Chapter 1: From Lady to Lad
"I can't believe you got us into this," the angry girl muttered, her delicate nostrils flaring in frustration.
"It wasn't like I knew this was going to happen," the guy retorted just as angrily, with a small hint of chagrin, however.
"Hey, you two! You best shut your yap before I do it for you!" yelled the beefy looking leader in the front, his rough voice vibrating threateningly in the cool morning air.
Another soldier, holding one end of the rope, tugged harshly at their wrists and successfully managed to pull both angry teenagers roughly enough to stumble.
"Hey-!" came the frustrated grunt from the male; his knees hit the ground and resultantly dragged along the rocky dirt road.
"Shit!" cursed the female, trying to maintain her balance as she yanked back at the rope wrapped around her wrist. The attempt was futile, however, since all it did was rub against her sensitive skin with raw brutality.
With a sneer of satisfaction, the soldier gave another jerk at the rope, "You heard the general, shut your filthy vermin mouths!"
The hard tug was enough to make the girl stumble to her knees, the terrain cutting into her skin. She winced, but kept from uttering a word as the sharp pain shot up her legs. Once she managed the strength to awkwardly get to her feet, she shot a glare at her companion.
He glared back, his dark eyes refusing to let her put the blame solely on him.
But it was his fault, she seethed, her teeth grinding together in annoyance. If he hadn't followed his stupid impulses they wouldn't be stuck in this situation in the first place. The more she thought about it the more she was coming to realize that this could very well be the last day of their lives. Stealing from the lord was not only considered a crime but a hangable offense. They might as well repent now and pray they went to heaven, for she knew that no one stole from the lord and lived to tell the tale.
Hoping that her rage showed in her eyes, she stared into his a moment longer before returning her gaze to the forty soldiers marching in front of them. The two perfect lines never faltered as they ventured deeper and deeper into the woods. She had felt safer in the open countryside they had dragged them along a few hours earlier. At least the wide open sky and distant meadows had been a small comfort compared to the eerie darkness that enveloped them now.
"30 yards till campsite, men!" bellowed the gruff general, his voice making her flinch.
"Thank god!" she heard one of the other prisoners mumble behind her and couldn't help but feel the same relief. After walking all day and night, her legs felt like buckling from right under her. The soles of her bare feet had gotten sliced and bruised by the paths brutal conditions and were now covered with a mixture of blood and dirt.
Her injuries, nevertheless, were nothing compared to the raven haired boy's next to her. Not only were his feet also bare, bloody, and bruised; but half of his face was covered with dry blood. It had gushed from the injury across his temple he had received having tried to escape earlier. He also got a cut lip and a bruised eye from the brutal beating the soldiers had given him. A lesson they believed he needed so he'd understand to never go against his "betters".
She snorted, bitterly thinking of the injustice the soldiers of the Western Lands inflicted on the poor village people. Beating innocents were one of the many wrongdoings they did to her and her people. Setting huts on fire, taking honest won money, raping young village maidens, and eating their harvested food were the favorable pass times of most of the drunken soldiers. Everyone hated them but could do little about it.
"Sae, stop glaring daggers at them or you'll get targeted for sure," came a warning murmur, hidden amusement laced around his words.
The raven haired girl, Sae, turned her murderous glare towards her twin brother, "Funny Youhei, once I'm free to do so I'll show you something worse than a beating." Her eyes glinted. "Death."
Youhei's eyebrows shot up to his forehead. "No need dear sister," he said lightly, his gaze glancing towards soldiers marching in front of them, "I'm sure these nice gentlemen will do the honors for you."
Despite his teasing tone, his words sent a chill running up Sae's spine. She knew that once they reached the lords castle, they'd either be hanged for their crime or worse. The later was what she feared the most.
After that, both brother and sister walked in brooding silence for the next forty minutes or so. It seemed a lifetime had passed when the general finally announced the arrival of the campsite.
Sae was almost ready to weep in relief at the announcement … until they rounded the corner of a large thick tree. Only to come face to face with another group of soldiers that looked bored and drunk. With a sinking stomach, Sae watched their faces light up at their arrival.
"I'll have a go at that one," a young pudgy soldier leered, elbowing his thin friend.
It took a moment for Sae to realize that he was pointing directly at her and took an immediate step back as he started striding towards her.
His jaw clenching tightly, Youhei automatically stepped in front of her, blocking her from view of the hideous fiend.
"There will be no going at anything, soldier," announced the general sternly, throwing Youhei and Sae a disgusted glance. "The lord wants these villagers unharmed and untouched."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sae tip-toed on her feet to peek over the shoulder of her brother. She saw the lecherous soldier scoff disgruntling and head back to take another large swig from his drink.
"Get these pathetic villagers secured nice and tight," barked the general, his mustache twitching with distaste at the sight of the exhausted group of people slumping wearily against each other. "We leave in promptly 15 minutes, men."
The soldiers quickly did as they were bid, roughly tightening every villager's rope around their wrist and shoving each and every one into formation. Sae felt someone grope her behind at one point and gasped, whirling around to punch whoever dared.
Youhei quickly shoved her forward, not allowing her to see -let alone hit- the pervert who touched her. "Not now Sae," he hissed, narrowing his dark eyes at her when she opened her mouth to argue. "Let it be."
"Move it!" bellowed the general, making Sae jump into action and forget the nasty soldier for the time being.
When the soldier's marching footsteps pounded heavily on the ground followed by the exhausted patter of village people echoed in the evening sky, the trip to the Western Lord's castle was again underway.
The rest of the day continued like the past two seemingly endless days had: tiring and painful. Their wrist tied tightly together and the continuous yanks forward had many villagers collapsing with pain and exhaustion on the road. Only to be brutally beaten until they were forced back onto their shaky legs and made to continue.
Sae herself had been close to collapsing, but had Youhei there to push her forward. He had allowed her to lean on him for just a moment if she needed to. She was grateful for his strength; for she knew she would need it come tomorrow. The general had barked out the time and place of their destination a couple of times. Only as a reminder to the soldiers to keep up the pace and a warning to the villagers to continue walking or be punished.
Once it turned dark, the general commanded for the soldier to stop and make camp after securing the villagers. Every villager was tied to the base of a tree, the rope wrapped tightly over their midsections. Sae was fortunate enough to be tied next to her brother and thanked the heavens for that small favor. Once the twenty or so villagers were secured, the soldiers worked to build a fire and set up tents around the small clearing.
It didn't take long after everything was set up for the men to settle down around the cozy campfire and start drinking themselves senseless. Soon the night air was filled with drunken laughter, angry voices and incomprehensible chatter.
Sae sat alert the whole time. She knew that the general was in his tent sleeping the night away while these drunken idiots were left to do whatever they pleased. There had been a point during the night that one of the soldiers started swaying dangerously towards their tree only to fall to the ground, unconscious.
After that small incident, Sae tried to stay awake and be on the lookout. Eventually she couldn't help but drift at some point. Her eyes had become droopy before she even realized she had dozed off.
She woke up with a start when what seemed like a minute later she felt herself being shaken.
"Sae!" a voice whispered urgently.
Her eyes snapping open in alarm, Sae looked up into the face of her brother and automatically sagged with relief. It took her a moment to realize that Youhei wasn't tied up any longer but standing in front of her, with a pile of clothes in one hand and what looked like a dagger in the other.
"How did you get loose?" Sae whispered quietly, wiggling in her spot.
Holding up the dagger, Youhei shrugged then knelt down beside her and started to cut her loose. "We have to hurry up," he said softly, glancing back at the group of snoring soldiers by the low burning campfire.
Sae nodded and tried to wait patiently for him to cut the rope. Once she was free she sprang up to her feet, surprising even herself with her energy, and started walking in the direction of the woods.
A hand shot out to catch her arm and dragged her back. "Where do you think you're going?" Youhei hissed quietly.
A bewildered look overtook Sae's features, "Escaping, what else?"
Youhei shook his head, "We can't leave."
"Why not?" Sae demanded, trying not to raise her voice.
"Because we'll never get that far. The general will be awake in a few hours. He will find us gone and send a small troop of soldiers to find us. We'll be caught before we can even make any real distance from here."
Sae looked up at the sky and realized that it was nearly dawn. She gazed back at her twin in alarm. "But if we run, surely we could get far enough to escape," She insisted, her heart hammering painfully in her chest.
But Youhei was already shaking his head solemnly, "No Sae, we'll never make it. Even you know that we are not fast enough to outrun their horses."
Frustration mixed with fear twisted knots around her stomach. "Well then, what are we going to do?" she demanded. "Why did you cut us loose if not to escape?"
"To make it look as if you escaped," Youhei replied, thrusting the pile of clothes into her arms and then pushing her in the direction of a dark part of the clearing.
Bewildered beyond belief, Sae walked into the darkness and blinked owlishly around her.
"Hurry, Sae! Change into those clothes before someone catches us," Youhei whispered urgently, turning his back to give her privacy.
Sae jumped into action and started to peel off her ruined kimono. Feeling the cold breeze touch her naked skin, she shivered and quickly started sorting out the clothes to put on. "What is this?" she asked in confusion, holding up a long strip of white linen.
Without turning around, Youhei replied softly, "It's to wrap around your chest, Sae, you're going to dress as a boy."
*Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. Any violence, perceived abuse, or negative behavior should not be taken literally. The plot is for entertainment purposes only. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material.