~ Patience Holds Me Back ~
Reflexively, he reaches for his sword but finds himself grasping for air. He must've left it in the palace. The shock doesn't register and nobody waits for him to get ready. Shiroe jumps off of the horse and it heads back in the other direction. He hopes that it'll warn the palace - Fatality is a smart horse.
Shiroe dodges the blades mostly by impulse. Kicking the man in front of him to the ground, he steps on his neck and cracks it under his boot. He barely has enough space to dodge another attack, which hacks right into the dead body below him.
These men mean business.
He catches the horrible sight of his horse lying motionless and it stirs him up further. Flying swiftly into a soldier, he pulls him to the ground and promptly crushes on his ribs. He manages to kill a few more, but it proves to be too difficult a task for one man. A sword sinks into his shoulder from behind and he grunts in pain.
The sword is pulled out and the man aims for his neck.
"What are you doing?!" Another man in slightly different gear appears at the scene - still mounted on a horse. The sword stops in its tracks, but doesn't withdraw.
"With all due respect, Dinkuron-sama. He killed my men!" The man seethes.
"You were the idiot who decided to attack before the signal. William-sama wants this man alive." Dinkuron glances at Shiroe, but doesn't say anything.
"I'll take responsibility for it. I must kill this man." The sword nearing his neck twitches and Shiroe silently reaches a hand into his pants pocket.
"This is not something you alone can take responsibility of. As your friend, I'm warning you. Put the sword down." Dinkuron's clenches his fist.
Shiroe notices the man behind him waver, but he doesn't wait to find out his decision.
Shiroe throws a smoke ball to the ground and it causes the entire area to erupt into a dark blue smoke. When the smoke clears, Dinkuron finds Shiroe's arm wrapped around his friend's neck. Pulling tighter, the man struggles and drops his sword.
"Let him go." Dinkuron says softly - almost threateningly. He was absolutely sure Shiroe would not kill the man, but he couldn't exactly place why.
Shiroe hears a horse from behind him and Dinkuron doesn't blink at the noise. But when it arrives, he becomes noticeably more serious.
Shiroe can pretty much guess who it is.
"I sincerely hope there's a good explanation for this." Krusty's states severely while assessing the situation. Fatality nuzzles Shiroe from behind.
After a sigh, Shiroe pushes his captive away. There's a slight silence and a medical team arrives to check up on Serenity, but Shiroe refuses the treatment until his horse is guaranteed to live.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill all of you right here." Stepping in front of Shiroe, Krusty pulls out his sword and Dinkuron's gaze darkens.
"You need to regroup as much as we do." Dinkuron replies. Krusty notes that there are quite a few men left on their side and Shiroe doesn't have a sword. Still, it shouldn't be a problem for them.
"Want to test that?" Krusty steps forward but Shiroe stops him.
"We'll meet again on the battlefield." Dinkuron declares and takes the men that are still alive with him. When they're out of sight, Shiroe's hit with a pang of pain in his shoulder. Krusty keeps him from falling and the blood loss is starting to worry him.
"Why did you stop me?" Krusty asks gently. Shiroe uses Krusty's arm to steady himself.
"I left them a little gift." Shiroe mutters and walks to the medical team. Krusty doesn't question it, but expects an explanation later. Shiroe falls on his knees in front of his bandaged horse.
It almost feels like the blood running through his body turns to ice. This is the horse he has shared his memories with. If it doesn't wake up... what would he do?
His pain was numbing. He would've sat there forever, if not for Krusty tugging on his arm. When Shiroe doesn't budge, he leans toward him.
"Shiroe-kun. We're going back to the palace." Krusty's warm breath heats up his neck. After a few moments of hesitation, he allows himself to be pulled up. Krusty jumps on his horse and holds out his hand.
"I don't trust you on a horse by yourself." Krusty says. Truthfully, Shiroe doesn't trust himself either so he takes it. On the ride back, he leans on Krusty and lets himself pass out. Just this once, he gives in.
When Shiroe wakes up, he's slightly disappointed that Krusty is nowhere to be found. Judging by the sun outside, it must be the next day already.
Looking around, he recognizes this room as one of the medical facilities. The entirely white room - including his bed and clothing - is another indication of that. The stab wound in his shoulder aches, but it's nothing he hasn't felt before.
On the table next to him lies a fruit basket. He figures that it was probably from Ryiz, but will thank Krusty too just in case. In the middle of eating an apple, someone knocks on his door.
"You can come in." Shiroe peeks his head around the curtain blocking his view of the door.
"I was going to come in anyway." Naotsugu laughs as he closes the door behind him. Shiroe offers him some fruit, but he declines.
"Rough night, huh?" Naotsugu asks jokingly and Shiroe rolls his eyes. Naotsugu has known about Shiroe and Krusty's close relationship since forever. His teasing has unfortunately become a part of Shiroe's daily life.
"Was everything settled?" Shiroe pulls the blanket over his legs and leans back against his pillows.
"The group that attacked you was separated from the main attack force. After your situation, we were notified that there were spottings of Silver Sword soldiers marching through the Eternal Forest." Naotsugu explains and Shiroe realizes that after the hunt a few years back, they haven't been monitoring the forest very well. It would be the perfect place to launch a surprise attack.
"If that group didn't attack us, the main attack force would have taken us by surprise. It must've been a mistake on their part. At least that's what Krusty said." Naotsugu adds. Shiroe continues to eat his apple in thought.
"And the result?" Shiroe holds his breath. Naotsugu breaks out into a grin.
"We took them down with minimal casualties. They made a full retreat just this morning." Naotsugu reports and Shiroe sighs in relief. For a minute he hesitates to ask, but he does anyway.
"How's my horse?" He murmurs. Naotsugu deflates a little.
"It'll live, thankfully. But it might never walk again." He says truthfully and Shiroe lets out a withheld breath. It's going to live. Thank goodness.
"Serenity most likely noticed something wrong, found them and tried to warn someone. Horses are smart." Naotsugu stated.
"Actually, knowing Serenity... It probably attacked them." Shiroe smiles warmly. Naotsugu hurries to change the subject.
"Remember that thing I mentioned before? The people I want you to meet are in this infirmary right now." Naotsugu says and Shiroe remembers when they had spoken in private after the lunch with Hien.
"You said you found them on the Silver Sword borders during your patrol, right?" Shiroe responds while getting up.
"They were in bad condition so I brought them here." Naotsugu helps him stand and Shiroe pushes him away.
"I got stabbed in the shoulder, not my leg." He opens the door.
"Touchy." Naotsugu pouts. He takes the lead and stops at the door down the hallway. After opening the door for Shiroe, he pulls it closed. Inside there are two people, one of them asleep in bed. Shiroe bows slightly.
"I'm Shiroe. We took you two in because your brother was injured and rest assured, you aren't prisoners or anything." Shiroe clarifies and the girl sitting beside the bed lifts her head.
"I'm indebted to you, thank you for saving us." She says and wipes her tears.
"My name is Minori and this is my brother, Touya."
"Isaac sent you a message." Ryiz drops the envelope on Krusty's desk.
"Why are you bringing it to me?" Krusty doesn't look up - too annoyed with everything going on.
"It has a royal seal - it's not like just anyone can pick it up. And Shiroe's injured because of your incompetence," Ryiz leans forward. "...So I guess you'll have to deal with it." Krusty doesn't react, but rips open the envelope with much more force than necessary.
Krusty
I received word from one of my patrols that you were engaged in battle with Silver Sword. Shall I send reinforcements? The West Wind Brigade has arrived here.
Watch out for Hamelin.
P.S. - Our patrols exchanged some words and I hear that Shiroe was injured?
Kill them all.
Issac
Krusty smirks and pushes the letter to the side. He reaches into his drawer for a piece of paper and begins writing his response.
"Are you accepting the reinforcements?" Ryiz crosses his arms and leans against the wall across from Krusty.
"We should have no problems dealing with Silver Sword on our own - assuming you'll stay awake for that long." Krusty mocks, but Ryiz pretends he didn't hear that part.
"Don't underestimate them. If you end up dead, I'll have a lot more people to kill and it's already quite a long list." Ryiz sighs, feigning sadness. Once Ryiz leaves, Krusty laughs evaporates into the air. And this was one of the reasons that he could fight with no regrets.
"Silver Sword spotted Naotsugu-san's patrol group on our borders. Touya told me his mission was to find out who you were and to eliminate you if you were a threat. It seemed like a suicide mission for a bunch of amateurs to defeat your team so he came to let me know in advance. I was so worried that I decided to follow him." Minori sniffles and Shiroe hands her a tissue.
"Before they even found you, the whole squad was attacked by bandits. Touya acted as a decoy to let his friends get away. I tried to help him, but he was injured protecting me." Minori uses her hands to cover her face. "In the middle of the fight, Naotsugu-san saved us." Shiroe looks at her sympathetically.
"Why don't you rest? We'll figure something out when your brother wakes up." Shiroe puts his hand on her shoulder. He offers to bring her to another bed, but she climbs in next to Touya instead. They soon leave the room and walk through the hallway.
"If she isn't lying, that means their situation had nothing to do with the attack last night. In fact, they didn't even seem to know about it." Shiroe remarks and Naotsugu nods.
"Touya seems like a good kid. I might just take him in as an apprentice." Naotsugu grins.
"They might want to go back to Silver Sword, you know."
"Dinkuron, I trusted you to be able to control your squads." William bites his lip as Dinkuron bows in apology.
"Please don't blame him, sir! It was my actions that jeopardized the attack." The squad leader on the side exclaims nervously.
"I'm not blaming him." William tsks. The tent is silent until William sighs.
"Tell me what made you decide to rush ahead, lose five of our men, alert D.D.D. of our attack and injure the only person I wanted you to keep alive in this war. Enlighten me, please, because I'm really interested to know why you would do something so incredibly thoughtless." William stands up and runs a hand through his hair.
"Please hear me out. I received word from someone with our uniform saying that the signal had been given." He explains earnestly. William pauses for a moment.
"Do you know what the point of a signal is?" William questions harshly. Before the man can answer, he holds his hand up.
"We send upbright sparkling white flares. Three times and they stay in the sky for five minutes each." William makes a firework motion with his hand.
"Yes, but I thought-"
"It was pitch black in the middle of the night!" William shouts in disbelief. The other man is silenced.
"Sir-" Dinkuron starts. William groans.
"Do you know how many lives we lost today?!" William slams his hands on a table.
"I recently promoted him, William-sama. It was an accident on my part." Dinkuron interrupts. William purses his lips and exhales slowly.
"I'm sorry. I'm taking out my anger on you two. Prometheus is seriously injured right now and we lost a lot of people out there in a battle we were supposed to have the upper hand in." William sits down at his desk.
"Prometheus was injured?" Dinkuron asks softly and William nods. He silently dismisses the squad leader, who leaves feeling down.
"We only sent you and Prometheus with your second and third squad members, remember? It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out operation, where you two take out as many people as possible. We didn't expect General Naotsugu to be on the battlefield this time. Prometheus had to step up." William explains and Dinkuron crumples with guilt.
"Because you went off to secure your squad, Prometheus dueled with him and was pulled back in critical condition." William writes something down. Dinkuron remains speechless.
"However..." William puts a hand on his shoulder. "It was also lucky that the incident with your squad kept Shiroe and Krusty busy for the majority of the attack. Don't feel guilty." And regarding Shiroe being injured, it came after his kingdom. Plus, Shiroe wasn't weak enough to let this scare him into hiding. He'll be right there for William to take back.
William hands Dinkuron a piece of paper. "Take this to Ranodomaru. He's a member of the second squad under Prometheus. We'll promote him to first squad while Prometheus is recovering."
"I know Ranodomaru personally, so there shouldn't be a problem. I'll go check on Prometheus afterwards, William-sama." Dinkuron bows quietly. William motions him to come closer.
"The only ones other than first, second and third squads that knew about this attack today were Hamelin and Brigandia. Gather the first squad members - including Ranodomaru - and we'll find out who misled your friend's squad." William whispers.
"I understand." Dinkuron turns around to leave, but suddenly begins to cough violently. William is slightly taken aback because he showed no signs of it just earlier.
"Is something the matter?" He asks insistently.
"No, I'm fine." Dinkuron leaves the tent, confused. He sounded like he was dying.
"You don't even look injured anymore." Naotsugu eyes Shiroe in his uniform. They were required to wear certain uniforms to avoid friendly fire on the battlefield.
"Easy for you to say - you're not the one with a hole in your shoulder." Shiroe huffs and walks past him. Grinning, Naotsugu follows him to the army grounds. The soldiers are spread out having lunch.
"Shiroe-sama!" "General Naotsugu!" The soldiers greet them with cheers. They wave while walking to the main tent. Taking a breath, Shiroe enters and gets on one knee. Naotsugu does the same.
"My apologies. I hope we're not late." He says.
"Oh, Shiroe! We heard the soldiers outside. Are you alright?" The king shouts. They both stand up.
"Of course I am, thank you." Shiroe bows. "Who sent me the fruit basket?" He inquires, amused.
"Who else would-" Ryiz and Krusty say simultaneously, but then stop themselves. Shiroe uses his hand to hide his laugh.
"Hey, Shiroe. If you can guess who sent it, you can ask both of us for anything you want." Ryiz smirks and Shiroe groans. How was he supposed to know?
"I would appreciate it if you didn't promise on my behalf." Krusty returns to looking at the map spread out on the table, but doesn't reject the proposal.
"Don't forget you promised when I guess correctly." Shiroe verifies and Ryiz just smiles. Naotsugu pats him on the back before taking his unoccupied seat. Shiroe goes to stand next to Krusty's seat, similar to how Ryiz stands by the king.
"Today we need to discuss our plans for this sudden attack." Krusty explains and marks where Shiroe horse was attacked with a red pin. He also sticks in a blue pin farther away.
"To refresh your memories, this red pin indicates the earliest attack. It was a single squad of less than ten people - including General Dinkuron. The blue pin indicates the main attack force led by General Prometheus." Krusty explains. They nod for him to continue.
"I believe we all have a few things to say. I'll start with how I received word from our allies, Black Sword kingdom." Krusty points to their position on the map.
"They heard about the attack, but I denied their proposal to send troops. We shouldn't make any rash decisions before deciding what Silver Sword's plans are, as well as the other major kingdoms. We wouldn't want them attacking Black Sword while they're not at full power. Oh and the West Wind Brigade has arrived at Black Sword to strengthen our force, if necessary." Krusty adds. Shiroe smiles, he hasn't seen Soujirou for a while now and it was always good to hear about him.
"I have something to add. While on patrol the other day, I ran into an injured Silver Sword soldier and his sister. Right about here." Naotsugu stabs a green pin into a space between their kingdoms.
"Apparently, certain soldiers weren't informed about the attack last night." He finishes and leans back in his chair.
"We should start gathering our forces. Silver Sword may have a organized army with many mercenary groups, but they don't realize the mistake they've made by attacking us." The king links his hands together on the table. Something about his statement makes Shiroe wonder if this war is because of him. He shakes away the ominous thought and continues listening.
"Actually, regarding our allies..." Ryiz smirks and slips some sketches onto the table. Shiroe recognizes them immediately.
"Dread Pack?" Shiroe takes a closer look at the pictures.
"Yeah. These were sketches made by Marine Agency's artists. I offered to take care of this group for Shiroe because they were being rather troublesome in town. When I caught them, they didn't seem to particularly hate us or anything - they just happened to do their crimes in our kingdom." Ryiz recounts and Shiroe leans on the table.
"So we use them against Silver Sword as spies?" Shiroe concludes carefully.
"Spies, human sacrifices, whatever floats your boat, Strategist-kun." Ryiz drawls and Shiroe rolls his eyes. The other generals discuss a few of their own ideas, but other than some decent tactics - nobody has a solid idea of what to do without knowing Silver Sword's intentions.
"We should attack before they can recover. Instead of making the same mistake they made, we should use the majority of our attack force and eliminate them completely." Krusty declares calmly. When Krusty turns to look at him, Shiroe remembers something extremely important that he almost forgot about.
"I believe Shiroe left them a little gift in our last encounter?" Krusty says. The entire tent looks at him expectantly and they were definitely not disappointed by his response.
"I might've poisoned General Dinkuron and his men with a contagious virus."
A/N: HAHA I wonder when he did that?
Who wants to guess who sent Shiroe the fruit basket? :3 huehuehue
Oh and something quite embarrassing and depressing happened to me recently so I hope you'll take the chance to review and make me feel fluffy :(:)
Speaking of depressing, UM SCHOOL. XD
