Chapter 10

The Jade Sea

The brush shuddered prompting Kami to leap from Hiro's shoulder and scamper off to investigate. He'd been doing so all day, since the early morning when they began their march. The Jade Sea seemed somewhat less wild than Ser Takatora had told it. Oh the occasional root reaching from the ground could be an ankle snare for certain, but nothing a little high stepping couldn't fix.

Hiro left his kabuto in Aurora. It didn't feel just taking it if he intended to leave once the journey was over. Instead he sported his leather armor, and a thick, white cloak often reserved for squires.

He shouldered into his hatchet, smiting branches so brave as to block the old road with their gnarled fingers. The carriage just behind him, was a burdensome thing, broader than a single Snorlax, but carried by three and great enough to house the Princess, Maa, and the portly ambassador Hiro couldn't remember the name of.

He cut abreast with Ser Scraf, one of Ser Reval's Cincino knights. Her Pokemon, Silver was pretty as any other, but she was a homely woman a good head taller than Hiro. Born with a man's shoulders and jaw, short cropped hair and white as her Pokemon's in spite of her young age, he mistook her for a man at first glance. At least she'd been forward enough to shake his hand and speak before he'd made the mistake aloud.

Ahead of them, the commander and his small squad of Persians cleared away the brunt of the leafy forces, while he and Scraf scattered the remnants. "I am amazed that some are named men at all," she said, smashing away the branches with her broad arms. They had been discussing the ambassador at length. "Take his dick off and he is more a woman than I have ever cared to be," she said.

At least she'd been amusing. Hiro had learned that Ser Scraf tried to marry from the age of fifteen to twenty five, but could not find a suitor "tough enough". In the last five hours he'd learned much about men and how even the burliest still blubber like children, and not at all infrequently.

"Is this how you feel about Oichi?" he asked, lopping away another wooden hand.

"Princess Oichi, a knight must remember his courtesies," she reminded without looking at him. I am not a knight, he thought. I never will be.

"The Princess-" she began, taking another swing. "She's a lady for sure, but a wild one you'd better believe. That girl's got the spirit to be a great warrior, I thinks its her mum that forces expectations on her," she explained. "You repeat that an' you remember what I said about the ambassador," she said, pointing the blunt end of her hatchet at him.

He wanted to ask her about Maa, but feared what she might say, or that Maa could hear him from the carriage.

"Damnit! Ugh!" One of the men at the head of the line was skipping about on one leg, the other soaking through with blood. "It bit me! Ah!"

"Aw quiet down," one of the Staravia girls Ser Joyenne called, sweeping up from behind the carriage. Mail shook over her body as she hustled to the head of the line, her dirty-gold locks sweeping behind her. Scraf turned and motioned the Snorlax to stop. "It's not even poisonous," she groaned.

They sat the man down and pulled off his armor. The wound looked more a circular scratch, no bigger than the round of Hiro's fist. As Joyenne wiped away the blood, he could see the red swipe drawn between two bleeding holes. The man whined more.

The commander, Ser Tsunehisa, beheld him with pity and shook his head. "How bad is it?" he asked her.

"He's blubbering. Looks like a baby Snivy. Didn't even have all its teeth," she remarked.

"Come on man," Tsunehisa barked. "You'll live." Joyenne wrapped the wound and helped the man to his feet. "Go, walk in the back so Joyenne can keep an eye on you," he said, waving him away. "Green boys," muttered Tsunehisa. Then he looked at Hiro.

"What is the matter, ser?" came a voice something like belch.

"Lord Choan," Tsunehisa answered. The ambassador leaned from the carriage tossing something around in his slimy mouth. "Ser Grone tread's like a drunken Snorlax and a Snivy's punished him for it."

Grone's mouth flattened into bitter embarrassment. Choan gave them all a cool look, then squinted toward the afternoon sky. "We will make camp in a few hours, wouldn't you say? I too grow weary of this travel." Hiro wouldn't have believed him if he didn't look paler and more tired than anyone else in the host. His face was being sucked through the dark holes that were his eyes, while strands from his long, pulled-back hair sprung out like haggard naked branches.

"Hiro, you and that hatchet'll take Ser Grone's place," he ordered.

"Looks like your work just doubled," Scraf quipped with a masculine grin.

Ahead of the caravan the trees were lush, as if the path had somehow been stuffed full of greenery by giants. The Persians did a splendid job at dispersing the brush. Each cut of their claws sent splinters and leaves blowing away. If the caravan were a spear, the Persians were the sharp tip, and the humans the broadening point, and there was no shortage of work for him to do. Hiro's arm went numb in minutes that felt like an hour. He stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow, then glanced back at the carriage, wondering how comfortable the Princess, Maa and the ambassador must be.

He and the commander locked eyes. Ser Tsunehisa was older than was appropriate to guess, yet somehow spry as his Persian. "Did you think it was all glory and feasts?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Knighthood, we earn our keep you know," he said, his kind face locked in a scowl. Hiro didn't know what to make of that. "It's not easy. Watching people be carried through a trail like this in a comfortable carriage, while we're out here hacking until our arms fall off." He gave another swing, Hiro followed suit. "Then you must defend them if trouble starts. You vow to protect them, hopefully you'll come to learn."

What gives them the right to sit so comfortably while others work? He wanted to say, but didn't have to. The old commander had met his fair share of green men-at-arms and plucked it out of him. "They have to be comfortable. Because they are expected to be and look comfortable. It is part of the strange work they do, but make no mistake, a man is wild without Kings. Violence begets further violence unless it begets law."

Law was all well-and-good, silks and lavish and coin were the enemy of civilization, or so Hiro believed. He turned away before Tsunehisa could read that thought as well.

Darkness fell as promised near three hours later. The brush let up and their pace quickened. They sent Staravia to scout ahead, brought every warrior save one brave soul, Scraf, to the front of the caravan and sent another Snorlax to the back as they climbed a steep slope. The ground was moist and steamy with a potpourri of dirt and grass uprooted under foot. Their ascent reached a stone bluff, broad and flat enough to make camp, just as the first star flared to life.

From their height they could peer over the Jade Sea turned deep sapphire, tossing and folding as if it really were water. They had a wall to their backs, of another cliff high above. Hiro was given first watch. Maa made eyes at him through supper. It killed not to be able to talk with her.

The fire behind him smoldered to a glow, dying with a light gray spirit trailing into the heavens. It didn't matter much, the night was warm and the wind felt good. Kami paced near the edge of the bluff, as Hiro stood watching. His legs complained of the long walk, then climb but he didn't care. Out of all the countries he'd walked through, he'd never been to Greenleaf.

The other knights and the nobles had faded into sleep rather quickly. Tsunehisa had said he'd find him and lop his legs off he tried to run, and proved it by leaving his Persian to watch him. A twig snapping near the tents alerted Kami and the Persian.

Hiro looked back to see Maa, trotting barefoot around the fire, her lips twisted into a devious grin and her blue eyes glinting like stars. She wore a high gown blue as Aurora plate with adornments he scarcely noticed because he was staring at her limber white thighs. His heart leapt with his breeches, "no! go back, they probably heard you get up," he waved her away.

She whispered, "Not even Kyo knows I'm gone, and I keep no secrets from the Princess." He turned back to his watch, the more attention he gave her, the more like he was to get in trouble. She stood beside him for a time, her gaze warming his neck. The wind blew her hair across her lips, as it had in the training fields two days past.

Cool relief swept over him as she too looked out over the forest. "The night is beautiful, wouldn't you say?"

"Heh-yeah," he rasped.

"Has your mouth gone dry, ser knight?" she asked, giving him another smile. Her eyes trapped him now, he was caught and would not look away. Certainly the Persian couldn't tell Tsunehisa about her visit. His face warmed when Maa said, "you have such kind eyes."

He was hung on her first question. "I am no knight," he said looking back out over the Jade Sea.

"You will be. I know it," she answered, her voice so soft.

It was a queer thing, having someone believe in him this way. Whatever Hawk-eye knew about the royal family and the stuck up knights, there was no truth in it concerning Maa. She had been on his side from the first day they met. She sat on the dusty rock and swept a spot for him.

"What makes you so certain? Why don't you believe I might run away given the first chance?" Hiro asked.

Maa leaned back on her hands to search the stars. Then she looked back and kissed him. Hiro's response was late, he'd thought the chance was gone, but then she kissed him again and took his hand in hers. "You are a good man, I know it," she said.

He felt his shoulders quivering. "Wh-why do you present yourself to me like this. I am an urchin, a street boy, I could be dirty. Are you this way around other men?"

She pulled away with an uncertain stare. Dammit, why am I so nervous, I'm such an idiot. She looked sad, "I am no maiden, if that is what you are asking." There was a long pause in which she looked down and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"When you are a girl in trade for servantry, you are not always left in the...cleanest of hands. You learn at a young age that men have eyes and hungers that are so deep, especially for the pretty ones. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I were a Princess, so they never could have done that to me. That is the truth of it. I-"

Hiro could see star-flecked tears building in her eyes. He reached his arm around her realizing he wounded her.

"No, I apologize," she said. "What's done is done," she declared, wiping her eyes.

"I didn't mean to-"

"I know. You wouldn't, you couldn't understand," she said. "I have never been with a man willingly," she answered. "Don't pity me," she asked.

Hiro said, "What do I have to pity you with? So we both know lives in which we don't know what tomorrow will be like. You're parents sold you, mine may have if I were a girl, instead they abandoned me. First my father, then my whore mother. You say I couldn't understand, but mayhaps I understand more than you believe." Something made him cup her cheek in his hand and kiss her salty lips.

They were there for sometime before Kami began to tug at his cloak. Hiro brushed the Pokemon away until Kami bit down on his finger. His lips came pried away from Maa's, "Ow, what in Arceus has gotten into you?" From the path they had ascended the mountain, came a rustling that roused the Persian. Hiro rose and stalked over to the path, "stay here," he warned her. She nodded.

A few paces past the empty carriage, he stood on his toes to peer into the dark cavernous mouth of the brush. Although the moon was exceptionally bright on this night, he could see nothing within, no matter which way he tilted his head. Satisfied he turned back, "probably just a-!"

Maa had a knife to her throat. The attacker had stalked up so quietly even the Persian was caught unawares. A wide, straw hat veiled the wielder's eyes. He wore form fitting black leather armor with a green and brown blotched gi, hanging loosely over his body. The spikes on his leather gauntlets and greaves told the tale, he'd scaled the bluff.

Before he could speak, Maa stomped on his foot and tried to push him away, "Hiro! Look out!" she cried.

Two yellow eyes like still flames atop candles sparked to life behind him. He ducked just before a gust of blades skinned the armor off him. Not blades, leaves! Maa was still struggling. After seeing his Pokemon miss the attack, the man wrenched the knife into her gut. Then pulled away, dagger still in hand.

Hiro watched the red blood soak her blue gown, the hands he had just held. The blue eyes that had so warmly and honestly gazed upon him were lost in cold. She smiled to see that he had dodged the attack, but it faded so quickly, too quickly. Maa fell to her knees, then collapsed in the dirt. He sprinted toward her, "Maa!"

Before he could reach her, the man lunged at him with the same dagger that stabbed her, still wet with blood. He bobbed under it and tackled him to the ground. "Kami!" he shouted. But his shouts roused every soul in the camp. The Aurora knights appeared to rise from the ground itself, Pokemon and all.

A dozen or more green warriors like the first rose from the trees, from the cliff's edge and from the path behind with an array of grass pokemon. Snivy, Servine both green as vines, the latter longer than the former; Grovyle, Sceptile, spry and reptilian and nearly as tall as men, sprouting various plants from their bodies; Whimsicott with its small body of gnarled roots and back of white cotton, the same that had attacked Hiro from the bushes; Lilligant, a living flower in the shape of a maid in a court dress; and even a Simisage with its grassy furr and fine muscles. The campsite erupted into shouts and clangor of sword and Pokemon cries. Tsunehisa barely had time to shout to his knights before tossing a green warrior over his shoulder and slamming him the throat with a mailed fist.

Hiro couldn't think. He struck the attacker in the face. Then again, harder so his own knuckles hurt, sending the straw hat wheeling away. Something lashed him in the side and sent him sprawling over the rough stone. He hit his head, but not that hard.

Like a brown furred crossbow bolt, Kami flew into the Servine, hitting the middle of its slender body just as hard as it had hit Hiro. "Heev!" His companion called to him.

Maa lay motionless and she was all he cared to look at until a shrill cry drew his gaze. The Princess fumbled away from her shuddering tent. A Sceptile had worked its way in, but tangled itself in the chords and cloth. "Kami, hit that Sceptile!" he pointed. At that same moment, Tsunehisa's Persians pounced claws first as well. Combined, they slammed it into the far rock wall thrashing to get free. The Persian leapt on it, slashing away. The commander's words rang in his ear, 'you'll have to defend them.'

Hiro sprinted forward, seized Oichi's wrist, then proceeded to yank her from the fray. Hiro's eyes met that of the fat ambassador in his tattered white silks. Dodging a flurry of leaves, he formed up on Hiro as well. "Bora! To me!" Oichi was shouting for her Pokemon. Bora the Jigglypuff was making quick work of a small green snake Pokemon, a Snivy, smacking it to and fro whilst clutching it by the leafy tail.

The bulk of the grass Pokemon were concentrated on the three Snorlax, trying not to get stomped or thrown. Just one Sceptile kept the other four Persians at bay. One of the white Pokemon pounced at it, but the Sceptile twisted on its green scaled hands and kicked it over the edge of the bluff. Its horrible cry echoed upward before Hiro heard the Pokemon break against a branch. Leaves swirled up and sliced at least three knights to bloody ribbons. Silver pounced on the Whisicott, while Tsunehisa's Persian continued to mulch the tent-bound Sceptile.

Tsunehisa himself marched over to them, bloody Katana in hand. On his way he slew another man, opening him from heart to rib then tossed the corpse aside. "This way, this way!" he commanded in a full throated battle voice, motioning the three to follow. They moved to the edge of the bluff, away from the Pokemon. It seemed the attackers were indiscriminate, they didn't favor to attack the Princess or any knight in particular. Just open slaughter.

Kami ran down a Snivy, tearing at it with his teeth while managing to dodge the one Simisage. A green ape Pokemon. Bora bashed into the Simisage while Kami bounced back. Throwing it off its feet.

Scraf wheeled round with one of the attackers clutched by the back of his gi and his breeches, heaving him over the cliff. The man flailed and yowled just as horribly as the Persian had. Hiro could not tell whether the battle was won or lost until a shrill cry cut the chaos and drew their eyes skyward.

The six Staravia they brought swam from the darkness. Flying Pokemon were experts at subduing grass types. They tore through the enemy a hail of smoky arrows, pecking their sharp beaks and smiting with their strong wings.

"I can save her! I can save her!" He yelled at Tsunehisa, but what did he know or care of their relations?

He ran for Maa, but Oichi shrieked again, "What are you doing?" He watched Choan lurch at her, thrusting her over the edge. Oichi gown fluttered in the open air as her arms groped for the edge. Without thinking, Hiro dove after her cloak snapping in the free fall. He wrapped his arms around her and they both held on tight.

When he did hit, the rocks breaching the steep slope battered him senseless as they rolled downward. He held her head close and tried to remember to tuck his in so his teeth didn't sever his tongue. A tree branch reamed his cheek as they tumbled below the treeline. Another jagged rock socked him in the back as they bounced into the mud below.

His arms fell open and the Princess went rolling limply along the forest floor. He could taste the steely blood from his open lip and his whole body quaked with crippling pain. He coughed once, then twice, the third time he yelled for her, "Princess Oichi!"

Rolling to his feet, he felt the gash on his side soak his belly. The fall had savaged his leather armor and select parts of his body. Still he felt as though he were falling, stumbling from his feet, back into the mud. This is bad, he thought, watching the Princess for any signs of life at all. When he got foot beneath him, his back felt as though a ball of iron spikes were passing through it. He cried out, thinking he might die.

Gathering his strength, his hand landed on the back of her neck. Her pink gown had been spared by his cloak. Save many scratches, she looked relatively unscathed. He rocked her vigorously, "Princess! Princess! Wake-up! Are you alright?" She stirred and groaned. "Hugh, thank Arceus you're alive," he whispered.

A metal grinding sounded behind him. Oh what now? "Kami!" he blasted at the top of his lungs his voice cracking sharply. "Kami!" He roared again.

"Shut up! Shut-Up!" a whisper bit off at him. Tsunehisa slid down the slope on his backside, carefully slowing himself with his greaves. He broke into a run when he sank close enough to the ground. Kami sprang hurriedly from his shoulder to Hiro's side. Tsunehisa's ghostly white Pokemon took calculated pounces to descend the hill.

"By Arceus," he said aloud, kneeling beside his Princess. He groped around her neck with two fingers. After a long moment he said, "She's alive!"

"Help," Hiro choked in the mud.

The old commander lifted Oichi's limp body, sat her against a tree and came back to hoist him up. "I told you to shut up!" he snapped. "Listen!"

The clangor from upslope hadn't stopped, only intensified. A rustling came from the trees overhead. "They're hunting us," Hiro could feel the commander's warm breath against his face. Out of the canopy came Bora with her emerald eyes catching the moonlight. She landed gentle as a feather before screening the dark surroundings for her warrior.

"Can you walk?" Tsunehisa asked as Hiro watched the Jigglypuff scamper into the dark. "We've got to leave here. I can't carry both of you. If you cannot walk then I'll give you a painless death," he offered. Hiro thought he joked, or perhaps was being cruel, but he saw the stern in his eyes when moonlight pierced the canopy. He means it, he panicked, trying to find his legs.

"I-I can walk," he grunted. When the commander let him go, he fell to one knee, almost face-first back into the mud. His legs creaked like an old tree. He put his hand over his wound, sticky with mud.

The darkness of the forest filled his vision, and the pain was all he could bear, but still he found the strength to limp after Tsunehisa, as he hoisted the Princess into his arms.