Chapter Three: Lies
Tatsumi, she found, was an excellent liar. His emerald eyes tearing up at just the right times, voice shaking and quivering just right, small pauses and whimpers entwined at perfect intervals as he told the village elder the tale of how, exactly, Seppo meet his end at the hands of a rampant danger beast. They'd planned this ahead of time, of course, and even set up the field, the ten year old glancing away as she cut his teacher's corpse to shreds and destroyed his home, with a tiny bit of remorse, as she quit adored it's atmosphere.
Esdese had been so proud, when he came up with the plan, the cold look in his eyes beyond delicious, it had took all of her will power to simply steal a single kiss. Of course, the lie had been crafted for the sole purpose of keeping his family, his village, safe. For, he told her, they would fight to the death if they found that she not only killed one of their own, but planned to steal another. She had laughed at the prospect, welcoming the challenge, the opportunity to show them to whom Tatsumi truly belonged. But the boy had already made her promise, and the reward was far too sweet to ignore.
"I see," murmured the elder, aged eyes turning to her, " It seems we are in your debt, young lady," he smiled, not so kindly, sensing something off about her, "if that beast had gotten any further, we would have lost far more then Seppo."
The women from before, Seppo's lover, perhaps, wept silently in the back, Tatsumi lightly running his fingers through her hair for comfort. Should she lop the women's head off? No, no, that's far too repetitive, cut off pieces of her scalp? Yes, that would work, and then, after that, she could continue to the rest of the body, or should she leave the scalp for last? Caught in her thoughts, Esdese didn't notice the cruel smirk that graced her lips. And only blinking, slightly, when two children moved to stand before the boy.
"Are you even listening to the elder?" the young girl inquired, eyes narrowed and hands clenched at her sides.
"Did you really defeat a danger beast?" the boy asked in awe, completely ignoring the glare sent his way.
Only Tatsumi's light chuckle spared them, "she did," he smiled, eyes beaming with false awe, "it was supper cool! She was so fast, the thing didn't stand a chance!"
With the children in discussion, the women having slinked off into another corner, she turned back to the elder.
"You're village owes me."
Raising an eyebrow, the elder agreed wearily, "if there is anything we can do to repay you're kindness, then name it."
"Tatsumi," she called, inwardly rejoicing when the boy dutifully moved to her side, ignoring the girls' outburst and attempt to grab his arm.
Suddenly feeling nauseous the elder shook his head, "you plan to take him?"
Grabbing the boy's hand, she nodded, her smirk returning as he flinched under her grip and tried to pull away in failure.
"May I ask why? Surely there are far more reasonable things to request, food, perhaps? And though they are few, we do have horses, we could even grant you a home, or a decent sum of money, why take the boy?"
A few other villagers nodded. But the two children, Tatsumi's friends, she presumed, glared out right.
"All you soldiers are alike," one of the villagers spat, "you're worse than mercenaries! Taking anything you please!" Her silence only opened the flood gates, and soon the village was full of heated words.
"He's our strongest little warrior!" cried another.
"With Seppo gone, who'll take over the forge?"
"Why are you even here?"
"How could you take him away, just after we lost someone so dear!"
Tatsumi appeared shaken, weather in gratitude for their concern, or in concern for their lives, she did not know, but he stopped his miniscule attempts to tear away from her grip, and returned it with a firm one of his own. Eyes wide as he turned from his family and glanced up at her, a plea light on his lips.
Smirking, finding the amount of debt the boy was racking up amusing, she fully turned to him, gripped his chin, and planted a firm kiss on his lips. Ignoring the gasps of disgust and cries of protest, she slipped her tongue into his mouth and slowly traced the inside, her laughter lost in the exchange as his already wide eyes became even larger.
It was the young girl who interrupted the kiss, having picked up a random stick and tossing it with a surprising amount of accuracy. Only releasing her beloved as he slapped her wrist, begging for some much needed air, she pulled away, and twirled the twig she caught, smirking, a bit darkly, as the village was, at last, silent.
"Yes," she sighed, running her fingers across her lips, eyes sparkling in bliss, "I wish to take Tatsumi as my mate," ignoring the startled outbursts she continued, "perhaps that is no better than a mercenary, claiming a women as his prize, perhaps that is no better than soldiers raping their own, but," her cold eyes glanced at every one of them, in turn, "I am a soldier, and, just like a mercenary, I saved your village," the lie, she smirked, was becoming more ironic as time passed, " and I have been offered to take a prize, I have claimed it. Would you ungrateful hicks take back your word?"
The last bit was unnecessary, but, oh, she loved it when they were angry, it always makes crushing them so much more fun, but, she glanced back down at the boy who now looked away from her, away from everyone, and almost giggled, so this was where he got his stubbornness from, this was his weakness.
And, oh, she would play it up, for now, until he was hers, in body, mind, and soul, and then, then she would have the pleasure of watching him kill them, one by one. Until then, they were unwitting hostages.
"Tatsumi," the village elder called eventually, after having calmed everyone and called for a rather heated discussion, the two children having stormed off half way through, and the sobbing women finally having stopped her pathetic whimpering.
The boy turned to him, his glance both apprehensive yet slightly relived, apparently having come to the same conclusion as her. However, when he had attempted to move forward, closer to the villagers, she refused, her grip most likely leaving bruises in their wake.
The sight of her tugging the boy back to her side obviously disturbed the villagers, but they merely glared, their fists clenched by their sides. "We have decided to let her take you," at her smirk the elder looked ready to whip her with his staff, but he, sadly, refrained, "With Seppo gone and you're place destroyed, there isn't much left here for you," he sighed, "a debt is a debt, and we must pay it back."
"By any means." Tatsumi nodded, the conviction in his eyes making her giddy.
"However," the elder's expression softened, "allow us to bestow upon you what little we can."
"But that's-!"
"You are our family," the elder interjected, waving away Tatsumi's concerns, "we can't just send you off with nothing but the clothes on your back."
Moving his gaze to the young soldier, the elder continued, "However, with Tatsumi we have already paid you our dues, you must excuse us if we grant you nothing further."
Her savage grin chilled them all to the core, "and you will pardon me for not caring."
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A/N:
Pichicha123: Will they regain their memories? They will, but unlike in many other stories, this won't happen until near the end, and from what I can tell, this story is going to be a long one, man, I hope I can keep all of you interested through it...
Alas, there is no updating schedule, my life is a little too hectic for that, work, work, and more work, but I'll update when I can, and if people are interested. I don't actually have much confidence in my writing, so when I start feeling like no one likes the story, then I tend to just drop it, sadly.
Anyhow, hope you all got to enjoy! Once again, leave a review if you can, even one liners are good, I'm that pathetic.
