"Milady."
Her brother had said it, but it wasn't his voice. Tadashi's was a voice befitting a young man; strong, but not firm enough to hide the insecurities that skulked about underneath his bravado. Kazumi never questioned why it always escaped from the mouth of an eight year old boy as they took shelter from one of Violight's many storms.
The scene had played out before her countless times before; Tadashi climbing up the tree in the middle of the castle garden like he often would, trying to show off his bravery by this time doing it in the middle of one of Violight's infamous thunderstorms. And then the lightning struck; not him, but close enough that he lost his balance and fell from his perch in the firmament and was sent back into the earth. A branch - no, two - broke his fall as he landed in an ungraceful, bloody heap at the base of the tree he had so easily scaled minutes before, and she would rush over and scoop him up. Except this time there was no Dosetsu yelling at them to get out of that tree, no Ginchiyo racing him to the top - "We're not friends!" the younger Tadashi would always insist in a way that made nobody believe him - and no Sorin sitting back on the patio, smiling to himself as they all ran about.
They were completely and utterly alone; just the two of them in the storm, with the tree above casting its dark shadow on the two kids hiding below.
"Milady."
Another flash of lightning. Tadashi had craned his neck to her as he said it - but it wasn't what he was supposed to say. And in the other voice again; it was similar, but a little lighter and relaxed. It was maddening; bringing her some strange sense of comfort and confusion at the same time.
"Kazumi," Tadashi's voice finally made itself known. Her sapphire orbs were locked on his silver; she felt a bloody hand reach up and try in vain to wipe away the tears streaming down her cheek. All it did was bloody her.
"I tried," he choked out faintly, eyes dimming. Kazumi's vision faded into a blur - she hugged Tadashi's limp body closer against hers, but somehow it felt lighter. Her own pleading and sobbing faded into a muddy cacophony to match her the mess her vision had become, but despite it all she could feel one thing clearly.
"Milady!" it was louder and more desperate before, and the voice practically cast a light down on her.
And then everything burned away into blackness.
"Lady Kazumi! Please wake up!"
Light came back in blurs, different ones than she remembered. White, purple, black and brown clouded her vision, dancing about before her heavy eyes managed to distinguish Hanbei's face from the ceiling.
"Hanbei?" her sleep-addled brain managed to wonder. "Why is he in my bed?"
And only a second later did lucidity catch up to her; Hanbei was standing above her - Kanbei was in the corner, she noted - and she was sleeping in a completely different castle from Pugilis.
"It's four," she heard the tactician say a little more gently. All that accomplished was Kazumi becoming more aware of how much her muscles ached and how heavy her eyelids felt - and, more importantly, how soft the cot felt.
"Five more minutes," she mumbled, both her and Hanbei knowing that she really meant another hour or so. The sheets felt so warm, she decided as her senses became lighter again.
"In the afternoon," Hanbei said, this time matter-of-factly. Kazumi slowly cracked an eye open at that.
"In the afternoon?" for a moment she felt almost angry at having been allowed an hour or so of sleep, and was about to reprimand Hanbei for it when she realized it couldn't possibly be right; she hazily recalled eating something for dinner a while back. Was that just a part of the dream?
"It's Thursday," came the Ignite's latest statement, this time with a small smile as he glanced down at her. The Warlord's eyes widened, and she craned her head up - not enough to make her alert, but at least keep her from falling back asleep.
"Thursday!? But that would mean-"
"You were so tired when Ujiyasu showed you to your room that you decided to take a nap," Hanbei carried on, this time a little more bashfully. "I thought you could use the sleep, so I told them you were feeling sick at dinner and left your food here."
Had she been more coherent, Kazumi would have thought the gesture sweet. But her mind was still hazy, and all she could bring herself to focus on was what impression she must have left on her host while she was whisked up in her dreams. The Auroran blinked.
"Dreams..." the mental images all crashed back into her exhausted mind in a blur. "Brother!"
"Lady Kazumi!?" Kazumi realized that she had shot up like someone struck a match against her only seconds later - her hand had wrapped itself firmly around Hanbei's nearby wrist, and her chest hurt from a sharp breath that had gone almost unnoticed.
No, it was just a dream, her now-lucid mind assured her pounding heart. Kazumi remembered the incident well, too; there had been no thunderstorm, and Tadashi had only gotten two branches up in his race against Ginchiyo when he slipped and got a broken knee for his efforts. The sight had given her chills as an eight-year old, and it seemed the memory had conflated itself with her age.
And then Kazumi became acutely aware that she was still holding Hanbei's wrist, albeit her grip had loosened enough for him to have feeling in his fingers again.
"Sorry," the Warlord muttered as she let go, using her elbows to push herself up. "Just a nightmare..."
"Some nightmare," Hanbei replied with a quiet smile. Kazumi nodded.
"Yeah..." Tadashi was still back in Terrera, bedridden, she assured herself - though that only brought a guilt of its own. The Auroran took another look around the room as she got up; Kanbei was still off to the side, trying to hide a small smile - he probably found the idea of Hanbei trying to wake her up amusing. Kazumi didn't have time to wonder why Espeon felt so comfortable resting against the Ignite's leg.
"Where's Shingen?" Kazumi asked hesitantly.
"Waiting for you," this time Kanbei answered. The Auroran felt like groaning, but just stood up and tried brushing the wrinkles out of her clothes.
"Give me a minute to make myself presentable," she said, and both tacticians took that as their cue to leave. A few minutes later the door the two had been loitering in front of opened up, giving them enough time to turn around before their lord stepped out. Kazumi had changed into a set of fresh clothes and combed out her absurdly long ponytail - she would have indeed given off the impression of someone who woke up at a normal time of the day if she wasn't struggling to keep her eyes open. Hanbei suppressed the urge to chuckle. Their walk was a quiet one; the Ignite could tell that his lord was still caught up in whatever her dream had been, and she seemed content to just follow Kanbei as he led them to the throne room of Cragspur. Shingen and Ujiyasu seemed to be a little more lively, Hanbei mused as they finally reached the gilded panels.
"Look, Shingen, all I'm saying is that it's a possibility."
"There's also a possibility a meteor could fall out of the sky and kill all of us in the next minute."
"It's still a possibility."
"C'mon Ujiyasu, we've known him for most of our lives. Besides, the last time you said that he threw you over a table."
"I was drunk!"
"Well now, there's a possibility you weren't."
Kanbei slid the door open before Ujiyasu could counter. The trio each gave a bow before they entered - neither of the Warlords already inside the otherwise empty room seemed to be overly concerned. Kazumi took a quick sweep of it before bringing her head back up; they were in an antechamber of some kind, the actual throne hidden behind another set of panels Shingen and Ujiyasu had laid a small table in front of.
"Feeling better?" Kazumi blinked for the briefest of seconds - of course, something as insignificant as that didn't escape Shingen's gaze - and then nodded.
"Yes," Shingen then motioned for her to take a seat on the cushion next to his.
"I have to say I'm impressed," Ujiyasu said as Kazumi took her seat, Kanbei and Hanbei sitting on the peripheries of all their thoughts. She raised an eyebrow but kept a neutral face.
"About what?"
"Shingen here's told me how you marched for two days straight after that battle with Nobunaga. And then fought another on top of it."
Kazumi was about to ask how the Terreran knew she hadn't slept after getting back to Pugilis, but quickly dismissed it as being fairly obvious to anyone who had bothered to pay attention.
"I think that might be a bit of an overstatement..." for as much as she was used to being praised - over Tadashi, she could hear a voice in the back of her head whisper - getting it after committing perhaps the biggest faux pas of her admittedly short political career left her flustered. Or maybe it was just being in the presence of two of the titans of her age, and Kazumi quickly scrambled for something to distract her. It was only when her eyes landed on the jar in the center of the table that the Auroran realized just how thirsty she was. Without even thinking about what might have been inside, she quickly reached for it and poured herself a glass.
"You're too young for that," Ujiyasu quickly said before she could finish, pulling the bottle out of her weak grip.
"I'm seventeen," Kazumi retorted - not out of being refused what she now realized was alcohol, but simply out of how thirsty she was.
"I have to agree with Ujiyasu," Shingen chimed in, though he didn't take the glass away from her. The dry joviality that had been etched onto his face from before was now washed away under a grim line and a downward stare.
"But we have more pressing issues," Ujiyasu's face quickly fell into a mirror-image of Shingen's. The Cragspurite gave a nod and took a quiet sip from his glass; the same feeling of dread quickly washed over Kazumi.
"The message from Kenshin only came in this morning," Ujiyasu said as he placed the cup back down. "The battle at Avia was tactically inconclusive, but they had to withdraw."
Kazumi blinked. "It's not like we haven't had to retreat before."
Shingen shook his head, like he was trying to shake off whatever naivety was left in him.
"Yes, but we lost badly," the Warlord in red didn't bother to pause for dramatic effect. "Your strategist is missing."
Kazumi didn't know if a second or a minute had passed by in complete silence before it sunk in.
"Motonari stayed behind to act as the army's rearguard," Shingen continued in a level tone that told her he was no stranger to this sort of thing. "None of his warriors know what happened, and the ones Kenshin sent weren't able to find a bod-"
"So there's a possibility he's being held prisoner?" Kazumi asked before even realizing the words had sputtered past her lips.
"There's a decent chance, yeah," Ujiyasu replied, rubbing the scar across his forehead. "He'd make a valuable prisoner, but it was Valora who Greenleaf was up against; if he is alive, I doubt Nobunaga will be keen on keeping him around when he finds out."
The Auroran let out the breath building up in her chest and leaned back. "First Tadashi, Ginchiyo and Oichi, and now Motonari... Am... Am I too weak?"
Half of the core of their army had been removed in only three days despite her best efforts. It only then hit the Warlord how truly alone she was - she was just a kid trying to keep up in an very adult game. And those around her were paying the price for her mistakes; Hanbei and Kanbei would now have to fill in the shoes of a giant, Takakage was now without his father, Greenleaf had lost its Warlord, and it would just be another thing for Tadashi to feel guilty about were he to find out. How many more blunders would she end up making?
Kazumi almost let out an empty laugh when she realized how much like Tadashi she was starting to sound. Almost - the thought of where he was kept her mouth shut.
"So this is how he felt before that battle with Pugilis..." the Warlord blinked and realized her sight was becoming watery. "I should've been more sympathetic."
Without even thinking of what was in it, Kazumi reached for the cup on the table; anything to wipe the tears out of her eyes without being conspicuous. She only managed a single gulp before slamming the cup back down in disgust. The back of her throat burned more than before as she swallowed, the girl lurching over with a cough as her vision became even more blurred.
"Zekrom, that's bitter," Kazumi choked out as she rubbed her eyes. Shingen sighed and pinched the bridge of his mask, while Ujiyasu shook his head. Kazumi didn't need to look over her shoulder to know her tacticians were shocked.
"Get a hold of yourself!" the voice was hers, but all the Auroran could think of was Tadashi of all people yelling it.
"We need a plan," she said quietly. "What would Motonari have come up with?"
"In other news," Shingen started. "The sky is blue."
Kazumi heard a restrained snort from Hanbei - she tried to ignore the jab as she strained her mind for something.
"A prisoner of our own," the Auroran finally broke the silence. Shingen blinked and looked down at her in an emotion she couldn't decipher - something between approval and disconcertment - while Ujiyasu crossed his arms.
"I'm not a kidnapper," his look was as blunt as his tone. "And this is running on the assumption that he's still al-"
"Actually," the Terreran raised his voice a little.
"That's not a half bad idea. Even if it'll be too late," he noticed Kazumi squirm in her seat out of the corner of his eye. "It might prove useful later on. Besides, we won't have to kidnap anyone."
Everyone blinked, but Ujiyasu was the only one who responded. "I take it you're thinking about that brat up north?"
"He fancies himself a unifier, doesn't he?" the only thing Kazumi could really remember about Masamune was his cocky grin, so she stayed quiet. "I think he'll jump at the chance to show off and take Cragspur if he thinks he can get away with it."
"Then we'll be moving onto Yaksha, next?" the Auroran finally spoke up. Shingen nodded - it had been the original plan to sweep the southeast counterclockwise, anyhow - and turned back to Ujiyasu.
"We'll also need to borrow some of your men; they're more familiar with Yaksha than we are, and-"
"Yes, yes, it'll be more likely to get him to attack too. Remind me why I always have to be the bait in these harebrained schemes of yours?" the sandy-haired Warlord grumbled.
"You're the only one of us who can actually stand to be around him," Ujiyasu muttered something under his breath while Shingen let out a quiet laugh. It wasn't forced, Kazumi noted, but it wasn't as genuine as the other ones she had heard from the Terreran. Shingen then stood up, his stocky frame casting its shadow over all of them.
"The sooner we can head out, the better. I'll go ready my troops," and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. A second of awkward silence passed, Kazumi letting the situation fully sink in while Ujiyasu took another sip from his glass. She eventually stood without so much as a word - Hanbei and Kanbei following suit - gave a bow to her host and left herself.
"You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened," Hanbei said the moment Kanbei shut the panel behind them.
"That's easy to say from the side," Kazumi muttered back, not feeling she had a right to raise her voice. "I could have sent Dosetsu or Yoshihiro with him. I could have disagreed with the plan to split our forces. I could have gone myself."
"And ended up getting captured yourself," Hanbei replied softly. Kazumi just looked down as they continued down the hallway.
"Casualties are inevitable in a war," came the stark remark from the tactician in white. He was only met with palpable disquiet from the brunette.
"Yaksha is reliant on Dark Types," Kanbei almost coughed when he uncomfortably piped up. Kazumi was grateful for the shift in topics.
"We'll be fine," she sounded far less certain than she wanted to. "And you and Lampent?"
"We shall come up with something," came the albino's reply. Hanbei's lips curled into a small grin, and he folded his arms behind his head.
"By that, he means he'll let me and Pikachu do most of the work while he glares menacingly at them," the Ignite chuckled out. Kanbei just shook his head, but Kazumi found her steps feeling a little lighter than before, even as every step she took drew her closer to the Kingdom of Darkness.
...
Light. Colors.
Brown. Gold. White. Red. Blood.
Numbness. Aches. Burning. Burns? How?
Black. Blackness. Sparks. Flashes. Lightning. Lightning.
Oichi!
Air rushed into Tadashi's lungs as he shot up. The flimsy sheets that fell off him had felt like the lid of a sarcophagus, and the musty air of Terrera's castle felt revitalizing. Silvery eyes darted around the room - he made out five other cots, only three filled and utterly motionless. He turned his head with a quiet groan, eyes landing on a half-empty glass of water laying next to him. Had he been awake before?
The Auroran tried pushing himself upright, only for his elbows to give out and let him crash back into the rough pillow with another grunt. His arms hurt, his throat hurt, the back of his head hurt, but Tadashi shoved aside the searing pain and managed to slowly push himself so that he was sitting upright. The Warlord, slowly, rubbed his eyes as his vision readjusted to the dim afternoon light snaking into Terrera's infirmary, and then took another stolid glance around the room.
"How... How long have I... What... Did Kazumi, Oichi..." Tadashi let out a frustrated sigh and stared at the door on the other side of the room long enough for his head to stop spinning. The Warlord slumped back into the pillow as seconds turned to minutes - that was at least how it felt - and continued absently staring at the door ahead as he tried to sort out the details of what happened.
At least, Tadashi thought with no small amount of appreciation, he was still alive, even if so much as breathing hurt.
After what felt like an eternity of staring at wood and being accosted by memories he would rather forget, the Auroran finally heard a noise in the room other than shallow breathing from the other cots. It was a soft click, followed by a quiet creak - a breath caught in his throat as he saw the door slowly open. He could feel his stomach doing flips; the thought of being able to finally talk to someone, the questions he would asks, the answers he might get, the thought of being able to see-
Oichi.
The blood from the girl's face drained the moment their eyes met. Her hands began to tremble around the sheets that were folded in her arms, mouth parting as she struggled to find any words. Tadashi spoke first, exhaustion and the pain in his chest being the only things keeping his tone level.
"You're safe," Tadashi choked out the words, but managed a smile. Oichi's head dropped, auburn hair falling over her face and a few tears down her cheeks.
"I-I... I'm sorry, my Lord. I betrayed your trust and-"
"Oichi," he said quietly as she continued to apologize.
"If I had told you sooner-"
"Oichi."
"If I wasn't so useless-"
"Oichi, please," his voice was as firm as it could be, and she stopped with a sniffle. There was a prolonged second of utter silence as he tried to sort through his own thoughts.
"It doesn't matter that you're Nobunaga's sister," the girl's lips started mimicking her hands.
"Yes, it does, my Lord," she said quietly, gaze glued to the pile of linen she had dropped when she started apologizing.
"Oichi, please look at me," slowly, Oichi raised her brown eyes until they met Tadashi's silver. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, his perfectly still. "It doesn't matter to me."
She just looked back down in shame; Tadashi sighed and pushed the covers off, intent on holding her by the shoulders and telling her how important she was. Oichi tried to object the moment she heard him move, but it was too late; the moment he stood his legs buckled underneath him like a newborn Ponyta. Tadashi let out a shout loud enough to alert the entire castle as his knees slammed into the boards below. The Warlord reached out to steady himself with the cot, only for more pain to shoot up his shoulder.
"Lord Tadashi!" he felt her arms wrap around his.
"I'm fine," the Auroran hissed out as he slowly got back on his feet.
"No, you're not," Oichi replied firmly. "You haven't had anything to eat for days, your burns are still raw, you've just regained consciousness after nearly being electrocuted to death, and-"
She quickly fell silent, ending what had been otherwise an increasingly panicky tone.
"Please, my Lord, just stay here and let me go get you something to eat," Oichi did a better job of masking the guilt in her voice this time. Tadashi nodded bitterly and slumped back up against the flat pillow; only a minute or two passed before Oichi came racing back with a small tray of food and another familiar face.
"It's good to see you're awake, milord," Naoshige bowed as Oichi handed Tadashi the tray. The Warlord just blinked in confusion.
"Naoshige?" he asked through a mouthful of rice. "What're you doing here?"
"I came as soon as I got word of what happened," the Auroran replied quickly - by the time Tadashi realized he had avoided actually answering the question, he had already asked something else.
"How long has it been?" he asked as he continued shoveling food into his mouth. He wasn't particularly concerned about proper manners right now.
"Three days," Oichi offered up quietly. "Lady Kazumi's already set off for Cragspur with the army."
"Just like her to always have a handle on the situation..." Tadashi muttered before taking a gulp from the glass of water next to him. "Anyways, what now?"
"Lady Kazumi and Lord Shingen should be headed onto Yaksha by now, while the army under Lords Motonari and Kenshin should be back in Illusio checking any reinforcements from the north," Naoshige replied, arms folded behind his back like he was a simple messenger.
"Until then, please try to rest and not worry too much," the Warlord of Aurora crossed his arms and let out an objective huff, but nodded at Oichi. A second look around the room revealed two more details he had missed before; Ginchiyo's Luxio sleeping quietly at the foot of her cot, and then that Jigglypuff was missing from its usual place on Oichi's person. He raised an eyebrow, spared a second's glance at Naoshige, and then back at the Spark Pokémon.
"Where's Eevee?" the girl blinked and looked up.
"Ah, I'll go get him," she said a little too quietly and proceeded to leave a little too quickly. Tadashi internally nodded to himself and turned to Naoshige.
"Who told you what happened?" the innocent question cut through the awkward silence that had fallen over the two of them. Tadashi almost chuckled at how obviously uncomfortable the man was - the warrior nearly snapped to attention when he spoke up - without anything to do.
"Motonari, milord. He sent a letter - don't worry, I've left Aurora in capab-" Tadashi's eyes had narrowed by an unnoticeable fraction, like a Flying Type eyeing its prey.
"But I wasn't the one he asked you to keep an eye on," the Warlord asked, in almost a whisper, to the man's obvious surprise. "Was I?"
"No sir," Tadashi's silvery eyes moved to the still open door, and then back to the Auroran above.
Naoshige was - outside of Oichi - their oldest ally. He still handled most of the day-to-day affairs of managing both Aurora and Ignis, and had helped guide them through the nonstop fiasco that was their early tenure (at least, Tadashi thought sardonically, that this fiasco was a more dignified one). Above all, however, Naoshige was perhaps the first person in her life that Oichi had actually been able to consider a friend. Tadashi made a mental note to thank Motonari for his concern even as he let out a heavy sigh.
"She's strong," he muttered with a quiet conviction.
"So is Nobunaga, my Lord," the Auroran said with a short bow.
"I know," Tadashi returned dryly. "And to have the strength of will to turn her back on him, on that type of power... I think we haven't given Oichi nearly enough credit."
Naoshige blinked. "You've changed, my lord."
"I'm bedridden," the Auroran said with a small smile. "I have to delegate my immaturity."
Naoshige just bowed.
"Anyways," Tadashi's smiled faded away with another gulp from the nearby glass. "Carry on as you were, Naoshige. And let me know if anyone says anything to her."
"Yes sir."
Naoshige turned with another bow and left the ward, leaving the Warlord alone to take a long look around at the other occupants. He had awoken from his dreams only to find himself facing a nightmare, Tadashi decided.
Author's Notes:
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Bicycle Repairman? No! It's an update on time!
Anyways, hopefully this will be a strong start to the year - of course I can't let Tadashi catch a break, be it in a hospital bed or Kazumi's dreams. Up next will be Yaksha, a chapter I'm particularly looking forward to writing, and will hopefully be up in February.