Chapter 2: The Reunion

Shigi's entire body was aching as he heard a voice far off. He had difficulty opening his eyes, the morning sun shining behind him. Leaning over him was a man in blue armour, an azure cape hanging around his neck and over his scale-like armour. Shigi's throat was dry and he could not speak nor move, he merely looked up at the soldier. He seemed relieved to see Shigi alive and helped him sit up.

"I have a survivor over here! Bring me a blanket! It's okay now, you're safe," the soldier told him softly, rubbing his shoulders gently, "We'll take care of you."

Shigi did not even have the energy to nod. He was tired and aching, as well as enduring the overwhelming agony of loosing his parents and coming to terms with the lives he had taken. Endlessly, he stared out in front of him with blank eyes, nothing but hollow voids beyond his purple depths. Other soldiers arrived and Shigi felt himself being picked up by a soldier who wrapped him in a warm wool blanket.

"He looks an awful lot like General Ihyou, doesn't he?" one of them mumbled.

"Boy, what's you name?"

Shigi attempted to talk, but nothing came out. He coughed and took a deep breath. As well as this, he could not see properly.

"Shi-gi," he eventually uttered hoarsely before coughing violently.

"Isn't that the name of Prince Wahei's son?"

Tears came to Shigi's eyes when he heard his father's name. He could not reply to any more of their questions, but closed his eyes and leant his head against the soldier's armour. They began walking away from the hill where Shigi had collapsed.

As they passed the village, the other solider uttered, "Don't let him see it, Captain."

Shigi already knew not to look. He could not bear remembering what happened the night before. The only thing going through his slow-processing mind was that he hoped his brothers were safe. After half an hour or so, they had arrived at the camp. Shigi was placed to sleep on the ground, although he was covered in blood. He could not sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw nothing but carnage and the death of his parents. Instead, he pretended to rest, but listenedto the soldiers' conversation.

"It appears the came through this gap along the boarder. We think they chose this area to assassinate his majesty and make it appear as a civilian casualty. They attacked several other villages, here, here, here and here."

"When it comes to down it, it doesn't matter one way or another. Hokkan broke the treaty, and we're not letting them kill our prince without retribution," the Captain retorted, "Who do those fucking bastard in Touran think they are!"

"Sir, no disrespect meant, but your language. The boy…"

"You're right…"

Shigi closed his eyes and sighed. So the fact was that a huge group of people lost their lives because Hokkan wanted to cause an emotional blow to the entire nation of Kutou. Shigi had heard many times that the nation loved his father. He was the youngest of the three brothers, and at one point was the negotiator for the nation, travelling to Konan and Sairou often to arrange trades and such. Eventually, he grew tied of life at court and moved to a remote area, found a lover and had a family. The only thing he wanted was to live peacefully away from the popularity of being royal. That was all he wanted. And Hokkan had to take that away from him.

Shigi attempted to stop tears rolling down his face as he reminded himself of these facts. His father was no threat at all. He was a mere farmer, living in a remote and average village in the hills. It was not fair.

Location: Kutou Army Temporary Camp

Somewhere along the line, Shigi had found himself in a dreamless sleep. He opened his eyes and sat up. Severally soldiers were clustered around the table with the Captain, leaning over a map. Shigi stood up and wandered over, the blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders. He only just noticed that all his cuts had been attended to. Although he was grateful for the soldiers' care for him, he could not brush off the pain throbbing inside him.

As he walked up to the table and peered down at it, one of the soldiers, the one who found him Shigi believed, placed his hand on his head and ruffled his hair lightly. There were two maps on the table. One was of the northern part of Kutou, and the other was the south-eastern region of Hokkan. Although a lot of the terms the soldiers were using made no sense to him, Shigi looked at the figures on the maps. He guessed the blue items were parts of the Kutou army, the groups symbolised by numbers. There were also black items, which must have symbolised the Hokkan army.

Shigi examined the map. He located various villages and towns, the terrain of both areas and such. After scratching his head, Shigi reached onto the table and rearranged various pieces.

"Kid, they aren't toys!" one of the soldiers frowned.

Everyone else, however, was silent, staring down at what he had done. The Captain was analysing Shigi's action in awe, following invisible lines with his finger. Shigi just watched; he knew what he was doing. The curtain to the tent fluttered open and the Captain stood up.

"General! Come look at this!" the Captain cried instantly.

The General wandered over to where the Captain had been seated. Muttering quietly, he informed his superior officer of how the figures would make a vital attack. Shigi began to roll on the balls of his feet, biting his lip. The room was tense, and he thought had done something wrong. He watched the General's expression with an apologetic look on his face.

"And here as well. If these attacks pull through, their army would most probably move in this direction, and again it's stopped."

"Who did this?" the General questioned quickly.

"The boy," the Captain replied anxiously.

The General looked down at Shigi, who lowered his head. Instead of being yelled at, the General smiled at him. Shigi looked up as he knelt in front of him and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Realising he was not in any trouble, Shigi attempted to hide his modest smile.

"Did you know what you were doing, Shigi?" the General asked him softly.

Shigi nodded and the General smiled again. Getting to his feet, he addressed his soldiers with a steady hand on Shigi's shoulder. Everyone was quiet.

"Don't worry, men. This is my nephew. As you can see, a very gifted strategic thinker."

Shigi bowed his head as he blushed. He always felt bad when he was given such extensive complements. The Captain turned to the soldier who found Shigi before looked back at the General.

"We had an inclination that he was Prince Wahei's son, General Ihyou."

"That he is," then Ihyou knelt down beside Shigi and said softly, "Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air? We'll finish up in here then I'll come talk to you, alright? You might want to explore the camp a little."

Shigi nodded and rushed out of the tent, pulling the blanket tightly around his shoulders. All around him were identical white, blue and cream coloured tents like the one he had come out of. He also found where the horses were being kept and attended to. During his wanderings, came across various soldiers, but no one he knew. Eventually, he arrived to the survivors' camp. The first people he came across were two young boys with cobalt coloured hair and matching eyes. They looked closed to identical.

"Hi, I'm Kyou!" the shortest smiled, holding out his hand.

"Um, Shigi," he replied hoarsely.

"Why were you in the soldier's camp?" the other asked, "I'm Ren, by the way."

"My uncle's down there," Shigi explained, giving the half-truth.

"Stay here and play with us then," Kyou suggested.

"I'm looking for someone at the moment."

"Who?" Ren asked.

"My brothers. The oldest has black hair; he's my age. Sometimes gets really angry easily. The other is two, white hair and a real cry-baby. Have you seen either?"

"No, sorry," Ren shrugged, "We haven't seen any other kids."

"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway."

"When you find them, why don't you all come back and stay with us?"

"Would that be alright though?" Shigi frowned.

Ren shrugged again, "I guess it doesn't matter much. I'm cooking, after all."

"That's because you cook better than me, Aniki," Kyou explained with a frown.

Shigi nodded and walked away. He knew better than to ask where their parents were. Kyou must not have contemplated the fact that their parents were gone. By Ren's serious and mature expressions, he had.

After an hour or so of searching, the sun was beginning to set, its golden afternoon light spreading across the plane. Shigi sat down against a tent, his feet and heart arching. He felt as though he was on the verge of collapsing again, but he desperately wanted to find his brothers. However, after searching the entire camp, he could not find them anywhere. He was starting to grow increasingly worried. Maybe, if the soldiers had not found them, his brothers were still waiting for him on the hill.

With renewed hope, Shigi stood up and made for the horses. As he weaved between the tents, he heard someone crying. He turned slowly and looked behind him. Two crouched figures were sitting a little further down, away from the tents. Shigi attempted not to cry as he ran over to them.

"OTOUTO-SAN!"

Hien looked up and called back, "ANIUE!"

Shigi grabbed him as tightly as he could, Hien complaining all the while at his big brother sentimental attitude. Eventually, Hien was able to get out of Shigi's strong grasped and looked at his brother with a relieved expression. Shura was still crying on the ground.

"I can't shut him up! He won't listen to me," Hien complained.

Shigi sighed and picked Shura up, whispering soothing words. Shura seemed to cheer up when he was in his oldest brother's arms. Shigi realised that Hien was probably more relieved to see him because he would help look after Shura, instead of going the night without him. He held no resentment for this, however. Shigi understood that Hien had not seen what he had, therefore, it was not as big a deal that Shigi was missing. Nevertheless, Shigi was still grateful for finding his brothers. Hien looked up at Shigi, who withdrew.

"Where's mum and dad?"

Shigi froze, not sure how he should reply. Hien tilted his head, waiting patiently. Shura yawned and clanged to Shigi's bloody shirt.

"They… They're not coming."

"Why not?"

"They didn't make it," Shigi explained, bowing his head ashamedly, his hair covering his eyes.

"What do you mean? Where are they then? When are they getting here?"

"They're not coming, Hien," Shigi continued, quieter this time.

"Hey! Shigi!"

He turned around to see Kyou waving at them, Ren standing behind him with a frustrated expression. Shigi looked back at Hien, who looked tearful. He gave him a soft, yet sad smile.

"Why?"

"We'll talk about it some other time, okay? Come on. Those two have offered to make us dinner."

Hien's face lit up and he nodded. Shigi led the way over to them. He received a strange look from Ren, but thought nothing of it.

Note:

Aniki - A polite term used for "Older Brother". The only times I've ever heard this use is by a younger twin refering to their older brother.

Otouto-San - Otouto means "Little brother". "San" is a polite term put after people's names (not the most polite). However, putting this after a younger siblings title or name (eg. Otouto, Imouto) is very respectful and polite.