Hi! I'm so happy my Spring Break starts Friday. That means I can update all I want for almost two weeks!
Enjoy~!
-Chapter 10-
Ritsu was disheartened the rest of the day. An attempted to comfort him, but he simply brushed her off. He went to bed early without dinner, flopping on his bed with dejection. He had put on the necklace from Masamune as soon as he had left.
Lifting the chain from his throat, he fiddled with the ring gently. He rubbed his thumb over Masamune's birthday, a small smile coming to his lips. Lowering the ring, he pressed it softly to his lips in a kiss.
Placing the ring to his heart, he rolled over on his side. He slipped into a quick sleep with dreams of Masamune.
.
.
The pounding on the door startled him awake. He was still dazed until An's frantic voice startled him awake.
"Ritsu! Ritsu, wake up! Hurry!" An yelled frantically. Ritsu saw out the window it was the middle of the night.
He dashed to the door and flung it open, freezing at An's horrified and hysterical expression. He heard yells and screams throughout the castle as he jumped at a terrifyingly loud crash.
"They've come for us! Matsumura and his followers Ritsu! They're attacking the whole kingdom and are now in the castle!" An cried.
'Oh my god…' Ritsu paled. He rushed to his closet, grabbing two long black cloaks. An was in her long white nightgown, shivering despite it not being cold.
"Here," Ritsu threw a cloak over An, clasping it at her throat. He placed an arm around her once he put on his cloak, leading her down the hall in a slight run.
"Where's mother and father?" Ritsu asked in desperation.
"I-I don't know…I was j-just sleeping and suddenly heard a crash. I walked until I saw the chaos. Until…I saw the blood," An whispered. She huddled closer to Ritsu, quivering so much.
They reached the floor below only to run right into the heart of the invasion. Men with swords battled as bodies lay on the ground, some twitching and some not. A few fires leaked out of rooms. Everything was torn and destroyed. Maids shrieked as men screamed in agony. Ritsu flipped around the corner, heading the other direction as he covered An's eyes.
It became darker as they ran down the hall as quietly as possible. They passed another hallway when they felt themselves yanked back into an alcove. An screamed as Ritsu struggled until Hatori's stern voice shushed them.
"Be quiet! You'll draw attention to yourselves. Everyone is hunting for you," Hatori whispered fiercely.
"We must get to a hidden passage to escape. Other guards are looking for your parents. For now, come with me," Hatori pushed them forward as he said, "And put your hoods on."
They obeyed, clasping hands tightly as they followed. Ritsu had forgotten about the hidden passages; they were a few on every floor in case of emergencies. Ritsu had never imagined he'd use one. He noticed Hatori had a sword at his hip. With his other hand, he reached up and gripped the ring.
The sound of battle and anarchy emerged again a few yards later. Hatori instructed them to stick to the wall; they were almost there.
An had started to quietly sob. They were just coming to a room when the door flew open and a body tumbled out on its back right in front of them. An screamed as they saw the face, broken and covered in blood. A group of men rushed out in a commotion and Ritsu saw the room glowed orange with flames. They noticed the trio and seized them, ripping Ritsu and An apart.
An shrieked as they grabbed her. Ritsu yelled and fought back, reaching out to his sister. An reached, their fingertips barely grazing before Ritsu was snatched back. He looked up into the sneering faces of the intruders, all yelling back and forth. Suddenly, one fell next to him and Ritsu was grabbed again. He could barely comprehend anything with all the fighting and screaming. Hatori had grabbed him, pulling him forward and away from the group. A couple of guards had appeared and now fought the group of men they left behind.
"Wait, An! AN!" Ritsu yelled desperately, struggling against Hatori's hold on his arm. He reached out behind him, wanting to run back to his sister.
"AN!" Ritsu bellowed, "NO!"
He continued to struggle as he heard An's screams down the hall. Hatori dragged him to another alcove, swinging the huge painting that rested there off the wall, revealing a passage. Hatori shoved him in, soon following and shutting the picture-door behind him.
"No! I have to get An! I can't leave her! AN!" Ritsu cried hysterically as he pushed against Hatori, trying to escape.
"Why didn't you get her too?! Why didn't you save her?!"
"Because you both would be dead! I need to save at least one of you! Someone will come for An and save her!" Hatori yelled, pulling Ritsu roughly by the arm further into the dark passage. Ritsu cried quietly as they made their way forward. He couldn't hear anything now but his sobs and their footsteps.
The passage led to the stables, where it was abandoned. The horses were wild; they neighed as high as they could, bucking and kicking. Ritsu couldn't hear himself think as they rushed through the stable. Hatori brought out Albanus, hurrying Ritsu to prepare. Ritsu put on the saddle hastily and climbed up, Hatori climbing up behind him.
"We'll draw too much attention with two horses," Hatori mumbled as he mounted Albanus behind Ritsu.
Ritsu nodded numbly, his ears still ringing with An's screams of torture. He still heard pandemonium and looked towards the town. Ritsu saw with horror that almost everything was ablaze. As Ritsu and Hatori snuck through the garden towards the woods in the back, Ritsu looked to see his home identical. Orange flames licked the walls as fire poured out of the windows like tears. The garden was wilting from the heat and Ritsu still heard the screams. So many screams.
He watched as his home burned, betrayed by his own people. He began to cry again, whimpering for his family. And silently, for Masamune.
Hatori quickly turned Ritsu's head away, hugging him with one arm for reassurance. But Ritsu didn't know what to be assured of; everything was gone.
Ritsu didn't know how long passed as they rode through the dark woods silently. They traveled at a slow pace to the east, the leaves and twigs snapping beneath them. They could no longer hear the revolution. Ritsu drew the cloak tighter around himself, wishing to disappear.
"Where are we going?" Ritsu asked quietly, his voice drained and emotionless.
Hatori didn't answer immediately. Finally he muttered, "To the Takano Kingdom. It's not safe to go to the Takano castle yet, so we'll hide out for a while until everything settles."
New tears welled in Ritsu's eyes at the thought of facing Masamune. He would have to tell him that everything was gone. That An was gone. He reached beneath his long cloak for his necklace and rubbed Masamune's ring.
Ritsu nodded off for a few hours before Hatori shook him awake.
"Ritsu-sama, wake up. We're almost there. We need to be especially alert; some of Matsumura-san's men might be patrolling the edge of the woods for those escaping," Hatori instructed him.
Hatori slowed Albanus until they were practically crawling. All was silent in the dark woods, even the wind was still. Ritsu held his breath, too afraid to disturb the peace.
"Almost there," Hatori whispered. Ritsu could see the woods thinning, seeing moonlight at the edge.
Suddenly, the sounds of shouts and running were heard. Albanus spooked as two men barreled towards them. He raised up on his hind legs in a panicked fright. Hatori and Ritsu tumbled off with a yell as Ritsu landed on top of Hatori. As Ritsu fell, the chain around his neck snapped and the ring fell into the moonlit grass.
One man yanked Ritsu up roughly, ripping his cloak hood down. Ritsu scrambled around, struggling to get out of the huge man's rough grip.
"It's the prince!" The man yelled to his partner.
Hatori suddenly rose up, drawing his sword quickly. The man not holding Ritsu whipped around, barely missing Hatori's blade to his neck. He drew his own sword, engaging in a fight with Hatori.
As Ritsu watched in horror, the man holding him drew his sword as well. Ritsu writhed, fighting against the man roughly.
"Let go of me bastard!" Ritsu shouted. He tried to swing his elbow back to hit his adversary, but the man gripped his arm so much it bruised.
Ritsu glanced at Hatori to see him cutting open the man he fought's chest, the man gurgling and falling to the ground. Pain exploded in the back Ritsu's skull as his holder hit him with the hilt of his sword. He collapsed face first into the grass. His hearing faded in and out as did his vision. He looked up with hacking coughs, the edges of his vision blurry and black.
He saw the struggle of two men, the one with blue eyes strangely familiar. His vision washed out and in, his mind trying to remember. He caught snippets of the fight until the blue-eyed man stabbed the other male with his blade, swiftly removing it with a gush a blood. The large man teetered forward, collapsing to his knees and then his face.
'Wait…where am I? Why am I here? W-Who…am I?' Ritsu's mind slurred. The blue-eyed man ran over to him, calling, "Ritsu-sama!"
'Ritsu? Who's that? Me? Who am I?' Ritsu thought before his vision vanished and he blacked out.
Dun dun dun! The revolution! An!
Now this story can really start! :3
See you next chapter~!