The Battle Of Rosa Collis, Part 3.5: The Speech
"Milady! I think he's coming to!"
"Oi! Why'd ye call 'er for, runt?! 'M righ' 'ere!"
"Uh-h, well, you were next, obviously!"
"Out of the way, you fools!"
Pain. And noise. That's about all he registered right now. Then, he felt a hand on his face, lightly patting his cheek.
"Hello? Can you hear me? Do you know your name?"
"…...It..."
"Wha-!"
"Oi-!"
"Shut up! Shut up. Can you hear me? It's Marius. Your name is Marius. Do you remember?"
"...It..."
"Yes, yes, what is it?"
"...Continues to be 'captain' Marius."
The warden starts cheering, which doesn't help his head much.
"Goddamn! 'E may'a cracked yer egg, but the yolk's still good, innit?!"
His eyes open slowly. He sees a new face, but an old voice comes from it.
"Good to have you back... 'captain'."
Well, that's pretty much how he imagined the uppity assassin looking.
"...Well, let's not jump the gun. I may die yet. ...I do somewhat feel like I've been chewed up and spat back out."
"Oh, you're over the worst of it. It's a good thing your assailant thumped you so hard. We were able to do all the surgery we needed to without having to strap you down."
"Oi! 'Ow many fingers am I 'oldin up?!"
"Get out of his face, you mad fool!"
"One of them's your thumb, so... four, technically."
"Christ! 'E 'as got brain damage!"
Helpfully, the warden points out the tent and shouts.
"Look! A ninja!"
"You really think that'll work on me again?!"
"Oh, just get out of here, will you?!"
Grumbling, the Conqueror storms out. Turning back to the wounded captain, the Peacekeeper smiles.
"Surprised to see him worried about you."
"Well, it seems everyone's worried about me nowadays. Myself included, as it were. I... still have a face, right?"
"Few more scars. Call them marks of pride."
"They're the charming and roguish types rather than the gnarled and ghastly ones, if it helps, sir! Though your nose is a little crooked! Just a little!"
"...Fantastic."
The peacekeeper rises from her seat at his bedside and redons her mask.
"We'll get you a mirror soon enough. And make sure you remember everything you ought too. But for now, only one thing matters."
"And that would be?"
She offers him a hand.
"Can you walk?"
Taking his legs off the bed, he tests his weight carefully.
"...With a cane, I should think. Why?"
"Because we need to say our goodbyes."
The two leaders stood at the front of their respective parties, facing one another. Tozen was dressed in elegant silk kimono, hands carefully held at his sides, the very image of Chosen composure. Meanwhile, Marius was still wearing his vaguely bloody gambeson, fresh out of the surgeon's tent, and was leaning on a stick the warden found in a ditch, struggling to stand up.
Likely, he thought, the very image of Ashfeldian foppishness, in the Chosen's eyes.
In expertly taught english, General Tozen spoke with the air of detached, vaguely haughty civility that seemed to cling to all non-hostile encounters with the Mire-dwellers.
"Captain Marius. Though you entered our lands uninvited, you came for a just purpose, and in so accomplishing your mission, you assisted us in our own. You yourself, alongside your accompaniment, suffered great injury at the hands of our mutual foe. It is by our joined might, and your own honorable sacrifice, that we took the Bara No Oka with minimal casualties, and in turn gave birth to a novel concept; that your kind and I, in lieu of our conflicts, major and petty, could instead work as allies, friends hand-in-hand, to work towards a nobler world. I thank you for your assistance, the new possibilities you have brought forth, and your willingness to leave our lands in peace. 恐れ入ります."
Inexperienced in public speaking and quite frankly in a lot of pain, he stammers for a moment.
"Well. I... thank you in turn, Tozen-cha-"
He cuts himself off. Just in time, too, the general looks like he was moments away from being offended. Damn it all, what did she say to call him? It was hard to remember. Suddenly, two samurai just behind him, a Nobushi and a Shinobi, both of which seemed vaguely familiar, lower their masks and mouth something to him urgently.
"-Tozen-sama! I-i apologize dearly. My wounds have not yet healed fully, it is hard to focus."
"And yet, you stand before me with all your strength, to humbly receive my gratitude. Your spirit is as strong as the iron you wear, Captain. Go with honor."
"...Go with honor, Tozen-sama. And, same as you, I hope a day comes when we can meet as equals, just like this, but without blades at our hips, and without caution in our eyes."
"...さらばだ."
Tozen turns around, to face his men. And, with a shouted order, his soldiers turn around and begin the long march back home.
...All save two, that is. The two that had gotten him out of that tight spot. The two that, as the peacekeeper steps forward and throws her arms wide, seem to know her. And the Warden, too, by the way the shinobi started standing straighter at the sight of her.
"Hey, that last bit was good, wasn't it, Shinobu-chan?"
"Hmph. For a brain-damaged foreigner, yes, indeed."
Jozu just nodded along, unable to understand what was being said, nor indeed, his own general's previous words in english. The warden gestured at the wall of retreating samurai.
"Your not going with them, Shinobu-chan?"
"Do not call me chan."
Flinching away, the warden gasps.
"Wha-! But she-!"
"She is discourteous. I should think you know better. And no, we are not traveling for the homeland. Even you foreigners have the good sense to tell that Jozu is a shinobi. Furthermore, he is my apprentice, which means that I am his master. He and I are part of the ninja clans, not the Emperor's military. We value our independence. We were attached to Tozen's contingent for this mission only, by my request. Soon, we will return for reassignment."
Suddenly, the ninja bursts out yelling, apparently angry about something.
"英語は話せません!"
The warden puts a hand on the frustrated ninja's shoulder and speaks in latin.
"I'll translate everything for you later, okay?"
He slumps his shoulders.
"はい... ありがとう..."
Looking at the two of them with an aside glance, the wounded lawbringer looks back at her, looking very confused.
"...Well, yes. I tried my best... Um..."
Shinobu leans back on her naginata.
"He's mad that were all speaking in english, if you're wondering."
"No, it's not that..."
He looks around, jaw clenched as if in deep thought. Damn it, he was getting a headache.
"...Who are you, again?"
"...Nani?"
"Marius? Are you feeling all right? That's... Shinobu. The nobushi you saved the life of? Before you got beaten into a week-long coma? And Jozu, the ninja you captured. The whole reason this alliance went through?"
"I... Do remember him."
"Ah, damn it."
The peacekeeper puts a hand on his shoulder worryingly.
"It seems you've lost some memories after all. What do you remember?"
"Well, I stepped on him. The warden arranged an alliance. Weeeee... took the castle. And..."
Suddenly, he stops, eyes going wide. and then he looks at the ground.
"... and we didn't get her."
Everyone was quiet, for a long time, the atmosphere instantly, palpably somber. The first to speak was not any of his Ashfeldian companions, but Shinobu, the Nobushi he supposedly saved the life of. Still putting a fair bit of weight on her polearm- a pretty ornate yari, now, rather than the ordinary naginata, with a curved crossguard that reminded him of a western blade- she limped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"But you put a stop to her machinations, and helped purge another great evil from this world. You even saved this sorry life of mine, a thing I was quite willing to give up. You have not failed."
Swallowing her Chosen pride, she looked into the Ashfeldian barbarian's own and smiled.
"...You and your companions are heroes, and you should not dare to trick yourself otherwise."
The lawbringer looks surprised, never knowing Mireites to be so frank.
"Thank you..."
"...Shinobu."
"Shinobu. I'm sorry I don't remember meeting you."
"Meet? We met just long enough for you to bind my wounds and learn my name. If you forget anything of that day, I could only hope it is something so insignificant."
The peacekeeper gives him a little shake to get his attention.
"We'll get her next time... Captain."
"No sarcastic bent to that one, hm?"
"...Of course not."
Smiling for just a moment, she whirls around.
"That said, shall we bring it back to the topic of not remembering things? We need to assess the extent of brain damage. I don't want to get all emotional only for you to die in your sleep in a week."
"That can't happen, can it?!"
The peacekeeper spins back around.
"No matter! Tell me. Pry your mind. Anything you feel you ought to know, but don't?"
The Lawbringer looks surprised.
"What kind of question is that? How would I know if I don't know something?"
Grumbling, he scratches his head.
"Wait. ...WAIT!"
"What is it?!"
"I! I...! I don't remember your name! Or the warden's! Or that old man's!"
"I... haven't told you my name."
"...Nor have I, come to think of it, sir."
Silence. Juzo looks around, startled. What did they say, to so instantly halt the conversation?
"...WHAT?! We've been traveling together for weeks!"
And Juzo jumps at the sudden shouting, cursing in japanese.
"I like to wait for my superiors to get a victory under their belt. Don't want to get too attached."
"You say that like I'm a chicken or a pig! A-and what about you?!"
"W-w-w-well! I! I suppose it's never come up! You seemed perfectly fine without it!"
Several seconds pass.
"..."
"..."
"...WELL, TELL ME!"
"ANABELLE DUPRIS, SIR! ANA! IT'S ANA!"
"...Elizabeth. The last one hardly matters, does it?"
"IT DOES MATTER! QUIT BEING EVASIVE! THAT'S IT! WERE GONNA FIND A FIRE TO SIT AROUND AND YOU'RE GONNA TELL ME YOUR LIFE STORY!"
He points a finger at Shinobu and her chunin accusingly.
"YOU TOO!"
"Na-! Us?!"
"AND WHERES THAT BLOODY CONQUEROR?!"
Thrown off guard by the volume of his outburst, it takes several seconds for the peacekeeper to think of a suitable retort.
"Well, I can hardly imagine that 'Marius Gaius Flavius' is what your mother named you, isn't it?!"
Attempting to storm off to find the conqueror, sit them all down, have a nice long talk, and maybe recoup some of his memory loss, Captain Marius, what with his makeshift cane, instead falls over.