YUKI

The battlefront. It was something that seemed to exist beyond the borders of reality. Before, when they'd been traveling on the road, she'd heard the soldiers whisper about it in the dark as they sat around their fires. She'd heard the word murmured in tones of eagerness or dread, yet never once had she stopped to imagine it. It had been something intangible, unreachable. And suddenly, it was very real. Real, immediate, and visceral.

Perhaps, if she had taken the time to properly analyze things, or to look into the faces of the wounded as they'd passed by on the way to the medical tents, she would have understood it a little better. Instead, it was like a punch in the gut to work her way through the front lines, where the fighting continued around her despite the purple pallor of the sky.

The men had been fighting for about two weeks now before their arrival. They had dug trenches around the outer walls of the city, at a far enough distance that Shizuka's archers could not reach them. Yuki knew a high percentage of men had been lost in just the first few days, while the trenches had been dug. Even a wall of men holding pavises and kite shields had not been enough to protect them. Nevertheless, the trenches themselves were a small victory in and of themself.

The first thing that hit her was the stench. It permeated the area with the odor of rotting flesh, metal, and blood. She choked for a moment against her sleeve. In the distance, she could hear the clash of metal and the screams of a dying man. Yuki followed Zero and Hanabusa as they ducked into the trench closest to the walls, her eyes round and frightened.

"We'll wait here for nightfall," Hanabusa whispered, and she nodded mutely, mouth gone dry.

Her heart was pounding. The men here...in just two weeks they were already haggard, worn away until their very souls had become threadbare. Most of them sported a wound or two, inadequately tended to from lack of time or lack of interest. One of the men was shaking uncontrollably, and another was trying desperately to keep him still. For two weeks, this small number of men had held out against Shizuka alone. For two weeks, they had pushed back wave after wave of attacks. She wondered if the men they'd sent around to the east and west gates were faring the same.

Standing down inside the trench, it was worse than she'd expected. The repugnant scratch hole zigzagged back and forth across the land, a foul slash cut into the earth. The rank smell had swelled until it had become a nauseating wall that had to be pushed through by willpower. There was filth everywhere. The men were covered with it. The bottom of the trench was filled with water and mud, as well as no small amount of trash. Even the walls seemed to protest their own existence; having to be held up by sandbags, bundles of sticks, or just about anything that could be found. Two weeks did not seem like a particularly long time, but for these men, being attacked at all hours...it must have seemed like an eternity.

"How many men are here?" she asked in a small voice.

"Not nearly enough," Hanabusa replied tightly. "Tomorrow, the Kains will sweep through with cavalry and the troops we brought will launch a larger assault."

"Half the original men have already perished," Kaito noted drolly.

"Then...we must win at all costs," Yuki replied. "The sooner we can end this fight, the better."

"That's everyone's hope," Zero told her.

"Let's hope that sword of yours works, too," Kaito muttered.

"Having second thoughts?" Hanabusa asked.

"My Lord, if you're only having two thoughts at a time, perhaps you should start seriously questioning your intelligence." The assassin raised an eyebrow.

The blond knight snorted. "You know what I meant."

"Honestly, the question was so inane it didn't deserve an answer," Kaito retorted.

"Has anyone ever told you how charming you are?"

Shizuka's Bloodguard grinned and winked. "All the time."

Zero muttered something about "double the annoyance" and sighed. In spite of the circumstances, Yuki giggled. If they had been back in the court, before all of this had happened, she could imagine Hanabusa and Kaito driving her silver-haired knight absolutely insane with their banter. In spite of Zero's obvious exasperation, Yuki enjoyed listening to them. It took her mind off of her immediate surroundings.

When night at last fell, the group carefully extracted themselves from the trenches and crawled towards the smaller gate off to the right. Outside the dreary world of the makeshift tunnels, it was as if they had transcended time and space. Back in the trench, the men were isolated within a world of harsh iron and permanent filth, and there, just beyond the haze of the trenches, was a world of luxury and ignorance locked behind iron gates. The fight had not yet reached the city; certainly it hadn't affected the nobles in the inner walls whatsoever. But now was not the time to think of such things. She pushed the thought from her mind and followed Kaito's lead.

The distance between the trenches and the small gate reserved for special persons was not actually that great; nevertheless it seemed insurmountable. Time ticked by. Each time they crawled forward, they were forced to stop for an agonizingly long amount of time, waiting for the light of torches from the wall above them to pass them by before they could proceed once more. By the time they reached the gate, Yuki was exhausted. And yet, it was only the beginning.

On either side of the gate, Zero, Hanabusa, herself, and the rest of the men pressed themselves tightly, just out of sight. Meanwhile, Kaito brazenly knocked as loudly as he could and shouted, "Oy! Open up, you gits! It's me, Kaito Takamiya!"

A moment passed before the inner door opened and torch light shone on the Bloodguard's face. "I recognize that voice. Kaito, what the hell are you doing out here?"

"Picking flowers."

A grunt.

"Gathering information, what do you think?" Kaito asked snidely.

"I suppose this is all part of Lady Shizuka's plan, eh?" the man on the other side of the door asked.

"Hell if I know."

"Alright, we'll let you in. No one followed you, did they?"

Kaito made a show of looking around, then shrugged. "Doesn't look like it."

Silence. A beat later, Yuki heard the gate creak open. She inhaled slowly, counting to ten. The fight for their lives was about to truly begin.

"Thanks," Kaito told the other man, disappearing inside. Yuki waited in trepidation for his signal, but instead there was the soft thump of a body hitting the ground just outside the gate. This was the man that Kaito had been talking to just a moment before, she presumed. The princess caught Zero's eye, but he shook his head, as if to tell her that this wasn't reason for alarm.

Kaito had disappeared out of sight, but the gate remained open. Should they enter? Follow him? Or wait here? He hadn't given them the signal yet. Weren't they supposed to run in and kill the soldiers in the immediate vicinity as quietly as possible so as not to rouse the rest of the guard? Then sneak into the city? Had he changed the plan? Betrayed them? Countless thoughts marched through her head and threaded her limbs with anxiety.

Abruptly, Kaito stuck his head out and motioned them inside. "All clear," he assured them.

Hesitantly, Yuki entered, noting two more crumpled bodies beside the entrance and the blood that dripped from Kaito's fingers. There was a splatter of blood across his cheek, too, but he wiped it off with his sleeve nonchalantly. Yuki's stomach dropped as she took in the ugly slash across the guards' throats. Had he really killed everyone here so quickly and efficiently? That was what an assassin was, after all, she supposed... But...all this blood...the deep gash...she was on the verge of a breakdown. Already, her lungs were constricting, her chest tight.

Zero's hand on her shoulder pulled her back. "Don't lose focus," he told her, violet eyes bringing her back from the edge.

She took a breath, feeling her lungs expand almost normally again. He was right. They had to see this through to the end.

"Let's go," Hanabusa ushered them, and quickly they darted out from the gate and into the darkness beyond.


AN: I know trenches are not typical for the fantasy trope, but I wanted to do something a little different. We'll see if it works or not... -thoughtful expression-

I'm pretty close to finishing this fic, but I am curious if anyone is still reading it? I only ask to know how I should allot my time-currently with the quarantine I have plenty of time on my hands at home to write but I'm wondering if I should prioritize finishing this story or working on other projects. So, if you are reading and would like to see this story end, please leave me a review and let me know. If I don't hear anything, I'll assume no one is reading and I'll leave this fic alone while I work on other things.

Thanks! Stay healthy and safe!