Mitsuko rubbed her eyes as the sun rose up and its bright rays hit her eyes through the thin tent. She crawled out while holding her scythe and began stretching when she saw other the other men started to crawl out.
'Ahh good morning my lady did you manage to sleep well?' She heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned around to find Liu Bei.
'Well I slept well decently well but it doesn't compare to sleeping in a warm bed you know?' She replied as Liu Bei chuckles at her.
'Aha I know exactly what you mean my lady.'
They continued preparing the morning in their own way, Mitsuko kept to her own while Liu Bei helped the other peasant soldiers get ready. Half an hour later, the commander gives the order for these peasant soldiers to get ready for the march towards Yin Chuan not battering an eyelid for any one of them and simply exited his fortification with his guard, Mitsuko scoffs at him as soon as he leaves her sight.
'Goddamn why does he have to be our commander of all people? He annoys me so much.'
'It is true he might not be one of the most pleasant people to work under however it is our duty as soldiers of the Han to serve and protect the people in any way we can.' Liu Bei replied with a noble tone with a few men gathering around him and saying how benevolent and loyal he is to the Han. Mitsuko couldn't stand the sight and looked towards the exit of the small fort that the commander went through.
'I suppose, in any event we still have a fight to win don't we? Might aswell get going now otherwise we'll be too late.' She tells him while starting to walk while smirking.
'Quite right my lady, come my brothers we will help put an end to this rebellion.' His two sword brothers nod in agreement and so they started to march. Little did Mitsuko know that there were a couple of spectres watching her...evaluating her from higher ground making sure they were not spotted.
'Is that her?' A gruff voice asked.
'It does seem like it, she is the only one that seems out of place here.' A more refined voice answers.
'Ooh then what are we waiting for let's go join her then!'
'Not so fast, remember she needs to prove her strength before she's ready.'
'How will we know when that will happen then if it's not now?'
'It'll be made apparent when she's ready, we just need to keep an eye on her is all.'
'Oh but that might take a long time!' It whined.
'Oh shut up have some patience, you can't rush things like this however she seems to be developing well so far, time will tell if or when she's ready.'
The army was started their march to Yin Chuan, the commander and his guards were on horseback while the rest of the soldiers marching on foot, a few hours later they were nearing Yin Chuan when a couple of them started to have fear present in their eyes, some of them started to shake as they marched nearer and nearer to what they think will be their grave. One or two actually lost control of their legs and fell to the ground. Mitsuko and Liu Bei with his brothers stopped to help them while the commander ignores them and continues with the rest of them trailing behind him, still shaking.
'Oh i'm so sorry, you must think of me as pathetic and shameful. I just don't want to die.' One of the soldiers told them as he continues to shake and look down on the hard ground in shame, Liu Bei quickly comforted him.
'Do not worry it is natural for people to be afraid of dying on the battlefield it is nothing to be afraid. However everyone else knows how you feel and if we want make this land safe and prevent your children from feeling how you are right now we will need to fight this battle to achieve peace in this land, can you do that?'
'O-of course my lord!' He shouts as he started to get back when Liu Bei commended him for his courage. Mitsuko thought that Liu Bei was a good motivational speaker, something she didn't expect despite his reputation of being a benevolent figure to the people in this time, she thought that he used actions more than words.
'Still, I can't believe someone like that is our commander he really should be taught a lesson!' Zhang Fei expressed his anger at him.
'That maybe brother but still we only fight to protect the people whenever we can.' Liu Bei replied. Mitsuko was thinking what she should say to him since if he's supposed to be one of the leaders of the three kingdoms he should be a bit more...ambitious.
'If you think that these people don't do a good job of helping the people...why don't you try leading?'
'Me? Surely you jest my lady.' Liu Bei responded in shock, all he wanted to do was help the people in any way he can he hadn't even considered leadership.
'Aren't you a descendant of one of the former emperors? Leading is in your blood, you should consider it if the land doesn't get fixed.'
'I agree brother you should at least give that some consideration.' His brother Guan Yu told him while he strokes his long beard, while the two soldiers also told him they would follow him anywhere.
'Well in any event, perhaps we should fight this battle before you make up your mind?' Mitsuko asks when Liu Bei nods in response as they run to catch up to the army.
The army reached their battlefield to find that the battle has already started without them. The battlefield itself was a small plain in the centre which was surrounded by many rock formations and split into 3 different paths. With only minor casualties inflicted upon both sides which indicated that the battle has only just started. The commander's horse stood on two legs as the commander himself raised his sword high and ordered the volunteer forces to charge. Even through their fear these brave soldiers roared with all their might as they charge from behind the main unit and entered the battle. The frontline of the yellow turbans took significant damage as they didn't expect to see reinforcement charge them in the centre, with the arrival of the three sworn brothers and Mitsuko they helped decimate the front line.
The three sworn brothers focused more on the left side and Mitsuko focused on the right side, she was really getting into the battle as adrenaline filled her system more as she struck down enemies in her path as she smirks to herself. She never experienced this much...pleasure before, it was such an alien feeling to her and yet...it felt right to her. She felt like she was free from chains that weighed her down, free from any restrictions that were placed upon her by everyone else around her and free to do as she pleases. When she struck down her last enemy she starts to get a flashback from her own time.
The school bell rang as Mitsuko walked out of her class and started to go to the cafeteria, she flinged her school bag on her shoulder and walked until she found herself crashing to the ground. Mitsuko started to groan in pain as she got back up and turned around to find a group of schoolgirls she was unfortunately all too familiar with.
'ah hello there ET didn't see you there sorry, you should try getting normal eyes, you can blend in with normal people better.' The leader of the group laughed at her who had long, silky brunette hair with smooth pale skin.
'yeah no worries.' She replied as she looked down to the ground, afraid to look her in the eyes.
'Oh that's no good ET, didn't they teach you any manners on your planet?' She asks as she slams her against the lockers and grabs her collars, Mitsuko began feeling the fear that she has grown up with for most of her school life.
'Speaking of that, isn't it time for your daily tax? After all we wouldn't want the government finding and locking you up right?' She spoke in a threatening manner, Mitsuko nodded and pulled out some money from her pocked and opened her hand. The girl let go of Mitsuko and took her money, walked away with her small group laughing leaving Mitsuko all alone, she slumped against the lockers and slid to the ground feeling the familiar emotion of helplessness and loneliness, a single tear rolled down her face.
'My lady are you ok?' Liu Bei questions with a concerned voice, Mitsuko quickly snaps out of her memories and nods her head.
'Yeah yeah, i'm fine don't worry I was just lost in thought.' She told him...she realises there was a small tear started to drip down from her right eye, she quickly wiped it.
'Well if you so my lady, we're starting to push to their main camp, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei went to the left side, if you would accompany me to the right side I would most appreciate it.' Liu Bei told her, Mitsuko nodded as they went forward, Mitsuko saw that there was a formation of rocks in the middle so the paths start to split into two. They started to head down to the right side when Liu Bei heard panicked voices screaming for help in the centre as the soldiers start marching.
'My lady do you hear that? There are innocents in danger in the rock formation in the centre.' He shouted, Mitsuko heard them too after a while.
'You're right but what can we do, we have a battle to win.'
'That may be but how can we say we fight for the people if we readily sacrifice them?'
'Hmm if that's how you feel then you should go help them, I can handle things here while you deal with situation.' She told him, Liu Bei nods in response and runs to the sound of the cries of help. Mitsuko wonders if it was wise to let him go alone, or if she was right in what she said. Its not like she didn't want to help them however they were in a middle of a battlefield, they couldn't just abandon the frontlines to go help some unfortunate peasants caught in the middle right? She shook her head and proceeded to go down the path along with the rest of the soldiers which were met with more yellow turbans.
Mitsuko took out those that faced her, since these weren't properly trained soldiers for the most part they didn't pose a problem to her, however there didn't seem to be an end to them. When one was struck down another three would take his place, however that would mean more and more bodies were to litter up the battlefield to her. Two yellow turbans attempted to strike at her from overhead with their swords, Mitsuko blocked the attacks with the polearm of her scythe, she used all her strength to push it up and counter slashed them at their chests, both dropped to the ground. Mitsuko looks up to find a specific yellow turban that she remembers. When the very similar bulky yellow turban stabbed an imperial soldier with his spear and kicks him off it, he turns around and spots Mitsuko, who looked furious and yet somewhat happy.
'Ahh you! What luck, the heavens are smiling upon me, today will be the day I, Guan Hai will claim your head for my lord and for the way of peace!' He declared as he pointed at her, she replied by handling her scythe with both of her hands getting ready for a hard fight as her eyes contained rage as he was laughing...she started to realise her hate for that sound when its directed at her. Both of them are surrounded by both of their respective forces fighting for their ideals and their lives as more people turn into corpses as they drop to the ground after getting stabbed, slashed and decapitated.
He started to charge towards her as Mitsuko readied herself, he thrusted her spear at her using his momentum to his advantage however Mitsuko managed to push the spear to her left side and side steps to the right. Guan Hai staggered slightly as he stops and swings his spear to his right to catch Mitsuko off guard, however she blocks with her scythe while planting her front foot to the ground and leaned on it to prevent her from being pushed back and flying to the ground. Guan Hai continued his relentless assault on Mitsuko who struggled to keep defended his vicious strikes as she slowly backed up.
She attempts to counter attack for the killing blow however she couldn't penetrate his defences, the curved blade almost touches his face but his defence was too strong for her to penetrate with her current strength. She felt weak again, it's like nothing has changed for her, rage was started to build as she attempts to strike with more force like she was trying to prove to herself that she is strong. Their weapons soon clashed and entered a state of deadlock however it didn't last long since no matter how strong she thought she was, he was just more powerful than she was as he pushes her away with relative ease. Mitsuko knew that unless she can pull something out of a hat now her life is going to end, all of a sudden something occurred inside of her, she started to move on her own like her body was on auto-pilot and she was taking a back seat enjoying the ride as her eyes turn into the snake like eyes from before.
Guan Hai attempted to thrust his spear into her again, however Mitsuko side steps again as she uses the bottom of the polearm to knock it down and uses that movement of momentum to swing her scythe downwards which caught him off guard and attempted to jump back however he suffered a cut on his left arm which made him mad since no one had touched him. Mitsuko after seeing what she did got a morale boost before hearing a familiar voice coming from inside her own head.
'Remember, snakes always strike with their venomous fangs when the enemy least expects it, they never initiate they react until a window of opportunity presents its self, just one bite is needed for the venom to travel to their heart.' It chuckled before retreating back inside her mind. Mitsuko suddenly also remembered Sun Jian's words about bearing her fangs, she smirks as she realises how she can turn this into her victory. Guan Hai lunged at her and attempts to strike her with force, Mitsuko dodges and counter attacks when he leaves himself open.
After the first couple of strikes that Mitsuko inflicted he started to get mad and use up more force in his strikes leaving himself open much more. This gave Mitsuko the chance to finish this fight, when Guan Hai used all his force to overhead strike Mitsuko she side steps yet again and downward strikes his wrist, cleaving part of the back of it which made him drop his spear and clutch it for a split second as Mitsuko made her way behind him and slashed the back of his kneecaps. He screams in pain as his knees give way, he stops himself falling completely on the floor with his hand, Mitsuko uses the blade to pull him halfway to his back as the curve fits nicely around the neck with her hunching herself forward so he can be pulled slowly so he can look up to the bright cloudless sky.
'P-pleasemy lady do not kill me, have mercy!' He screamed as tears started to form in his eyes as well as his voice breaking in fear of his death.
'Would you have shown me mercy? Would you have simply let me go if our roles were reversed?' She interrogated
'O-of course I would!' He attempted to lie however Mitsuko knew better.
'I don't think you would, would you!? Why would I show someone like you mercy who would've killed me?'
'B-because my lady you're a better person than I...and more honourable aswell of course.' He shouts in a panicked tone trying to weasel his way out of death however Mitsuko wasn't having none of it.
'You should really look at the sky.'
'W-why?'
'Because it's the last time you're ever going to see it again alive!' She shouts as she raises the blade of her scythe before quickly dragging it back down cleaving his neck clean off, her eyes turned bright blood red for a moment until they turned into her normal eye colours. Blood started to squirt from the open wound before the body slumped to the ground. When she stood up the yellow turbans saw her and her reptile like eyes they were demoralised after seeing one of their officers get slain by her and run away as fast as they can while screaming 'Snake queen.' Mitsuko felt something she never felt before, relief it was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she knew that this feeling was bad considering she killed him and other men without remorse however she can't help but feel a little relieved that she no longer can be considered a punching bag for everyone to hit on. The imperial soldiers held their swords high and cheered in victory for a moment before giving chase to the fleeing yellow turbans. Mitsuko raises her blood stained scythe over her shoulder and starts to smirk to herself.