Yello y'all! Thank you for reading on! It makes me very happy! Anyways, I know I know the first chapter was a little morbid…I get that a lot…anywho…this chapter explains things and you'll get an idea of the story…so…enjoy!
Story – Two Hearts, One Dream Chapter Title – King Nakamura's Fortress Summary - She's a teenager, who's brought to a fortress to become a slave. He's a warrior, serving the evil King. They both have one dream, a dream to be finally free. They're trapped amongst the walls of the great fort and if they try and escape they will be hunted down and killed. Will they ever be able to escape from this prison of hell?
As the carriage approached the two girls' new home, the Saxon's fort, the two main large doors opened inwards allowing the carriage to enter. The morning rays form the sun shined down, coating the fort with its light. The fort was entirely made of many long massive logs of wood. The height was enormous. From what the eldest sister could see, there were men standing along the rims of each of the four tall walls. To her, the men looked like small specks of dirt blowing from side to side.
Inside the giant fort, were buildings that flowed in a straight line. On her left were tall grey buildings that went on further east of the fort. These grey building looked like they were the homes of the solders that she had seen outside, standing on the walls. There was another level above the grey buildings, but below where the solders stood. The walls were dirty brown and there were many windows side by side. She did not know who lived there, but whoever did, didn't seem fortunate.
Straight ahead was a temple where the Saxons prayed to their gods. She knew many things about the Saxons from her readings and her father's stories. Their gods were Woden, the god of war, Frigg, the goddess of love, Thunor, the god of thunder, and Tiw, the god of battle. Although she had heard stories from her father about the Saxons, she never really knew exactly what they were like, that is, until last night. Now she thinks they are greedy people, who care about nothing, but power. Just the thought of it made her frown.
The carriage finally came stop a stop and a great deep voice came crawling towards her. "Kagami, who do you bring for me today?" The voice belonged to a tall, muscular man that was wearing a long, royal-like cape that flowed behind his shiny armor. Surrounding him were other men who were also wearing armor.
"Sire, I bring you two sisters. Their father was not cooperating and their mother was diseased, so we killed them both," The man said, who she assumed was Kagami, jumping off his large brown horse. His boots splashed into the mud that had been formed over night by the hard, pouring rain.
"Ah yes, good job. Now, let me see them," The kingly man said putting out his hands and walking towards his new comers.
Kagami walked to the carriage door and brought out the two girls. The little one was clinging to her older sister, still sobbing from the night before. The eldest looked at Kagami with stern eyes that were not planning on moving for some time, until the kingly man spoke once more.
"My, my, my, what beauties," He said, leaning in for a closer look. "I shall have this one as my slave? Or maybe this one," He went back and forth between the two girls. "I'll have you, little one," he finally decided, placing his large hand onto the youngest girl's shoulder. The older sister came in between them, protecting her little sister from the creepy man. The man lifted his gaze to look into her eyes. "What are your names? Answer and I'll have you as my slave instead."
"My name is Kagome Higurashi and this is my little sister Sakura Higurashi," She said firmly standing her ground.
"Ah, what beautiful names, Kagome and Sakura," He smiled. "I am King Nakamura and welcome to my fortress. It not often, that I receive beautiful girls like you. This is now your new home. Kagami, take them to their room and send the oldest to my chambers later tonight. Oh, and Kagami, dispose of my other slave. She is not needed anymore, now that I have this beautiful flower."
"Sire," Kagami bowed. "Come," he commanded to Kagome and Sakura.
Before Kagome turned around to follow Kagami, she noticed that in a corner on the left side of the great doors, was a small area. Inside the area were many cages that held people inside them. 'What are they doing in there?' Kagome asked herself. Her confused face explained everything of how she was feeling. 'Who would be so cruel as to put those poor people in there?'
"Kagome, are you not going with them?" King Nakamura said looking at her delectably. Kagome jumped and looked into the man's eyes and looked behind her to see that her sister had gone with Kagami. Of course, her sister did not notice that Kagome was not at her side, for if she did she would have hurried back to her. 'There's not much to her, but those eyes...there is something about those eyes that I cannot escape from.' Nakamura thought, smirking to himself. As she walked away, his eyes followed her, until she was out of sight.
Kagami led the two girls down the huge fortress, along the large grey buildings where she assumed the solders stayed, until there was a walkway that was to the left of them. The path led straight up a long curved stairway. Once the stairs ended, there were walls around them, with many paths that went to the entrances of the grey buildings. Kagome looked around the place, trying to see if there were any others out in sight, but there wasn't. This fort seemed very strange to her, people in the cages, the creepy king, no one around except for the few soldiers standing guard. She was so confused about everything, even to as why she was even there. She had questions that needed to be answered. Once more, there were more stairs to climb and it seemed as they went on forever.
When they finally reached the top of the narrow stairway, Kagome saw many tiny houses all in a row, side by side, squished together. It was creepy how all the houses were identical to one another and how long the two paths were to the left and right of her. Instead of turning right, they went left and went down a path that went on and on. It seemed like forever. Each door of each house was numbered with the numbers increasing, 56, 57, 58, -- 78, 79, 80, -- 92, 93, 94, -- and finally to number 96.
"This will be your room," Kagami said opening up the door with a key that hung from a black key ring. Once the door was opened, Kagome gazed inside and saw that the room was already occupied by one other person, a woman, who looked as if she was in her early thirties. "Now, I'll be back for you soon to take you to your master," he said looking at Kagome.
'My master?' She thought, looking at kagami confusingly as he left the tiny room and shut the door. She decided to shrug off her thoughts and look at her new home. Nothing much was in it. A tiny stove that had a black steaming kettle on it, a tiny table for two, a few chairs and two small beds. The walls were worn out and the roof leaked of water and landed in an old pot by the window. The window itself looked old and dirty; who knows when it had been cleaned last. The floors were nothing much either. They were made out of wood that was now rotting away. The entire house was horrible looking and the worst part about it was that it was freezing in there. There was no fireplace. The only things that were there to keep them warm were the stove and four blankets.
"Hello my dears, would you care for a hot cup of tea to warm you up. It rained quite a bit last night and now the chill is inside the house. Here, put these around you," The older woman said handing two blankets to Kagome and Sakura.
"Thank you and yes, I would love a cup of tea," Kagome said smiling a little at the woman. She was very kind.
"Please, have a seat," she said, handing Kagome a cup of tea. "I'm Kioko Takashi,"
"Nice to meet you," Kagome said also introducing herself and her sister. There was a long silence for moment until Kagome broke it with her questions. "Why are we here?"
Kioko looked up at her with a look of confusion, "They never told you?" Kagome shook her head slightly. "We are their prisoners."
"What do you mean?"
"We're their slaves. We are here because they are using us as slaves. Each one of us has our own man to serve. We cook their meals, do their laundry, clean their homes, and…sometimes they use us for "fun".
Kagome's eyes widened and looked at her sister and then back at Kioko "What? What is this place?" Kagome's face expression changed into disgust just thinking about what might happen to her, or even to her little sister. Who knows what kind of dirty minds all these men have.
"This is King Nakamura's fort and the men are his Saxons. What I've heard from the soldier I serve is that King Nakamura is here to overthrow King Arthur, and take away his land. I have also heard that King Nakamura is trying to find something special. I'm not quite sure what it is yet, but it's supposed to give him immense powers," There was a slight pause. "King Nakamura has sent his men to take over land that belongs to the people of Britannia and then he brings the people back to his fort. He uses the men for his soldiers and the women as the slaves. He tortures most of the people to try and find out where that special thing is, hence the people in the cages. You did see them out there, when you came in here right?"
Kagome nodded."They're there either because they made the King angry in some way or he is torturing them in order to get information.
"That's awful," Kagome said, listening attentively. "So apparently, as far as you know, he hasn't found what he has been looking for?"
"Yes, but I know that he will find it soon. Something is telling me that he is going to find it soon." Kioko said pouring herself another cup of tea.
"So, how long have you been here, Kioko?"
I was brought here 5 months ago with my husband and son. My son, who is 17, and my husband were sent to war, by order of the King, a few months ago against King Arthur's men. They never came back." She said lowering her head down towards the floor, remembering all the memories she shared with her family. Her voice trembled a bit and she played with her hands on her lap. She then finally looked out into the distance through the small, dirty window that was beside her. "Now, I wait here for them to return to me. Every time I look out this window, I always seem to see them walking up to the fort's gate, but then it comes clear to me that it is only my imagination.
"That's so sad," Kagome finally said after a long pause. She wiped a tear away that had trickled down her face."I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you cry. I really shouldn't burden you with these sorts of memories of mine.""No, it's quite alright," Kagome sniffed and took a sip from her cup. All of a sudden, there was a slight tug on Kagome's sleeve; it was Sakura. "What is it Sakura?" she asked, looking into her sleepy eyes. "Are you tired? Umm..."
"Yes, she can sleep in this bed over here," Kioko stood up and started to get one of the tiny beds ready for Sakura. Kagome led her to the bed and guided her underneath the thin covers. "I know it's not much, but you'll get used to it in time. We do still have these blankets to put over top of us."
"Thank you, you are very kind," Kagome smiled.
After a while, there was a knock on the door. It was Kagami, there to collect Kagome and bring her to King Nakamura's quarters.
Well, that's it for now! I'm hoping you like it…please review.
Gure-chan