can. It put her in a bit of a spot, though. I can't ask, or worse force her to come with me. The journey could kill her and even if not, meeting more people would definitely scare her off.
So she looked around, seeing if a decent shelter could be established here. Well, if need be, there are a lot of houses left around. Though they will be pretty chilly at night. But then, she survived in them.. Still, her own decision made, she didn't know what the girl would think about it. She has absolutely no reason to trust me, just because I didn't kill her straight away. Since she's been understood so far, Nariko tries a direct approach, thinking that any kind of planning or beating around the bush would only scare the girl away from her.
Eying the skull at the girl's side warily, but with a twinge to her heart, she addressed the seemingly absentminded girl, who was scribbling meaningless signs and shapes into the sand. "Listen." Nariko was certain that the girl's attention was in no way absent, that she was merely waiting for herself to do or say something, even if it would have been just her going away. So she wasn't surprised when the girl immediately looked up to her, an expectant expression from the huge eyes set in the small face.
Wait, why didn't I think of this first? "Can you write down your name?" The girl seemed to be quite intelligent, despite being far off course with her mind. That should have been my first question, when she first wrote. And the girl doesn't disappoint. But in a very different way than what Nariko expected.
"Kai." declared the girl, when she pointed at her grinning self.
"Oh." Nariko's mind drew a blank, unable to comprehend why the girl...Kai would suddenly decide to talk, even if it was only her name. She shook herself back into focus and inched a bit closer to the girl, curious if there would be more forthcoming. But she was already drawing in the sand again, so Nariko decided just to proceed as she planned, except that she dared to actually get even closer. "Well, thank you for even talking to me, Kai." since that sentence bore no necessity for a response, Kai simply continued her scribbling.
"Hey." Nariko hushed and moved slowly, as not to startle the girl. It appeared to work, as Kai allowed her – and Nariko did not doubt for a second it would be impossible without approval from her, however indirect – to put her fingers under the small, pointy chin, lift it up and pull it to face her. This close up, Nariko was startled by the depth and color of those green eyes, but even more so by the simple acceptance of this kind of interaction. "I..."
A new attempt, after she cleared her throat and leaned away from the searching eyes that were, randomly in synch with the head, twitching in uncertainty, from left to right and back to her own, worked a lot better. But she still allowed the touch to begin with. "Would you like to get away from here? From all this?" Nariko's voice seemed to recapture the attention of the girl completely, until she elaborated "I am on my way to a clan quite a ways from here..." at which Kai drew back quickly, the open expression on the face now turned away from her closed up immediately.
But Nariko used the same light touch to incite Kai to look at her again. "Shh, it's okay. I know that you don't want that." she reassured and yet again, the girl seemed to believe her and waited expectantly for more words to follow. "I wouldn't want to take you to those people." She looked around, pointed, so that Kai followed her line of sight "But it will do you no good to stay here." It damaged so much already. "I have a lot of time, so we could, maybe, make our way to one of the further, older houses first and set up a small camp. Just the two of us" she adds quickly "and get your health back up first. I have a bit of medicine with me that should work."
Kai seemed to hesitate for a bit, but rather than apprehension, Nariko could only see careful dampening of excitement when the girl looked at the skull. She could only imagine that she was searching for confirmation of her choice. If Kai ever received one, Nariko would never dare to ask, because for some reason it made her feel equally sad, repulsed and worried about the girl. I don't know how she even manages to become excited... And when the answer came in form of another small nod and a hesitatingly hopeful smile, Nariko just had to ask "Kai." she breathed. "How can it be, that after all you endured, you are so quickly, so easily willing to go with me? Now I know I wish you know harm, but you don't...and after so much..."
"Kai was all alone until..." the raspy, high pitched voice that trailed off in confusion came as a surprise again. Nariko wouldn't have guessed for the girl to be able to speak this much, but it was good to hear "What's your name?" Expressions flowed over Kai's face, almost too quickly for Nariko to follow, it made an amusing display. From sadness to confusion, then inquisitive and finally settled on her expectant look, her head bobbed every which way with each change.
"My name is Nariko."
"That, I like." the girl said, nodding enthusiastically. "Kai also likes your hair." The random comment had Nariko touch the long, red tresses spilling down her back, bound in the intricate way her father said her mother wore, before...well. The thought made her look away, the nice feel of the compliment from the other girl vanished. This is not the time to reminiscence.
Seemingly having found her train of thought again, Kai began her reasoning anew "Kai was all alone, until Nariko found me. Then Nariko came close to end my life, but chose not to. That is not like the other men. You even left your sword to calm me. Mother always said first impressions are important. And Kai's first impression of Nariko was good. If Nariko wanted me dead, I would be dead now, but you offer food and care."
That semblance of rational thought was again accompanied by Kai's twitchy, bobbing head, and appreciative smiles at Nariko's treatment of her. This girl wouldn't let up surprising Nariko, though, and so, when the set of eyes that previously roamed their surroundings, suddenly fixated on the startled red of her own, Nariko was stunned by the very apparent clarity of mind Kai displayed seemingly out of nowhere. "Seems like a good deal, no?" she asks thus.