Ten
The Frozen Lake
Tsume could sense that every creature that surrounded him had increased heartbeat, and there were many more small ones that had joined Range's company. The ones Tsume had just been playing with started acting strange, each smaller one immediately moving the carts that didn't belong to them. Tsume had almost interfered in these creatures' robbery, but halted when he noticed that others of Range's following were aiding in moving the wheels of the wooden constructions.
There was a sense of urgency that Tsume hadn't ever felt before, and decided to follow the path of the Inklings. Roughly dragging Kaji's wheel house after the groups of fleeing small ones, he wasn't surprised by what came next. Tsume heard Kaji start yelling from within his cloth house wagon thing, shouting out questions as to why they were moving, and why Tsume was pulling the wagon with such violence. Eventually leaving his cloth dwelling entirely for the first time in days, Tsume would feel Kaji's glare that had not been missed.
"What the fuck, Tsume?!" Kaji shouted, holding onto the wagon's frame as Tsume increased his speed, having trouble keeping up with the carts being pulled by the combined might of children and adult Inklings. Tsume was having trouble navigating through the dense trees that continued to block his path, unlike the smaller companions of Range's.
"Why are we moving? What is happening? Hey! You!" Kaji yelled, getting the attention of someone who was trotting to keep up with the carts, holding a large bag over his shoulder.
"Octrian! We're retreating to the lake!" The hooded Inkling shouted back, not breaking his pace.
"Octrian?" Kaji shouted back in surprise, trying to peek behind his covered wagon's roof. "How many? Where's Commander Range?"
"With the rear guard, to see how many enemies we're up against! Just keep moving!" The mystery small one said, increasing his pace as he moved through the tree cover.
Tsume followed the Inkling's advice, and decided to continue moving. When Kaji began to mutter quietly to himself, Tsume started getting more nervous. He had never seen Kaji of the River act this way before, almost fearful. Whatever could put fear into Kaji was something to be fearful of indeed, as Kaji was mostly fearless!
It took hours of pushing, pulling and giving his all, but Tsume could rejoin those standing nervously in the clearing near the frozen body of water. Range eventually showed himself and began shouting, his almost joyous face changing the nervous atmosphere that had surrounded the frozen water.
Hana had just spent her hours sprinting beside her lover, but she had yet to understand as to why he was smiling like a lunatic.
"Tenth Company! Sixtieth Company! Hear me!" Range bellowed, making those around him jump by just how loud he was being. Hana briefly hoped her lover wouldn't blow his voice out now, as they desperately needed a plan of action. "Night Blades!"
Hana, along with a few other platoon leaders and their commander had stayed behind to get an actual view on the invading force coming from the Octrian's valley. The marching tide of red flesh and metal had been an intimidating sight, and their silent commander had only made her more uneasy on the way back. Now that he was explaining the situation, her unease hadn't been alleviated.
"We are invaded! Our Octrian enemies have marched in force from their valley to make war on us! The enemy is splintering off, no doubt intending to flank the other border fortresses in the region!" Range shouted to the silent warriors in front of him, looks of apprehension on each of their faces. Hana knew exactly what they were thinking, as she too felt the same panic and fear. They needed to run, and flee as fast as possible to their only hope of refuge.
"I see the looks on all of your faces, and understand the fear in your hearts. You wish to run all the way to the mountain, and Yamakabe!" Range shouted, getting several nervous nods, Inklings starting to turn towards the mountain city. Range then halted them with his words, stopping them in their tracks. "But we cannot!"
Questions of why, and a few voiced concerns of how staying would doom them all, Inklings appealing to Range's tactical mind as he raised a hand to quiet them.
"A vanguard force is minutes away, and will follow us all the way up the mountain if we let them! We must strike them here, while their numbers can be checked in the forests, and by the lake. The Sixtieth will continue with the assistance of most of the Night Blades, taking our supplies with them. Night Blades, you must cover their trail so that if we should fail, you will not be found. Matron Kagehaha, I need a small group of your Inklings to stay, and do the same for us should we be victorious."
"Of course." Kagehaha said, departing from the command squad and getting close to her obsidian eyed followers.
"Naoki, take two spear platoons with you, along with three harquebusiers and an arbalest platoon to the north side of the lake. Akio, go with him and hunt down any Octrian who go through the woods to flank them. The rest of you, head to the southern side of the lake and begin preparing yourselves!" Range shouted, everyone rushing to haul the remainder of the supplies they had brought to the carts that were beginning to head up the mountain.
"Remember! The Octrian will not fight on any ground that isn't stained with their own ink! Ranged platoons! You will be the ones to win us this day, as the Octrian refuse to enter melee combat! So long as you keep them on the shores of the lake, they will not risk the ice. We must hold them until nightfall! Is this understood?" Range bellowed to his company, getting a chorus of 'yes sir' and 'for war'.
Hana watched her lover smirk, shaking his head as his warriors started departing, before giving his own personal orders out to his command squad. "Kazue, locate Miki and Minoru. Ran, locate Taiki and tell him to pass off Kichi to someone of the Sixtieth. The rest of you, build the command tent." Range quietly ordered, a look of confusion meeting him as he spoke.
"Build the tent? Aren't we leaving at night fall? That's only a few hours away." Hachirou asked, not understanding what the strategy was behind this move.
Hana began to leave, knowing what her commander wanted from her. She had lingered long enough, and had to get set up in the woods with the rest of her platoon.
"We're not leaving until their leaders are killed. Someone stop Tsume from leaving. I have need of him." Range ominously stated, confusing all who heard him.
After passing off the wounded commander to the Night Blade matron herself, Taiki made his way through the throng of warriors, stretching his body. They still couldn't see their enemy, but the battle company could hear the music that heralded their arrival. Taiki had never fought, let alone seen an Octrian before, and he wasn't alone in his inexperience. Their last commander had refused to stay in the areas where the Octrian's military was active, thinking of them as a non-issue. Taiki and nearly all the veterans had no experience in fighting with these alleged abominations and would have to quickly learn how to face such foes, with only rumors being a source of guidance.
Rumor had it that Octrian lived in a caste system, each caste based on appearance and role. Other rumors of them grafting metal onto their bodies to strengthen themselves were going around, frightening some of the younger spear warriors in front of Taiki.
He didn't know why they were afraid of metal bound monsters, already having dealt with some in the past. What Taiki was afraid of, and what any infantry squid should be afraid of, is an entire army of ink shooters. Even if they were to match the color of the Octrian's ink, it was common knowledge that it would still splatter any Inkling slow enough to get hit on bare flesh. If Taiki couldn't get close due to having volleys of acidic ink shot onto him and having his ink gland burst, he'd be useless in the coming battle.
It would be up to their harquebusiers to stain the earth and give them a path to walk on, lest the entire terrain become a mire of multicolored liquid and snow. If their fellow warriors couldn't keep up with the Octrian's fire rate, the infantry would have no way of getting into combat.
Glancing upwards, Taiki rethought his stance on that last bit. So long as the Octrian couldn't keep up with the snow, the infantry would have a way of getting close. Ink had the habit of washing away and dissolving in water, and the falling snow would easily cover whatever ground was stained in a matter of minutes. It really was coming down, Taiki thought as he spotted the arbalests moving into position along the lakebed.
Across the lake, Taiki could see the silhouettes of his fellow warriors, each preparing for their second battle of the day. He worried for his fellow Inklings, hoping their endurance would last until nightfall. It was uncommon for them to fight more than once a week, and the battle at Ishigaki had been their first real fight in over a month.
He turned to see Hana, jogging with her platoon towards the wood line south of the formation of spear and harquebus warriors, a few Night Blades following behind. Taiki, not having anything better to do, closed the distance between himself and the platoon leader and called out to her.
Hana turned, looking around for the one who had called her name, stopping briefly and halting her platoon. When Taiki finished jogging up to her, she waved her scouts onwards. "Platoon leader Taiki. Do you need something?"
Taiki was about to ask how she would go about her objective, which was guarding their southern flank. He knew people weren't depending on him as they did Naoki, but as the platoon leader of the second heavy infantry platoon, he oversaw this area and needed to know what would be happening in his blind spots. However, something about the lingering Night Blade was off putting.
"I uh. Wanted to know about… Who is that?" Taiki eventually asked, distracted.
Hana turned, then turned back instantly to him, a scowl on her face. "That's Kageha. He's been following me ever since we met them."
"Following you? Do you need help?" Taiki asked, watching Hana shake her head several times, undoubtedly going to handle it herself.
"He doesn't stick to my heels, but shows up seemingly anywhere I go. Even when we were clearing the fortress, he and his cronies somehow found us. Either way, I'll deal with him. Do you need something?" Hana asked, most likely in a rush.
Taiki nodded along with what she was saying, able to understand on some level. Yua used to do that to him all the time before they had first started their fling, waiting for any opportunity to jump him. "Yes, how will you keep our flank cleared, and will you require assistance?"
Hana shook her head multiple times. "If they enter that forest, we'll spot them and slay them. I might not like him, but Kageha and his Night Blades know their stuff when it comes to ambushes. If you start seeing your own enemies divert into the forest, you should push on them though. If they move in large formations, we'll be hard pressed to pick them apart."
The rhythmic music was starting to get more discernable, making Hana and Taiki both stare at each other in silence, eventually nodding in understanding. As fun as it was talking to a female that wasn't a bitch, their conversation would have to end.
"Good luck, Hana."
"Good luck, Taiki." Hana said, pulling her cloak closer to her body as they parted ways. Taiki turned his head to watch the Night Blade stalk after the platoon leader, wondering if he should report that to Range, or wait until Hana got it 'dealt with'.
"Whoa, did you and Yua break up?" Shoji asked him, apparently ready to trash talk no matter the situation.
"What?" Taiki groaned, never ready to trash talk, no matter the situation.
"That's the first female I've ever seen you call out to. Are you two fuckin'?" Shoji diplomatically asked, being cruder than usual. Perhaps Shoji knew on some primal level that his life was going to end in this battle, and had decided to be quicker with his banter.
"I don't know why you're so focused on my love life, Shoji. If you're into me, that's kind and all, but like… I don't walk that path. But all's to you, man." Taiki seriously said, putting a comradery hand on Shoji's shoulder.
Many laughs were had at Shoji's expense, which all in all was a good thing, even as the first of the metal bound monstrosities entered their view.
Souta shouldered the butt of his harquebus, pressing the trigger as he leveled the weapon. Quickly ducking behind Daiki's shield, Souta furiously pulled and pushed the small handle that built up pressure in his weapon's canister. Three other platoons of warriors were mimicking his motions, each releasing large swathes of blue to stain the ground and halting the progress of their enemy.
An hour ago, hundreds of small, metal mounted monsters had arrived at the lake and set up their own basecamp, as if to copy their commander's own structure. Now, as the sun was beginning to set, the Octrian force were slowly pushing his company's defensive line further and further back.
Volley after volley of pink slime had been fired upon Souta and those that surrounded him by these dwarf enemies. When they had first shown themselves, Souta had wondered what was to be feared at all by these creatures, as they were shorter than an Inkling child. He had been amazed that they could even stand at all, as the Octrian's legs were so weak it looked like they could barely support their bodies. It was almost laughable that they had to stand on top of their moving metal creations instead of walking normally.
An Octrian trooper didn't have hands either, using the top of their heads to manipulate a lever which fired the machine they rode into battle, thus sending out their pink munition. Some of the troopers had several tentacles sprout from their bodies, allowing them to operate more sophisticated machinery, but even their appearance didn't make Souta worry. If they could simply get close and hit them with a single salvo of their own ink, then the Octrian's would explode in a violent liquid explosion and kill them. Unlike an Inkling, these Octrian didn't have a shapeshifting ability they could default to if splattered it seemed.
Souta had laughed during the start of the battle, wiping out the first of the invaders in a matter of moments, but he wasn't laughing now. A two-deep battle line had formed against the Tenth Company, starting from the bed of the lake, and reaching the start of the forest. Their Octrian enemy were moving as a single force now, their bodies pressed close to allow even more shooters to discharge their weaponry. The spear warriors in front of Souta were using their shields to block much of the incoming fire, but they would eventually be pushed back a foot or two, as the ground itself turned against them.
Shouldering his harquebus again, Souta pressed the trigger, turning some of the pink ground back into blue for what seemed like the hundredth time. After their initial slaughter of the Octrian, neither force had sustained or inflicted casualties, both of their weapons unsuited for this kind of combat.
He took a moment to get a view of the battle, briefly looking over the frozen lake. Foolish Octrian had tried crossing the ice earlier, but found themselves submerged as soon as their machines got fully onto the water. Beyond the lake, Yuuma and Megumi were joined by two of the arbalest platoons in their own ranged combat, having a bit better luck in their own fight, able to pick at the troopers with their crossbows. While Tae was somewhere behind Souta, he wasn't participating in the ground fight, his platoon's crossbows aimed at the sky.
Above him, hovering outside of crossbow range, Souta could see the circling enemies waiting. Like the regular Octrian soldiers Souta fought now, the flyers had small bodies, and used a machine grafted into where their heads were, giving them an awkward form of flight. These Octrian were the ones to initially push the infantry back, until Tae's arbalest platoon started shooting them out of the sky as they dared to get to close. Because of this enemy air presence, Tae couldn't willfully use his limited ammunition on the battle line that had formed, lest the flyers descend and strafe his allies again.
"How you are holding up, Daiki?" Souta asked, using the spear-squid's shoulder to steady his weapon, firing quickly and ducking back down to hurry the next shot. The platoon leader risked glancing back behind him, staring at the harquebusier using him as cover.
"I'm good." Daiki promised, trying to hide just how out of breath he truly was. Souta ducked his head to see the front of Daiki's shield, and couldn't help but notice the metal had been coated fully by the pink munition of their enemy. On further inspection, Daiki himself was basically painted pink, his armor and under armor stained.
Daiki turned and lifted his shield to block the next shot aimed at his face. As every other part of him was covered in material, it would take a clean head shot to bring the spear warrior down. That was the theory, Souta thought as he watched Daiki block three other shots with his body that had been intended for the harquebusier. Souta knew that just because the ink couldn't enter the spear warrior's body, the force behind the blows weren't ineffective.
There was no doubt in Souta's mind that most of the spear warriors would be heavily bruised after this battle, and wondered if they would even be able to climb the mountain later tonight.
"That's good. Hey, I was wondering," Souta began, before cutting himself short as Naoki began shouting to everyone.
"Enemies spotted north! Heavy infantry, cut them down! Harquebusiers, do not let them push us back!" Naoki commanded, confusing Souta. How had the slow moving Octrian gotten past Akio? Wasn't it his only job to keep the enemy out of the woods?
Then he saw why the enemy had managed to get through the woods. Thirty yards away, Akio and his platoon were in the process of making a suicidal charge against the Octrian line. Questions flooded his mind as Souta tried to make sense of what was happening, a sentiment shared by almost every Inkling currently watching. Were they supposed to charge and try to smash the lines of Octrian, who were now turning their guns onto the scouts?
Confusion was now sown into both armies, as the arbalests in the reserve started to unload their projectiles into the air, trying to take down the flying enemies that were descending from their elevated positions. With Naoki engaged with other enemies in the wood line, Souta and the other platoon leaders all looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what to do. In this confusion, it was their youngest leader who would decide their fate.
Daiki, who Souta had just been using for cover was shouting his spear warriors into action, running towards the melee by using the ink trail Souta had made. Inklings that had been standing, taking the beating for those behind them, started to move towards Akio's beleaguered band, who were quickly getting pummeled down with the vicious projectiles from the Octrian's machines. Souta elected to follow them, knowing that if they didn't cover the ground blue, then all those charging would be quickly bogged down, and have no way to retreat.
Souta didn't like leading a charge, always uncertain if anyone would follow him. He couldn't ever really muster the strength of will to put his life in the hands of people who could all be thinking like he did. Even now, following Daiki's unwavering steps, all Souta wanted to do was turn around, and leave these maniacs to die in melee combat. That's why he had joined the harquebusiers in the first place. Souta didn't want to fight head to head with the enemy.
Yet he wouldn't leave those charging to die. Souta ran forwards, not even bothering to aim his weapon as he fired. His salvo landed on top of a grounded Daiki, who was currently covering his face with his shield as he desperately tried to close the last bit of distance between himself and the enemy. Suddenly, as if the ground was no longer working against him, Daiki quickly rolled forwards, bringing his spear's point into one of the Octrian's who had been shooting him at point blank range. Unarmored, the Octrian was pulled off its machine as the spear was pulled back, the entire body being impaled by the spear. The five surrounding Octrian's must have sensed their kin's death, because each instantly turned and started to bombard Daiki in a heavy salvo, each getting several shots off before other spear-squids would fall upon them.
Souta quickly pumped his air canister to half, getting enough pressure built up to get his shot off. Drawing his sword with his left hand, he slid on his own ink trail, landing where Daiki had fallen and aiming down the enemy's battle line. Lifting his harquebus up to get a bigger arch, he squeezed the trigger, knowing the kind of damage he had inflicted before his munition had even landed.
As the liquid rained down on top of the Octrian's head, he watched with satisfaction as several fleshy bodies exploded where they had stood, only their metal machines showing where the carcasses would be. Instead, deep blue had erupted from the bodies of Souta's victims, their ink glands overloading from the foreign liquid. An Inkling would survive such a blow, only being concussed for a short while in their smaller form, but that wasn't the case for the creations they fought. Better yet, these Octrian were seemingly made of ink, having little blood inside their flesh, meaning once their ink gland exploded, it produced another, larger burst of the ink that destroyed their bodies, spraying onto whatever was nearby.
Souta didn't know how many he killed in a single shot, but knew it had not been a few as he drove his sword through an Octrian who had fallen from its machine. After checking to see if anything could harm him in the next few seconds, and only seeing the first signs of his enemies start to retreat, Souta knelt down to see if Daiki was alright.
"Daiki. You okay?"
"Did we save them?" Daiki breathed, barely moving.
Souta paused, checking to see if Akio and his scouts were still standing, seeing them a few Inklings short.
"Yeah. You saved them, kid. It looks like we're pulling back, so you need to get up." Souta said, sheathing his sword as he started pumping air for his next shot.
"That's… good." Daiki spoke, but didn't make any move to get up. Souta barked a laugh as he watched spear warriors start to slog back through the multicolored earth. He was about to leave when Daiki still didn't get up, making Souta sling his harquebus.
He was certain that last salvo had knocked Daiki out, so disarmed him of his shield and spear, and slung Daiki's arm over his shoulder. Holding the platoon leader's leg with the other, Souta shouted at one of his squaddies to pick up the weaponry, himself too burdened with the weight of the platoon leader.
"We're going to party tonight, Daiki. I'm gonna' get you laid, hyping you up to be the biggest damn hero on this side of the lake. We haven't actually talked before, have we?" Souta asked, receiving silence in return. He laughed anyways, perhaps due to exhaustion and the success they had just made together. "Ah. That's okay. We'll have more to talk about."
As he plodded across the stretch of land he had originally rushed past in the blink of an eye, Souta laughed with each breath, never expecting himself to be doing this for another in his life. Maybe it was because Souta respected Daiki's unwavering courage at the start, knowing exactly what he needed to do, unknowing of the future.
Souta felt confusion as the platoon leaders that had originally been giving out orders to their warriors all stopped to look at him, as if they were troubled by Souta aiding a fellow platoon leader. It wasn't that big of a shift in character, was it?
As he halted in front of them, and began to unload the unconscious platoon leader from his shoulders, Souta soon saw the purple liquid staining his arms and hands, running down onto his legs and feet. Behind him, this purple trail of blood and blue ink had followed him all the way from the lines of battle. Souta turned back to the platoon leader assembly that surrounded him, each of their eyes a mixture of emotions.
Souta looked down, seeing the lifeless eyes of the young platoon leader stare up at him. Swallowing hard as he looked at the face of the dead warrior who was far too young to have such a expression... Souta could do nothing but recover his breath as he tried desperately not to look away from the one who he had gone so far out of his way for.
"Souta…" Umeko started, trying to put a hand on his arm.
"Don't touch me. It wasn't like we were friends." Souta stated as he turned back to face the enemy, heading towards the line of fellow harquebusiers and spear infantry that was reforming. Rage halted him briefly, making him turn to the platoon leaders and forcing him to look Akio in the eye.
"You're alive because of him. Everyone else was going to let you die like the idiot you are. It was Daiki…" Souta inhaled sharply. "He was the one who saved you. You won't be saved again."
Souta rubbed his eyes, cursing himself inwardly as he unslung his harquebus. Souta made sure to stay away from any spear warrior who volunteered to be a shield for him, not wanting to make the same mistake again. He also didn't feel like talking anymore. Or thinking. All he wanted to do was discharge his weapon, and watch the colors that came from it.
Night had fallen, and Miki was wondering what she was still doing so close to the battlefield. She and Minoru were supposed to be far away, watching the battle from relative safety but Range had kept the two logistic officers right next to him to help give his orders to the runner squad.
"Range, I've told them." Miki reported, finally finished with repeating his words for the eighth time.
"Good." Range said, not looking up from what he was doing.
"So… I know this is supposed to be Hachirou's job, but uh…" Miki hesitantly started, still not obtaining the eyes of her commander. "Are you sure this is the right course of action?"
"Sure, I'm sure! So long as my platoons can keep the attention of our enemies, we'll be in and out in a matter of minutes."
"I… see." Miki hesitantly spoke, staring at the crude sleds her commander and his bodyguards had been creating for the past afternoon. The grappling hooks were tied to these bark platforms, filling Miki with doubts at how unstable the creations were.
"Fear not, Miki. This plan has been spoken about for several hours, and we've all come to a consensus. We're crossing that lake, killing their leaders, then crossing it back. Then we'll all head back to Yamakabe and think of our next plan." Range promised, Miki still unsure where this confidence was coming from.
Range beckoned the occupants of his tent to follow him, dragging his thin sled with him. Across the lake, a great pavilion had been propped up not dissimilar to Range's own command tent, surrounded by several dozen small fires. While the Tenth Company had remained in the darkness, the Octrian had decided to make a perimeter and guard it, content with their battle for the day.
Tsume sat stationary on the lakebed, using his many tentacles to test the snow topped ice. As Range got closer, the colossal squid turned itself towards the commander, Miki taking the look the war beast was making as comprehension for what was asked of him. Miki wondered why Range hadn't used Tsume to his full effect yet, as sending out a Colossal was the most destructive way of killing their enemies that her nation could unleash. Even now, Miki's commander had no intention of using Tsume in combat, only planning to use the beast to traverse the ice.
"Tsume, you ready?" Range asked the giant, obviously not expecting a response. "Good. Miki, find Minoru and get prepared to leave. You and the runners can remain by the tent, or start dissembling it. We'll be leaving as soon as I call the retreat horn."
Miki didn't say anything in response, deciding to only watch as Range started wrapping the grappling hooks around Tsume's thick tentacle arms. It appeared the bodyguards were looking very nervous save for Ran, who was either fearless or dead inside.
As Range and his personal warriors got on their sleds, and Tsume slowly started to feel around the ice, Miki covered her ears as Hachirou blew into his horn, signaling the attack.
Tsume's belly was very cold. He was gliding over the ice, pushing all his limbs to their limits to spread his weight across the frozen lake, stabbing into the ice to increase his speed with a talon. Though they were moving quickly, Tsume was trying to be as careful as possible, lest one of the little ones that were sliding with him got loose.
He felt his breath become hot as it left his beak and nostrils, his fear plaguing his mind as they got closer to the flames these enemies had made. Activity surrounded this area, Tsume was able to smell the distinct scents these little monsters were creating, the biggest one being terror.
While the Inklings smelled fearful whenever something frightening was happening, these little beasts were tainted with fear. A perpetual stink had followed these creatures, and every time the wind blew towards him, Tsume could smell just how frightened these creatures were.
Not even Tsume was afraid all the time! Sure, fear was a big part of Tsume's life, but he never let it control him for hours on end, especially the sleep hours. Now, as they neared the large cloth house these creatures had constructed, Tsume could smell the absolute terror from these weak tentacles with eyes.
"Tsume, stay here." Range whispered as his sled slid past Tsume's vision, stopping lightly in the snow caked lakebed. Tsume did what he was told, aiding the other Inklings in their own landings as he watched Range move closer to the cloth house.
Tsume watched Range and his six followers move quietly in the night, distant sounds of battle drowning out most of the night's peaceful noise. Tsume had been forced to watch the fighting from a hidden position for the afternoon, not allowed to join in the battle, which was a very big change for Tsume. Back before Tsume had followed Range, he had been forced to fight at every opportunity, being frightened as he killed fellow living things. But not now. He didn't even have his trident! For this entire month, he hadn't even had to wear his number and metal, or carry the big sticks that he used in his bow! But now, as Range was heading into the occupied structure, and as Tsume could hear their fight begin, Tsume felt…
He didn't know how to describe it. Tsume never liked how his anger took over his fear, blinding him during moments of bloodshed. He absolutely loathed how his brothers acted, any sense of self gone as soon as their home demanded it. Yet now, as he sensed the Inklings he had begun to care for start to get hurt, while he sat on the ice and meekly observed, he began to… hate?
Tsume nodded to himself. He was starting to hate. He hated how he was now sitting by, feeling fearful creatures die by who he called friends. Tsume began to get off the ice, deciding to head to the cloth house where he had seen Range and his Inklings enter. Tsume would help! Not just using his strength to pull and push pieces of wood, or wheelie wagons. He would join the fight!
Or he would have, if the fabric didn't start to smolder. Tsume blinked twice as Range and his Inklings began to head back to him, the only structure on this side of the lake taken over by an inferno. That hadn't taken long, Tsume thought as the small ones got back on their small constructions. Tsume headed back onto the ice, surfing back the way he had come trying to understand the mixture of feelings that settled in his stomach.
Taiki was carving a literal path through the soft bodies of the Octrian. During the day, when the light of the sun gave away the Inkling's positions, the Octrian had proved themselves in combat. The ranks of his enemies and their machines had pushed back any charge before physical contact could be made. Though they took more casualties overall due to the arbalests, the enemy had kept the Tenth Company in check by sheer numbers.
But now their enemy's weaknesses were obvious. These Octrian infantry had no form of melee defense, and were slow to react to enemies that surrounded them. In the dark, it had been easy to sneak up on them, the snow washing away the ink mires that had protected them in the few hours of peace.
These Octrian only had numbers, and when matched, even an Inkling conscript out performed them in every faculty. An Inkling child would have an easy time against these creatures, so long as they weren't out gunned.
Unlucky for the Octrian, Taiki and his fellow veterans weren't children, and were dealing with the small legged tentacle creatures in ruthless fashion. Sword and salvo tore the weak bodies apart. Spear and blade stabbed and cut, their flesh unresisting to the sharp iron.
There was no more method to their formation, there was no unity in their actions. In this everyman for himself fight, the Octrian had no choice but to run or be cut down. They had tried to reform and rally, but unlike the platoons north of the lake, Taiki wouldn't allow them the opportunity. His heavy infantry led the charge, following the Octrian's on their heels. Their little machines having no chance to outpace an Inkling's longer legs, the routing enemies wouldn't even get their chance to run so long as the momentum was with him.
Taiki looked to the burning structure where the Octrian's hidden leaders had set up their camp, as if to show every Inkling how superior they were, filling them with pride. The massive fabric now ablaze, a victory cry erupted from his throat and those around him, even as the horn on the lake ordered their retreat.
These very few Octrian who had managed to stay alive in their rout would be bewildered, the roaring Inklings about to end their pitiful existence completely vanishing back into the darkness.
The snow would cover their ink trails and foot prints. What the snow would miss, the experienced Night Blades wouldn't. Within minutes, the mass of warriors that had been holding the lake for half a day had up and left. Their commander's tent was torn down, as if it had never been set up in the first place. By morning, the dazed, leaderless remnants of the Octrian's vanguard would find nothing, save for their dead.
Taiki smiled as he clambered after fellow warriors, hidden in the darkness of the night, each of them heading the same direction. Back to Yamakabe, hiking after the unseen trail of the Sixtieth Company.