Disclaimer: I own only the plot. The character of Ryo was created by Takeru-san, and is used with his input and consent.
A/N: I'm not sure if this is going to work right with all the stuff going on at the site, but if it's screwed up I'll just repost later. This story should have two more chapters, and I hope to have it done by around Christmas. But I must warn you that I'm also working on another story that has already become dear to my heart, even though most of it exists only in my head. It has the working title of "I Guess This Is Growing Up." (Who can tell me what song that is a reference to?) And it is about TK and Kari having a baby while they are only fourteen, and not necessarily in love either. There are so many things I want to do with this story, and I can't really put them all into this A/N. So just be looking for it. Thank you.
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Ryo knew he really had nothing to complain about. He had a warm bed, and soft, silky clothes to wear. And people were always bringing him the richest, most wonderful food. He would have liked to be let out of his room more often, but Lord Rolen kept reassuring him that it was for his own safety, that there were many people out there who would like to do him harm. The boy could never fully accept this answer, but he was reluctant to press the subject to the shifty, often dangerous lord.
As it was, the only time he ever left his room was when Rolen personally brought him out, always to present him with much fanfare to roomfuls of supporters. Many of these were always very old men, their bodies barely able to bear the weight of the heavy armor they wore. Their eyes would grow wide and pool up with tears when they saw Ryo. And they would kneel before the boy and kiss his feet, their faces beaming with joy as the tears rolled down their cheeks. "At last. At last." they would exclaim. "Our King has returned to us."
Rolen loved it when the old men did this. He would put an arm around their frail shoulders and lead them away, whispering in their ears about how they could help their king. But these scenes always made Ryo feel horrible. Deep inside himself, he knew he was lying maliciously to the old men. They were making him into the fulfillment of generations of hopes and dreams, they were putting every last bit of faith they had in him. The boy knew that he did not deserve the old men's tears of joy, he was not strong enough to accept them, and he was only multiplying their eventual suffering by standing there in silence as they wept at his feet. He was not the one they were waiting for, and he would have given anything to hasten that one's arrival.
Ryo often fell asleep to these thoughts. And they routinely brought him horrible nightmares that left him trembling with tears. But one night, he had a dream that was unlike the others.
It began with a feeling like being swept along upon waves. And as the boy slowly opened his dreams eyes, he became aware that he was in a place composed entirely of swirling gray and white fog. He could feel a gentle breeze on his face, and he slowly dipped and rose on invisible currents of air. But none of these were the most distinguishing feature of the dream place. For all around him floated feelings of melancholy and soft, weeping sorrow. The air was thick with these whispered emotions, and they flowed through Ryo unheeded, bringing sparkling tears to his eyes. They made his heart and soul moan, and he suddenly and desperately wanted to go home, even though he had no home to speak of.
Ryo felt like he had floated in that sad realm for thousands of years, or maybe it was only a few seconds, it was impossible to tell. But eventually he became aware of something else near him in the limitless place. "What are you?" He thought to the presence, for he instinctively knew that speech was useless where he was.
"Does it matter?" The presence thought back, its soundless answer somehow causing the mists to swirl and twist faster.
Ryo felt the words echo in his mind like a great drum, but he remained silent for a few moments, his eyelids flickering. The dull sorrow was eating at his heart, making him feel more alone than he ever had thought possible. "Yes." He answered finally, his mental voice almost crying with anguish.
The presence gave what Ryo guessed was a small laugh, the sound of small, silver bells jingled in his head. All around the boy, the mists began to acquire a silver sheen, like lightning behind storm clouds. He became aware of the sad feelings suddenly draining away as the mists wrapped around him. They now felt more solid, more secure. And Ryo found himself suddenly filled with a feeling of safety.
"You could say that I am a guardian." The presence answered, its booming voice composed, but filled with the slightest bit of amusement. "I watch over a family."
"The Ishidas?" Ryo asked immediately, sudden curiosity forming the words in his mind.
He was answered by a sudden gust of wind that whipped his hair around his face. The boy could imagine the wind as being an angry sigh.
"In the history of the world." The voice came back, dark and crackling. "There are but a handful of Ishidas who deserve protection." There was a pause, and the wind slowly died down. "It just so happens that you are one of them."
Ryo furrowed his brow at the words, his thoughts forming slowly and carefully. "So I am an Ishida." He thought with a trace of unease. "Its not just another of Lord Rolen's lies."
"Yes." The presence thought back. "You are of the House of Wolves, but you are a distant point. The Ishidian blood in you is thin, the darkness almost insignificant."
"What am I then?" Ryo thought, shaking his head in confusion. "And what darkness? Please, I don't understand all of this?"
"I would be amazed if you did." The voice echoed back, a bit of gentle merriment evident in the answer. "The bloodline of the ancient gypsies runs in you. That is why I can talk to you here in their place, in the aptly named realm of tears. You will learn of the darkness soon, but more than that is not in my power to tell."
Thousands of thoughts sprang up in the boy's mind. But he quieted most of them, trying to concentrate on those that were most important. "And why have you brought me here?"
"Because my family is in danger, and I will protect them however I can." The answer was strong and determined.
"What family? What danger?" Ryo asked immediately.
There was silence for a few moments, as the presence gave the impression of being in thought. "A small family." It answered finally, its thought voice tinged with sorrow and regret. "The world made orphans of them, so they found each other. They have been hurt many times over, but each time they only become stronger. But a time comes when they will be dealt the harshest blow of all, and it is only through you that I have a chance of helping them."
"What do you mean 'only through me'?" Ryo questioned, anxiety rising in his mental voice.
"Hush now, child." The voice answered softly. "Even in dreams, time is finite. And you must now listen carefully, if you are to have any hope of stopping the coming tragedy."
Ryo remained silent, and the presence began speaking to him in a lulling, hypnotic voice. While the mists twisted into cloudy silhouettes of the things the presence spoke of.
"There is a wolf approaching from the east. He is young, long and lanky, with eyes of perpetual sorrow, and a spirit of eternal hope. He is a warrior almost without equal, but he fears battle more than anything else. Only family can make him push forward into this land of turmoil. His courage lies in his love, a young woman to which he is bound in body, heart, and soul."
Ryo could almost feel the emotions that the presence sent into the words and pictures. Pride and warm trickles of thanks and love were evident. But not so much as the strong feeling of tender, yearning regret. The boy felt the same feelings soaking into his heart, and hot tears flooded his eyes as he suddenly spoke. "Was he your son?" He did not know how or why such a question could even make sense, but he felt almost implored to ask it.
There was silence for an answer. The most complete silence Ryo could ever have imagined, but it was filled with a soundless moan of anguish that tore at the boy's heart.
"He would have been." The presence finally answered with a blowing whisper. "Even if things had happened differently, he would have found his way to my home somehow, fate would have seen to that. But do not trouble yourself with such questions now. Just listen."
"There is a darkness that lives in the warrior," the presence continued "constantly tearing at him like a rabid animal. It takes all of his will, in addition to the will of his love, to keep the darkness from consuming him completely."
The images in Ryo's mind shifted and turned, and all at once he was being told a different story.
"Another wolf approaches from the West. He is strong and bold, with the clear but weary eyes of one born and raised on the battlefield. Duty drives him into war. He seeks to protect those he cares about, his lover above all others. And his greatest fear is that he will bring sorrow and death upon those who dare to love him. There is a darkness in him as well, rooted in his heart like a cancer, lying dormant until the time when it can cause the most pain."
Another set of images filled Ryo's mind. And along with them came the wind, blowing in short, shrill gusts of warning, carrying the distant scent of grief and death. The boy felt himself slowly slipping away from the dream place. He was waking up, and he struggled against it as best he could.
"There are those who worship the darkness, those who would see it consume the world. They are powerful, but they are afraid, for they know that the ones who will destroy them have already been conceived, and grow strong and safe in the womb. They have but one chance, one dark hope, and that is to push the wolves, the brothers, into combat against each other."
"And I have to stop them." Ryo thought to the presence, struggling even more as the images and words began to fade away. "I have to keep them from fighting each other."
"No." the presence thought back, its astral voice quivering with tears. "They will meet on the battlefield, and one shall fall. There is no escaping that, no matter how hard you try."
Ryo felt rain hit his face as the presence began to weep. "Only when the wings of the angels are broken, when the lion cries, and the rose wilts, will there be a chance for victory." The mental voice of the presence was now no more than a plead. "You must remember then, what you will not remember now. You must speak to the seer with violet eyes, and remind him of the circle with twelve points. That is the only way."
Ryo tried to shout back to the presence, tried to find a voice for all of his questions and fears. But he was already awake. The sky outside his window was turning gray. The boy sat up in his bed, desperately trying to remember everything about the dream. But all of it just evaporated into mist, and he was left only with the tears that would not stop falling from his eyes.
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Kari awoke from the nightmare with a start, her senses screaming at her that something had happened to TK. She lay there for a moment, frozen with terror, before realizing that it had just been a dream, and that her husband was sleeping safely beside her. She shuddered in relief as she felt his strong arms wrapped around her, one worn hand placed protectively over her stomach. His warm breath grazed the back of her neck. She blinked her eyes in the darkness and waited for her heartbeat to regain its regular rhythm. The particulars of the nightmare were already fading, all she could remember were the horrible feelings of anguish and loss that had frightened her awake. And these she wanted to forget as quickly as possible.
It had almost been a month and a half since they had left the comfort and safety of Takaishi Manor, and Kari was becoming more homesick by the day. It amazed her how much she missed it, even the daily grind of making the household run without any serious problems. The young princess sighed as it once again occurred to her that the old castle had truly become her home. And she was proud of it too, proud of every drafty hallway and loose cobblestone. And of course, there was another very important reason why she wanted to be home so badly.
Kari gave a wistful smile, and gently caressed the hand that TK had placed over her stomach. She could not wait to feel her baby kick for the first time, to see the look of absolute love and awe in her husband's eyes as he felt it too. And more than anything, she wanted that moment to happen in the warmth and safety of her home, not in some canvas tent during an army march. By God, if she were going to have to become bloated and fat, then she wanted to be able sit in her own chair by the fire. And there was no way she would even begin to entertain the notion that her and TK's child would be born during a military campaign, far away from the place that he or she would call home.
The young princess shifted a little in her lover's arms, an inner voice telling her she was being selfish in some of her thinking. After all, the other members of her family were not faring well either.
The armored carriage Kari and Sora traveled in became hot as an oven in the harsh sun, but they were hardly in it anyway. Most of their time was spent helping out wherever they could, usually by aiding Jyou and his medical team. The Lord of Kido was constantly attending to the various illnesses and injuries that plagued any prolonged march, his rock hard stability being as great an asset as his healing skills. But he was also running himself ragged, trying to take care of every cough and fever he came upon. Sora and Kari considered it a minor victory if they managed to get him to take a short nap every now and then.
Tai was much worse, though. Any sleep he got was fitful, tossing and turning as Sora did her best to keep him calm and still. The young king just could not rest. Everywhere he looked he saw a land tortured by war, the common people paying the price. He was always pushing himself harder, desperate to do what was right. So far, the Kamiyian column had not come into contact with any enemy groups larger than a scouting patrol. But Tai knew this would not last long. All reports from Lord Artur's informants said that Rolen's forces were backing away from the Kamiyians, massing together in central Ishida while their Tachikawan allies rushed to join them. Tai only hoped that the forces of Artur's compatriots would soon join with the column. They would be sorely outnumbered otherwise.
Kari was suddenly pulled from her thoughts as she felt TK stir beside her, lifting his head and mumbling something in his sleep before settling down again. She waited until he was still and then slowly turned around in his arms to face him. It was too dark to make out anything besides his outline, but she did not need light to see. Every inch of him, every one of his features and expressions, had been etched in her memory. She reached out a hand to gently brush away the golden hair that she just knew had fallen over his eyes. He had been absolutely exhausted earlier, barely able to pull off his armor before collapsing on the stack of large pillows that made up their bed. He had been running extended scouting runs for the past two weeks, sometimes taking Cody and Lucas with him, but usually going alone.
Kari lovingly traced her fingers along his cheek. She found herself suddenly thinking back to their first nights together. She felt soft tears start to form as she saw in her mind the look in his ocean blue eyes, gentle and loving, but also scared. She remembered a few times when he would reflexively tense up when she touched him, his eyes clenching shut as if he were expecting to be struck. Other times he would be plagued by horrible dreams, shooting up from the bed in a cold sweat, too scared to even cry out. It was after one of these nightmares that TK had finally confided in Kari all the horrors that haunted him, the ones that had scarred him in mind and body. She remembered holding onto him tightly, both of them crying as he choked the words out. It was then that she made a silent vow to herself, that she would protect him always, just as he had always protected her. She knew without a doubt that she would die if she ever lost TK. She would just waste away, drained of all her hope and strength.
Without really thinking, Kari leaned over and began to lightly kiss him. She trailed her lips over his mouth, then up to his nose and eyes. She placed butterfly kisses on his forehead, and then moved down to his cheeks before nuzzling his neck. TK's eyelids fluttered, and then he instinctively pulled her closer in the darkness, intent on returning the affection that had awakened him. His lips followed a similar trail over her face before tenderly meeting her mouth. Kari gave a contented sigh as she moved her head to the side, letting him bury his face in the hollow of her shoulder. She moved her hands to his back, her fingers gently trying to rub away the long white scars. They stayed that way for a few long moments, just soaking up the warmth and love of each other's presence.
"Is it morning?" TK asked finally, his voice husky with sleep.
"Not quite." Kari answered, rubbing her cheek against his forehead. "The watch fires are still burning."
TK sighed and closed his eyes. "Tai wants to check out a monastery a ways from here. Supposedly the monks are sheltering some refugees that might be able to give us information on Rolen's troops."
"I know." Kari whispered. "Sora and I are going too. She convinced Tai it would be a sign of goodwill if we brought the refugees some of the extra food and blankets."
TK held her a little tighter. "Just stay close. We're not sure how stable the area is." His finger started to trace little circles on her shoulder.
Kari did not answer, but slid down a little in his arms so that she could put her head on his shoulder. She put a hand up to his face and softly ran her fingers over his lips, smiling a little as he gently kissed them. She let herself relax completely, her eyes closing and her body fitting itself to his. She drifted off towards sleep.
TK lay awake holding her, his calloused hands caressing her angelic face with the greatest of care. How long had it been since the first night he fell asleep with her beautiful face flashing behind his eyes? Eight years, he remembered. It had been eight years since he had first sworn never to leave the side of a heartbroken little princess. Three years since he had looked into her soft brown eyes and seen unconditional love in them, three years since he had first been able to hold her in his arms and love her. And soon their child would be born, a perfect little being made from their love.
TK felt tears suddenly start to collect in his eyes. He had three brothers, a sister, a beautiful wife whom he loved more than anything, and soon he would have a baby son or daughter. Never during the nightmare he had grown up in, nor even in his wildest dreams, had TK ever imagined he would be blessed with riches such as these. And he knew that he would do anything to protect them, even brave the murdering darkness of his own heart.
He leaned forward and placed a final soft kiss on Kari's pouting lips. Then he slowly began to untangle himself from hers arms and slip out of the bed. But he only got one foot on the ground before she jolted awake, immediately grabbing hold of his arm.
"TK?" She whimpered. The nightmare had come again, the one where she lost him.
"I'm right here, Kari." He answered, his eyes narrowing in concern. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing." She stammered. She shook her head and tried to slow her scared breathing. "W-where are you going?"
"I was just going to check the watches, make sure everything is alright." He slid back into the bed, placing an arm back around her shoulder and hugging her close.
Kari put her arms as tightly around him as she could. She knew it was just a bad dream, she was under a great deal of stress and nightmares were not unusual in such a situation. But the emotions felt so horribly real. Her heart was still cringing from the anguish of the dream, and there seemed to be no way to control the tears that suddenly sprang up in her eyes.
"Don't l-leave me right now." She stuttered. She pulled his head next to hers and buried her face in his hair, letting her nose fill up with his familiar scent. "J-just stay here."
"Okay." TK said soothingly, he could feel her frantic heartbeat. He kissed the side of her head and tenderly rubbed her back. "It was just a bad dream, Kari. There's nothing wrong."
"I know." She answered softly, her voice still shivering from the fear. "But just stay here and let's hold each other. L-let's not let go of each other until we absolutely have to." She leaned back and looked into his eyes, still trying to convince herself that he was okay.
TK gently cupped her face and kissed away the tears on her cheeks. "I'll never let go of you." He said.
Kari sighed and laid her head on his chest. "Promise?" She asked.
"Promise." He answered.
"I promise I will never leave you."
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Ken knew they were close, the poor fools with the clouds of darkness hanging over them. They would probably arrive within the hour. "We're going with them, you know." He said aloud in a detached voice. "We'll be right there with them when the storm finally breaks. When their hearts cry out in primal sorrow."
The Abbot sighed. "Now why on Earth would we go with the Kamiyians?" He asked, not looking up from his writing. The quill in his hand whipped back and forth across the parchment, recording the accounts of war told to him by the refugees being sheltered at The Ichijouji Monastery.
Ken gave a lethargic shrug. "I'm going with them because I'm supposed to, I've already seen myself standing with them in the mud." He turned his head in the Abbot's direction, the glow from the candlelight moving over his face. "You will go with them because of a little boy with haunting blue eyes."
Something in Ken's tone made the Abbot stop writing. He thought he heard an accusation hidden in the words, or maybe he was just imagining it. Either way his heart suddenly began to sting like it had not in years. "Funny." He said in a careful voice. "I don't think I know any children with blue eyes."
"I see what I see." Ken responded in his usual uncaring manner.
The Abbot frowned wearily and turned around to face his pupil, his heart aching as he looked at the poor young man. Ken was sitting over by the window, his dark hair blowing limply in the chill night breeze. His legs were drawn up to his chest, his chin resting on his knees. He was thin and gaunt, having lost his desire to eat some time ago. And there was a soiled bandage wrapped around his head, covering his eyes.
Horrible, gruesome visions had plagued Ken since the day he had first tried to set out from the Monastery. The young man had always been told that his fiery purple eyes would allow him to see things others could not, and his first impulse when the nightmarish sight developed had been to stop the problem at its source. The Abbot had to forcibly restrain Ken from putting out his eyes.
A blindfold helped to keep the visions partly at bay. But little wisps of pictures or emotions still managed to slip through. Heart-wrenching feelings of anguish, scenes of people crying in the rain and mud, they came to Ken so often that they had almost become a part of daily life. Occasionally, the young man would receive little flashes of information, little prophecies such as the one he had relayed to the Abbot. These always came true, and though the Abbot tried to downplay them for Ken's sake, deep down both of them took the predictions as facts.
"You are free to go with them if you wish." The Abbot said, turning back to his writing. "But I assure you, it will take some doing for me to leave my work."
"It will take a little boy with blue eyes." Ken responded immediately, a trace of bitterness in the words.
The Abbot quickly turned around again, a stern chastisement on his lips, but an excited knock sounded at the door before he could get the words out.
"The Kamiyians are approaching, Abbot." One of the younger monks opened the door wide enough to stick his head in the room. "It's a rather small party under the circumstances; only about twenty warriors. And it looks like they brought some provisions with them." The young man was visibly excited by what was happening. His eyes were gleaming eagerly and he impatiently licked his lips.
"Thank you, Julius." The Abbot said, getting up from his desk and smoothing out his robes. "But please remember to wait until you are invited into a room before entering, rather than inviting yourself."
"Sorry, Abbot." The young man said with an embarrassed blush.
"Apology accepted." The Abbot answered in a monotone voice. "I shall be down shortly. Go find some dinner for our guests, they've been traveling for most of the day."
He watched the young monk nod and disappear into the darkened hall before turning back to Ken. "Well?" He asked somewhat sarcastically. "Are you going to come down and greet your traveling companions?"
"In a few minutes." The young man answered softly. He turned his head to the wall.
The Abbot breathed a heavy sigh. He would have done anything to spare Ken the torture he was forced to endure. He tried his best to treat him in the manner he always had, hoping that it would offer Ken some sense of stability. But the young man seemed to drift farther away with every passing hour. Maybe he would find relief if he went with the Kamiyians, he suddenly thought. Maybe that was the purpose of all the nightmarish visions.
The old man shook his head and tried to clear the thoughts from his mind. Such ungrounded hopes often did more harm than good. He would just have to have faith that God was watching over all his children. And he would have to do his best to help Ken hold on to what little faith he had left. He took one last pitying look at the young man before walking into the hall, softly closing the door behind him.
Ichijouji Monastery was in the process of being subject to a scenario few of the monks had ever imagined. Refugees from miles around had crowded into its thick walls, seeking protection from the war raging across the land. And in the process they were beginning to transform the quiet, serene place of mediation and study into a near fortress, bustling with noise and activity. The younger brothers seemed to be handling it well, their youthful energy allowing them to get caught up in serving their fellow man. Some of the older monks, however, were quite dumbfounded by the recent developments. But they were doing their best to adapt, and that would just have to do for the time being.
The Abbot went over these matters in his mind as he moved down the stairs to the main entrance. The Kamiyian envoy was standing just outside the doors, and as the Abbot walked outside, he forcibly shifted his thoughts towards being welcoming and hospitable. But then his eyes met those of the Kamiyian prince, and for a brief moment all capacity for rational thought left him.
He had seen those eyes before, years ago. They were the deep, suffering eyes of a little boy who had just seen his parents murdered by a man in black armor. They were the eyes that had flickered in the Abbot's thoughts for days without end, turning him from a thief and killer into a penitent before God. His hands started to tremble and shake, and he realized that Ken was right. He would follow the Kamiyians to wherever they were bound to go, he owed an unspeakable debt to a little boy with haunting blue eyes. And for some strange reason, this thought calmed him.
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Sora sighed and reached down to rub her cramping legs. It felt like forever since she had last been able to walk around and stretch her aching muscles. The small Kamiyian party had been traveling almost non-stop since dawn, and it had now been almost two hours since the sun had set. She wanted to poke her head out of the carriage window and see if she could spot any lights from the Ichijouji Monastery. But Kari had fallen asleep with her head on Sora's shoulder, and the young queen hated the thought of waking up her adopted sister. The young princess needed all the rest she could get.
"I wish I could sleep." Sora whispered to no one. She was bone tired, but could not bring herself to close her eyes for even a few seconds. Not with everyone else still going on at the point of exhaustion, and with her poor Tai stumbling around with the weight of the world pushed up on his shoulders. During the whole march from Kamiyia, they had not met any serious problems. But everyone seemed to be filled the nagging thought that something bad was going to happen. Sora hated that thought, there was nothing she could do to fight it, and it left her feeling helpless and distraught. She wished they could just go home, stop having to be soldiers and just be family.
Sora would have thought more, but she became aware of the carriage slowing down. And Tai's face suddenly appeared at the carriage window.
"We're here." He said wearily, his warm brown eyes looking sunken and dull. His gaze moved over to the sleeping face of his sister. "Is she okay?" He asked.
"Just sleeping." Sora answered with a thin smile. She reached out the window to squeeze his hand. "You should try it sometime."
Tai gave a little grin back, his eyes briefly shining with love for his wife. "Maybe later." He said. He squeezed her hand back before moving away towards the back of the carriage.
Sora gave another worn out sigh and began to gently nudge Kari awake. "Come on, sweetheart." She whispered. "We're finally here."
The young princess blinked her eyes, and gave a soft moaning sound as she lifted up her head. Sora took a hold of her hand and guided her out of the carriage door and onto the ground.
"How long was I asleep?" Kari asked with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head.
"A couple of hours, maybe." Sora answered, stifling a yawn of her own. She began to look over their new surroundings
They had stopped in a clean swept courtyard right in front of the main doors. The walls of the Monastery were made of plain gray clay, but they appeared an appealing orange when bathed in the glow from the torches set all along the yard. A young, nervous looking monk was making his way down the stairs towards them. And Sora gave him a warm smile before turning to check on everyone else.
Twenty of TK and Kari's Takaishian warriors had traveled with them to provide protection. And half of the young soldiers were already beginning to unload the five carts full of provisions they had brought to aid the refugees. The other half had formed a loose perimeter around Sora and Kari. TK was still on horseback, and was steering his mount around the courtyard, checking every little shadow and corner for any possible hidden threat. Cody too, was casting a cautious eye towards the dark night just beyond the torchlight, but after a moment he moved to help unload the wagons. Tai and Jyou just stood talking in hushed voices, waiting for the young monk to make a formal greeting.
"On behalf of the Abbot, and all of the brothers, I welcome you to Ichijouji Monastery." The young monk said with an awkward bow, his voice squeaking a bit with nervousness.
"We thank you all. It is an honor to be welcomed into your home." Tai said with a practiced bow. Sora knew he usually hated such formality, but she also knew that he would be as formal and dull as a wooden post until he felt comfortable.
The young monk gave a small smile, and he was about to say they should move inside, when the Abbot appeared at the door.
Sora was immediately impressed by the man. He was tall, with straight, broad shoulders, and had the imposing stance of a general. His head was gilded with thinning blonde hair, and he had a sharp, Roman nose. His eyes were a hard, intelligent gray. And he seemed to Sora, as the type of man who could do great good, or great evil, and not think a thing of either one.
The young queen was about to greet him, when she suddenly saw a flash of fear in the man's eyes. The heart-stopping terror of one long hunted and haunted. She thought for a second that he was looking at her, but then she realized that his gaze was locked on something just over her shoulder. She turned around, half-expecting to see something akin to the Devil. But instead she only saw TK.
The prince was standing right behind her, one arm wrapped around Kari's shoulder, and obviously guarding both his wife and adopted sister. His face seemed to shine with cooling sweat. And maybe it was a trick of the light, but Sora could almost imagine that his deep blue eyes were filled with a dark, astral glow.
Confused, Sora turned back towards the Abbot, and was surprised to see that the fear was gone from his marbleize eyes, wiped away without a trace.
"My apologies for not being here directly." The man addressed Tai in a professional voice. "I was finishing up some records."
"That is nothing worth an apology." Tai answered, apparently no one else except Sora had noticed the look in the Abbot's eyes. "It is an honor that you should choose to meet us at all."
"You seek to bring peace to this land. And you have brought supplies to aid the unfortunates here." The Abbot replied. "I could not in good conscience refused to welcome you. But enough talk. I am sure that you are all extremely tired, and food and quarters have been prepared for you."
"Thank you." Tai responded, his voice relaxing slightly. "I am forced to admit that we are all in need of rest. And I hope that we can discuss most of the matters in the morning."
"Of course." The Abbot answered. "I will show you to your beds as soon as you wish."
There seemed to be a general sigh of relief from everyone present. The soldiers fixed thanking glances on Sora and Kari, knowing that it was only because of their presence that they would not have to march through the night back to the column.
Behind her, Sora heard TK softly tell his men to do a short patrol around the Monastery, just to be on the safe side. They nodded and remounted their horses, moving quickly out of the courtyard.
The Abbot hitched up his robes and moved back up the stairs to the door, motioning for everyone to follow him. The company moved quickly and silently through a small reception area, and Sora could not help staring at some of the beautiful murals painted on the walls. She recognized them as coming from various points of Genesis, and they were so vivid, so obviously crafted with love and joy pouring out of the artist's heart, that they took her breath away.
"They were painted almost two-hundred years ago." The Abbot's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. She had not been the only one caught up in the beauty of the chamber, as the awe-struck look on everyone else's faces told her. "It is common practice for the more artistically gifted brothers to keep them in good condition, and maybe add little pieces of their own."
Sora could hear the barely perceptible traces of pride in the man's voice. And she wondered again why the man had looked at TK with such thoughtless fear locked in his eyes? The question filled her with a queasy nervousness, the nasty feeling that something bad was close by. She felt the strong desire to gather up her family around her and march them all home. But instead all she could do was take a hold of Tai's hand, and commit herself to watching over them closely.
Tai found himself looking into his wife's simmering crimson eyes as he felt her take his hand in her own. They were tense and uncertain. And the young king knew from experience that this meant she felt there was something off about their situation, but she could not quite figure out what it was. He gave her hand a firm squeeze. Everything would be okay, he told her silently. He would not let it end any other way.
The king turned back to the Abbot, sifting through his thoughts to find the questions he felt necessary to ask the man before he let himself consider sleep. And one of those questions seemed to force its way to the front of the pack. And it came spilling out of Tai's mouth before he really had a chance to think about it.
"Abbot, what can you tell us about the House of Ishida?"
Tai could feel everyone's eyes turn to him as the words left his mouth, wondering what could have possibly made him ask such a question. Tai was asking himself the same thing. The Abbot himself did not seem at all phased by it. He just stopped and looked off to the right, like a teacher trying to think of the best answer to give a student.
"According to legend." He said after a moment, his voice coming in an exhale of pent up breath. "There was once a minor lord of a long-dead kingdom. He was greedy and hateful, a coward and thief by nature. But at some point he came across an ancient spell that let him contact Hell itself. He wished to sell his soul in exchange for the power to conquer the world. As the story goes, the Devil told him that one, weak soul was too small a price for such a grand ambition. Lucifer wanted the right to a portion of the soul of each of the man's descendents, just a little piece, from which he could work to bring them all under his influence. The man agreed without hesitation, and the House of Ishida was born. A dynasty where every child was born into damnation."
The Abbot finished, and looked at the six stunned faces starring at him.
"My God." Cody stated.
"No." The Abbot responded immediately. "God had nothing at all to do with it." The man paused, and glanced down at the floor." Of course, that is only a legend, written to explain the murderous tendencies of the Ishidas. Some people are just more inclined towards evil, I suppose, without God or the Devil having to get involved."
The words slowly sunk into Tai's mind. And another question suddenly presented itself, drawing him to it like a moth is drawn to a flame. "But what was so distinguishable about the members of the Ishida line, that some little boy could claim to be a descendent hundreds of years after they were wiped out."
The Abbot opened his mouth, the answer poised on his lips. But someone else spoke before he had the chance.
"I can answer that." Ken said softly, standing at the mouth of a small side corridor. A ratty, yellowed book clutched in his hand. Tai and the others beheld him with surprise in their eyes. The young man's shirt and trousers hung loose on his gaunt frame. His long, dark hair fell around his face, slightly masking the eyes of churning violet fire. The bandage covering them was gone.
"T-this is Ken." The Abbot spoke out, not able to fully hide his shock and amazement. "A pupil of mine."
No one really heard the words. The strange young man owned their attention, drawing heir hearts and minds into the purple inferno of his eyes.
Ken looked at them with pity. He had received an image of himself standing before them, a book in hand, and his eyes uncovered. So even though he was loathed to, he had had removed the bandage, retrieved the book, and come down the stairs to stand on the spot that had been pointed out. The visions had sapped away all of his strength. He had become a slave to them.
"The sons and daughters of Ishida were born with blue eyes and blonde hair." Ken said, his eyes traveling over all of them, before coming to rest directly on TK. " Satan wished his minions to be perfect images of beauty, perfect images of the fallen angels before Hell twisted them into abominations."
Ken could almost feel the pressure of the princess' grip on her husband's arm. The fear was rising uncontrollably in her heart, nightmares and memories crashed together in her mind. He wished he had the will to spare them.
"But the most telling sign was a mark on the back of the neck. The brand the Devil placed there to mark his property." He slowly opened the book to a crude drawing done in coal, a tongue of black flame.
"The mark of the House of Ishida."
Kari felt her heart surge into her throat and she needed to throw up. She had known. She had felt in the pit of her being what those old pages held. But she desperately did not want to believe it.
"T-that's impossible." She stammered, fear and anger mixing in her voice. "It-it just can't be." She turned to her husband, staring into the bottomless blue eyes that were now creased with pain. He could read the truth in the beat of her heart, in the flash of her eyes.
"TK..." She whined, griping him by the arms.
The prince did not say a word. He just stared at her beautiful face, trying to bury himself in the flowing pools of brown that were welling up with tears. He felt her hands slowly slide up his shoulders to move the hair off the back of his neck. It was only after hearing a choking gasp escape from Kari's mouth that TK pulled her tightly into his arms, madly kissing the top of her head as she cried into his chest. He tried not to think of anything besides comforting her.
The others just stared at them, their faces frozen in shock. The tongue of black flame kept flashing through their minds. They had just come face to face with a horrible legend, and it had taken the form of one so dear to their hearts. All thoughts and feelings just seemed to explode as they were born.
" But how...?" Sora asked finally, her voice trailing off at the end.
No one had an answer for her. And it was only by turning his back on his charging emotions that Jyou could manage to speak at all.
"We should send word to Lord Artur and his allies." The young doctor said softly. "Who knows what this could mean for the war effort?" He looked down at his feet and cursed himself for sounding so heartless.
Tai nodded and blinked his eyes. "Y-yes." He stuttered. "They should know."
"No!" TK shouted, clutching his wife to him as tightly as he could. He had been trying to lose himself in Kari's embrace. But Tai and Jyou's words had sparked a flooding panic in his heart. "Nobody can know!" His face took on a pleading expression. "Kari and the baby... We don't tell anyone."
It took a moment for the meaning of TK words to hit. But then Sora's face filled up with fear. And she rushed to throw her arms around the prince and princess.
"Oh my God." Cody murmured, crossing himself reflexively. "The legend... A child born between the Houses of Kamiya and Ishida."
That was all that needed to be said. A deep fear suddenly flashed through Tai like a bolt of lightening, leaving his fingers trembling and his vision hazy. He knew the old legend as well as anyone; a child born of the two great houses would banish the forces of darkness forever. He could not bring himself to give voice to the thoughts that were already foremost in everyone's minds. Every lunatic and murderer in the land would be after Kari and her unborn baby if they knew.
There was near silence for the next few moments. The only words came from Kari, who was sandwiched tightly between TK and Sora. And her voice was so low, so muffled by her sobs, that they were the only two who could hear it. "Our baby is not going to be some messiah." She whispered, her cheeks glistening with tears. "It's just going to be a normal, healthy baby."
TK's heart suddenly moaned in his chest, and he tried to kiss all the tears out of Kari's eyes.
"Of course it is, sweetheart." Sora whispered back. Her own eyes beginning to shine with her own tears. "That's all it's going to be." She laid her cheek against Kari's head.
"We're going back to the column right now." Tai said, his voice strong and determined. He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder gently telling her to steer TK and Kari towards the door. Jyou and Cody were right on his heels.
The Abbot knew he could not let them leave yet. He was stunned almost beyond rational thought, but he knew that there were things he had to do. "Wait!" He called, taking a hesitant step forward.
The Kamiyians turned back towards him with warnings in their eyes, like a family of lions rallying around their wounded. They were still too scared and shocked to see anything besides threats wherever they looked.
"I promise I wish only to help you." The Abbot kept his voice low and calm. And met each of their gazes so that they could see the truth of his words in his eyes. He could also not help looking over at Ken. The young man stood off to the side, a numb, weary look on his face. He made the Abbot think of an actor, who after reading his lines, had withdrawn from the stage to watch the play unfold.
"May I speak with Prince Takeru?" The Abbot asked.
Tai's mouth opened wide, and his head turned sideways as he prepared to vigorously object. But TK spoke out before the young king had a chance.
"Why?" The prince asked simply, his stare boring into the Abbot. His eyes were twinkling like far off stars, hoping for, but not really expecting help.
"Because I think I can be of some assistance."
Tai wanted to shout out a resounding 'no' so badly that his hands squeezed themselves into fists. But he bowed his head and left the decision to TK, knowing that many more lay ahead for his adopted brother, whether the young man liked it or not.
TK looked at the Abbot a long time before finally giving a small nod of his head. Kari reluctantly let go of him, falling back into Sora's waiting arms. Jyou and Cody both put firm hands on his shoulder, and Tai whispered to him that they would be right outside.
The Abbot found the last remark a little humorous as he motioned for TK to follow him into a small side room. He doubted there was a chance in hell that he could be any sort of threat to the young man.
"Do you have the feeling in your heart right now?" The Abbot asked as soon as he had closed the door behind them.
"What?" TK asked, a little apprehension rising in his chest.
"It is okay to tell me, young prince." The Abbot answered calmly. "I have seen accounts written from King Justin's own hand about the impulses that dwelled in the pit of his being. He referred to them as 'The Sin', but I assume you have given them another name."
TK stared at the man for a long moment. "The Darkness." He said softly.
"Have you confided in anyone else?"
"Just Kari, my wife. And Cody may have figured out some of it." TK did not feel entirely comfortable revealing all of this, but he looked into the older man's steel gray eyes, and could not find any real reason why he should not.
"And what does it feel like?"
The young prince looked down at the ground, searching his mind for words to describe the thing that was ever-present in all he thought and felt. "It varies... changes, depending on what is happening, or what I'm feeling."
TK looked down at his feet, and the Abbot could not help being reminded of a shame-faced child. "Most of the time, its just like this great black hole in my heart. And-and I have to always be careful of it, inching around it all the time. But then when I'm in battle, or angry, or-or just at random times, it's like this huge beast throwing itself against the bars of a cage, fighting to get out. And lately it's gotten harder to control it. It's-"
TK suddenly stopped talking. He looked up at the Abbot and captured the man's thoughts in his sapphire gaze. "I should leave, shouldn't I?" He asked in a serious voice mixed with fear and sorrow. "I'm only going to hurt them if I stay. I'll only end up hurting Kari and the baby." His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to hold back tears.
The Abbot felt his own heart seize in his chest, and he griped the young prince's shoulder. "Do not be foolish." He said firmly. "You will never be able to leave them, just as they would never let you go."
"Then tell me how I can fight it." TK's voice became stronger as he tried to shake off the tears. "You said you wanted to help. So help me."
The Abbot sighed and closed his eyes. "The Ishidas were monstrously cruel to their children. They would be abused almost from birth; their spirits crushed before they ever had a chance to grow. This was the way in which they brought the darkness to the surface. But the children who showed the greatest strength, the potential kings and generals, would be given a companion, a pet, a friend, a lover. Someone who shared in all their misery and suffering, someone upon whose love and support they would grow to depend on just to live through another night. And when the time was considered right, their other would be taken from them, murdered slowly and painfully while they watched helpless. It was only in such a moment of pure anguish and hatred that a true monster could be born, a thing that killed for the sheer joy of killing."
The old man suddenly stared deep into TK's eyes, holding him by the shoulders. "But you are not such a monster. You have a family, a wife, and a child who you will be able to hold in your arms in but a few short months. And when you fight, you do not do so for the sake of conquest and bloodshed, but only to protect those you care about. You are surrounded by love, and long as you trust in that, as long as you keep hope, then the darkness can roar and fight all it wants, but it will never be able to break free." The Abbot stared at TK with an almost pleading expression, like his own salvation depended on the young man's will to keep fighting.
TK could not make himself meet the older man's gaze. He was scared, terrified of all the thoughts and ideas that were assailing his mind. He kept seeing himself in battle, his eyes frozen in ice, and his mouth locked in a wolf's grin. He was a predator, a killer, and by all rights he deserved to be put down like a sick animal. But he kept hearing the Abbot's words echo in his ears, kept seeing the faces of his family. And he remembered that he had promised Kari he would never leave her. He finally looked up at the Abbot, his blue eyes sad but determined.
"Thank you." He said simply. He could feel the darkness slinking about in his heart, but his hold on it seemed tighter than ever.
The Abbot nodded. "If you are feeling grateful, then allow myself and my pupil to accompany you for the remainder of your journey."
"Why?" TK asked, his eyes narrowing.
The Abbot once again found himself haunted by the questioning eyes of a small boy. "An old debt. And please, I beg of you, leave it at that."
The young prince frowned. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he suddenly wondered if the old man's voice had ever had a cruel ring to it, or if his gray eyes had ever peered out from behind narrow slits in a black visor. But he willfully forbade the thoughts to reach the surface
"Okay." He said with a small nod. "We'll probably be leaving soon." And he went out the door without waiting for a response.
The others were clustered together in the hall, and their eyes were wide with worry when they saw him emerge. They looked him over carefully, as if afraid that he had been somehow changed during the few moments in the other room. Kari came up to him and gently took hold of his hands, millions of questions in her soft brown eyes. TK pulled her close and softly kissed her. She sighed gratefully and wrapped her arms around him, satisfied with the answer.
Tai was almost boiling over with nervous energy, plagued by the knowledge that he could not somehow take TK's place in the battle he was being forced to fight. He was about to clasp the young man on the shoulder, when they were all suddenly stricken still and silent by the tense, urgent baying of a hunting horn, drifting through the open doorway from the courtyard.
TK took off like a shot, slipping from Kari's arms and racing out into the yard. His men were under attack, as told by the blasts from the horn, and all of his personal thoughts and worries could not stand before this fact. His horse was tied near the door, and the animal was already anxiously pulling at its leather straps as he reached its side. The prince tore off his cloak, and hurriedly replaced it with a chain mail shirt and steel helmet from his saddlebags. He then jumped on his mount and galloped out the Monastery gates, moments ahead of a group of monks seeking to close it against the sounds of battle raging nearby. TK followed the chorus of clashing steel and adrenaline screams around one of the corners, and there it was. Torchlight from up on the Monastery walls reflected off the armor of the combatants, making it seem like a war of shadows. The prince could see that his men were outnumbered, but he could not tell by how much. The pink rose of Tachikawa was barely discernable on the uniforms of the antagonists.
TK launched himself into the fray, cutting into the enemy ranks like a knife. The fighting was at such close quarters that all he could do was hack all around with his sword, but men fell beneath him like wheat under a thresher. Hours seemed to pass every second. His muscles burned, and the sound of his own breathing rang in his ears. Enemies came at him in waves, but he knocked them all away. Then all at once the Tachikawans retreated, scattering into the night.
"After them, sir?" A young soldier panted at his elbow.
"Huh? I mean n-no." The prince stuttered back. "See to the wounded."
TK reigned in his horse and looked around himself in confusion. Something seemed off, something was missing. And it took him a moment to figure out what it was. He did not have to throw up, at least not more so than any soldier after a battle. He would have laughed in relief, if he had not suddenly had to jump off his horse and try to stop the bleeding of one of his men. Even still, there was a sudden ease to his thoughts. He knew what the darkness was now. It was a curse, and a part of him, yes. But it was not his fault, and he did not have to let it control him. He could kick it around like a stray dog, and all it could do was hide under a table and growl at him. He did not have to be in constant fear of it. He would have smiled at thought, except the young soldier he was trying to help suddenly closed his eyes. And like all leaders before him, TK felt this very much was his fault.
---------------------------------------------
"What do you think?" Izzy whispered. His fingers tapped nervously on the ground in front of him.
"Don't know." Jun whispered back, keeping her eyes straight ahead. They were splayed out on the ground perhaps fifty yards from the front gate of Ichijouji Monastery. And had an excellent view of the armored carriage used by Queen Sora and Princess Hikari of Kamiya. Which meant that at least part of the royal family was inside the Monastery, a day's march from the Kamiyian column.
"Well, should we take a closer look? Should we prepare some sort of attack? What?" Izzy prodded, his voice rising a little with anxiety. He knew more than anyone else that he was not cut out for sneaking around in the dark. It made him too impatient and irritable.
"How about you just shut up and let me think." Jun responded flatly. She heard her companion grumble something in reply before becoming still. She let her eyes travel over the scene, absorbing every little detail. The courtyard was empty except for the carriage, five covered wagons, and four horses hitched near the door. Jun frowned, she thought it highly unlikely that Tai would let either his wife or sister travel so far from the column without a good-sized escort force. And the lack of horses in view meant that force was most likely patrolling somewhere close by. Her eyes drifted to the forest to the left of the Monastery walls. The thirty men in her scouting patrol were waiting somewhere near there, and she did not feel at all confident in putting them against Kamiyian troops trained highly enough to serve as royal bodyguards.
"Come on." She said, patting Izzy on the shoulder. "Let's get out of here." She started to crawl backwards to where they had left their horses.
"What?" Izzy asked surprised. "We're not going to do something?"
"We have to get that information back to the camp." She answered, grabbing hold of his leg and starting to pull him after her. "Lord Artur and the eastern lords are about two days away from meeting up with the Kamiyians. And we have to give Matt and Mimi enough time to prepare."
Izzy sneered. "Prepare to go home is what we should do. Let that asshole Rolen and his 'king' do their own fighting." He batted her hand away from his leg, but began to inch after her.
Jun was about to voice her opinions on Lord Rolen, when the sound of the Monastery doors opening made them both freeze and hug the ground. The heavy wooden portals opened wide, and a small group of monks rushed over to the wagons and pulled back the canvas covers, revealing baskets full of food and blankets. A few moments later a group of men and women, with a few small children, came out of a side passage and began to help the monks unload the provisions.
"How do you like that?" Izzy whispered, his eyes narrowing in concentration. "One moment they're slaughtering helpless villagers, the next they're sending supplies to refugees. Looks like the Kamiyians can't seem to make up their minds." It was hard to miss the sharp implications of his tone.
Jun sighed, and something in the pit of her stomach made her feel queasy and uncertain. "Let's just go." She responded, taking a long last look at the wagons. The whole situation made her feel uncharacteristically trapped. And barely suppressed fear filled her muscles with a loose sensation. She crawled along the ground as quickly and quietly as she could, and had almost reached her tethered horse when the sounds of fighting broke out from the forest. A sudden panic made Jun's heart jump into her throat. She jumped into the saddle with a curse, trying to strap on her helmet even as she steered her horse in the direction of the noise. Izzy was only a few yards behind her.
As soon as Jun saw the actual battle, she knew that she had to get her men to disengage and retreat without delay. The opposing soldiers boasted not only the mid-day sun on their armor, but also the gold shooting star that designated them as the Takaishian guard, the cream of the Kamiyina forces. The two sides were hopelessly tangled, but even as Jun charged into the fray she could tell that her men were getting the worst of it. Five had already fallen from their saddles, and another was slumped over his mount's neck.
Jun's thick, strong horse bullied its way into the thick of the battle, and she had struck down two men within moments. But the Takaishians were as fierce and tenacious as hound dogs. They seemed to recognize her as the strongest warrior, and thronged about her in an effort to bring her down. One gave her a glancing blow across the helmet that made her head ring. And in the brief disorientation that followed she was sure that she would die. But the deathblow did not come, and when she looked up Izzy was at her side, panting hard and favoring his right shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words were drowned out by the low, warning blasts of a hunting horn. One of the Kamiyians had managed to get clear of the battle to call reinforcements.
"We have to get out of here!" Jun shouted over the din, wildly waving to any of her men in sight. But overmatched as they were, the Tachikawans could not, or would not break clear of the battle. She spotted a small pocket of her troops at the edge of the fight, and began yelling at them to retreat. But before they could respond, a lone horseman plowed straight into their midst. Jun watched in horror and amazement as the warrior cut them down with unbelievable ease. A helmet masked his features, but she knew it could only be Takeru, the Iron Prince. A conclusion reinforced by the way the Takaishians rallied around him.
This must be what it is like to fight against Matt, Jun thought to herself. To fight against a warrior whose mere presence is enough to inspire his own men, while sapping away the strength of his enemies. Jun spurred her horse towards the Prince. She knew that she could not match him, but her responsibility to her troops urged her onward. Izzy struggled along at her side, and she came close to ordering him back. But she did not. Despite all of her courage, she did not want to enter the fight alone.
The pair fought their way to the warrior, and Jun swung at him with her sword. But the Prince blocked the blow easily, then let loose with a horizontal stroke that cut into her sword arm. She did not even have time to grit her teeth before the Prince followed up by striking her in the face with his gauntlet-covered fist. The force of the punch was so much that Jun was almost knocked out of the saddle, and she was desperately trying to hold onto her horse's flank when she heard Izzy cry out in pain. She pulled herself back up to see her companion doubled up in the saddle with his hands pressed over his stomach.
All at once, the fear and panic that Jun had been holding at bay came rushing to the surface. Without thinking, she threw her sword at the Prince, and then ripped off her helmet and hurled that at him too. It did not harm him in the slightest, but it gave Jun enough time to grab hold of the reins of Izzy's horse, and steer her own mount away from the warrior.
"Fall back! Fall back!" She shouted as she tried to fight free. It seemed to take forever, but she finally got clear, instinctively spurring her horse into a full gallop. Her only conscious thought was to keep hold of the reins of Izzy's horse. Both mounts raced on for many minutes, until Jun finally regained enough composure to bring them to a halt. She immediately jumped off her steed, and carefully as she could, pulled Izzy out of the saddle.
"Oh fuck... Fuck." The young man groaned. His face was white with shock but his eyes seemed focused and livid. Jun immediately feared the worst by the way he was holding himself. She had seen men who had their stomachs cut open in battle, their hands all they had to keep their entrails from spilling out.
"Let me see, Izzy" She whispered, gently pulling his hands away from his stomach. Her heart pounded in her ears as she searched for the wound, but she could not find it.
"T-the bastard c-cut off my fingers." Izzy stammered to her.
Jun suddenly felt herself fill up with relief at the words; her eyes went to the stumps that had once been the little and ring fingers of his left hand. "Only your fingers?" She asked, unable to keep her relief from forming into a small grin.
"What the hell do you mean 'only my fingers'?" Izzy shouted at her, his face twisted up in pain and disbelief. "Have you gone mad?"
Jun did not respond, but just pulled him into a fierce hug. She had been so scared, and she could not even bear the thought of losing someone else she cared about, not after Davis.
"M-my fingers." Izzy stuttered again, his mouth hanging open with confusion.
The words brought Jun back to reality and she pulled away. She hoped that he could not see the foolish blush of her cheeks, or the tears she was trying to blink away. "Just shut up, Izzy." She told him tenderly as she tore part of her cloak into strips. "My father had one whole hand cut off, and he still manages to get along all right." She took the strips and wrapped them as tightly as she dared around his hand.
Izzy winced as he watched her apply the makeshift bandage. The wound hurt horribly, but his mind and body were beginning to become accustomed to the pain, and clearer thoughts formed in his head. "You're hurt." He said, nodding at the wound to her arm.
"Just a scratch." Jun said as she continued to wrap his hand. The wound pained her, but she thought it hardly worth any attention at the moment.
"Even still..." Izzy said quietly. He picked up one of the spare strips of fabric, and managed with his right hand to tie it haphazardly around her wounded arm.
Jun did not say anything, but the corners of her mouth turned up in the beginning of a tired grin. "We should probably cauterize your fingers the first chance we-" She was cut off by the sound of a rapidly approaching horse. The pair jumped apart and reflexively looked for their swords, cursing as they realized that they had both lost their weapons. The horse and rider burst into view, and they both felt their shoulders sag in relief as they saw it was one of their men.
"Lady Jun, Lord Koushiro." The young soldier said, giving a haggard salute. "We thought the Iron Prince had killed you both."
Jun shook her head as she got to her feet. "Are the Kamiyians pursuing?" She asked.
"No." The soldier answered, panting hard. "And everyone who made it is in a clearing not far from here. "
"How many are alive." Izzy asked expectantly.
The young soldier bowed his head. "Fourteen. Two are wounded pretty badly."
Jun clenched her fists and fought the impulse to scream. She had lost more than half of her men in a span of minutes. "We start for Castle Ishida and our camp right now." She said in a forced voice, climbing back on her horse. "And we don't stop until we get there."
The young soldier nodded, and they both waited for Izzy to climb slowly into his own saddle. Then she gave a nod and the soldier began to lead them toward the rest of the troops. No one said a word as they moved, Jun too deep in her own thoughts to do more than stare at the back of her horse's head. The dogs of war were about to be given full leash to roam about Ishida. And if the recent skirmish were any indication, the hounds would soon have their fill of blood upon which to feast.
A/N: I'm not sure if this is going to work right with all the stuff going on at the site, but if it's screwed up I'll just repost later. This story should have two more chapters, and I hope to have it done by around Christmas. But I must warn you that I'm also working on another story that has already become dear to my heart, even though most of it exists only in my head. It has the working title of "I Guess This Is Growing Up." (Who can tell me what song that is a reference to?) And it is about TK and Kari having a baby while they are only fourteen, and not necessarily in love either. There are so many things I want to do with this story, and I can't really put them all into this A/N. So just be looking for it. Thank you.
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Ryo knew he really had nothing to complain about. He had a warm bed, and soft, silky clothes to wear. And people were always bringing him the richest, most wonderful food. He would have liked to be let out of his room more often, but Lord Rolen kept reassuring him that it was for his own safety, that there were many people out there who would like to do him harm. The boy could never fully accept this answer, but he was reluctant to press the subject to the shifty, often dangerous lord.
As it was, the only time he ever left his room was when Rolen personally brought him out, always to present him with much fanfare to roomfuls of supporters. Many of these were always very old men, their bodies barely able to bear the weight of the heavy armor they wore. Their eyes would grow wide and pool up with tears when they saw Ryo. And they would kneel before the boy and kiss his feet, their faces beaming with joy as the tears rolled down their cheeks. "At last. At last." they would exclaim. "Our King has returned to us."
Rolen loved it when the old men did this. He would put an arm around their frail shoulders and lead them away, whispering in their ears about how they could help their king. But these scenes always made Ryo feel horrible. Deep inside himself, he knew he was lying maliciously to the old men. They were making him into the fulfillment of generations of hopes and dreams, they were putting every last bit of faith they had in him. The boy knew that he did not deserve the old men's tears of joy, he was not strong enough to accept them, and he was only multiplying their eventual suffering by standing there in silence as they wept at his feet. He was not the one they were waiting for, and he would have given anything to hasten that one's arrival.
Ryo often fell asleep to these thoughts. And they routinely brought him horrible nightmares that left him trembling with tears. But one night, he had a dream that was unlike the others.
It began with a feeling like being swept along upon waves. And as the boy slowly opened his dreams eyes, he became aware that he was in a place composed entirely of swirling gray and white fog. He could feel a gentle breeze on his face, and he slowly dipped and rose on invisible currents of air. But none of these were the most distinguishing feature of the dream place. For all around him floated feelings of melancholy and soft, weeping sorrow. The air was thick with these whispered emotions, and they flowed through Ryo unheeded, bringing sparkling tears to his eyes. They made his heart and soul moan, and he suddenly and desperately wanted to go home, even though he had no home to speak of.
Ryo felt like he had floated in that sad realm for thousands of years, or maybe it was only a few seconds, it was impossible to tell. But eventually he became aware of something else near him in the limitless place. "What are you?" He thought to the presence, for he instinctively knew that speech was useless where he was.
"Does it matter?" The presence thought back, its soundless answer somehow causing the mists to swirl and twist faster.
Ryo felt the words echo in his mind like a great drum, but he remained silent for a few moments, his eyelids flickering. The dull sorrow was eating at his heart, making him feel more alone than he ever had thought possible. "Yes." He answered finally, his mental voice almost crying with anguish.
The presence gave what Ryo guessed was a small laugh, the sound of small, silver bells jingled in his head. All around the boy, the mists began to acquire a silver sheen, like lightning behind storm clouds. He became aware of the sad feelings suddenly draining away as the mists wrapped around him. They now felt more solid, more secure. And Ryo found himself suddenly filled with a feeling of safety.
"You could say that I am a guardian." The presence answered, its booming voice composed, but filled with the slightest bit of amusement. "I watch over a family."
"The Ishidas?" Ryo asked immediately, sudden curiosity forming the words in his mind.
He was answered by a sudden gust of wind that whipped his hair around his face. The boy could imagine the wind as being an angry sigh.
"In the history of the world." The voice came back, dark and crackling. "There are but a handful of Ishidas who deserve protection." There was a pause, and the wind slowly died down. "It just so happens that you are one of them."
Ryo furrowed his brow at the words, his thoughts forming slowly and carefully. "So I am an Ishida." He thought with a trace of unease. "Its not just another of Lord Rolen's lies."
"Yes." The presence thought back. "You are of the House of Wolves, but you are a distant point. The Ishidian blood in you is thin, the darkness almost insignificant."
"What am I then?" Ryo thought, shaking his head in confusion. "And what darkness? Please, I don't understand all of this?"
"I would be amazed if you did." The voice echoed back, a bit of gentle merriment evident in the answer. "The bloodline of the ancient gypsies runs in you. That is why I can talk to you here in their place, in the aptly named realm of tears. You will learn of the darkness soon, but more than that is not in my power to tell."
Thousands of thoughts sprang up in the boy's mind. But he quieted most of them, trying to concentrate on those that were most important. "And why have you brought me here?"
"Because my family is in danger, and I will protect them however I can." The answer was strong and determined.
"What family? What danger?" Ryo asked immediately.
There was silence for a few moments, as the presence gave the impression of being in thought. "A small family." It answered finally, its thought voice tinged with sorrow and regret. "The world made orphans of them, so they found each other. They have been hurt many times over, but each time they only become stronger. But a time comes when they will be dealt the harshest blow of all, and it is only through you that I have a chance of helping them."
"What do you mean 'only through me'?" Ryo questioned, anxiety rising in his mental voice.
"Hush now, child." The voice answered softly. "Even in dreams, time is finite. And you must now listen carefully, if you are to have any hope of stopping the coming tragedy."
Ryo remained silent, and the presence began speaking to him in a lulling, hypnotic voice. While the mists twisted into cloudy silhouettes of the things the presence spoke of.
"There is a wolf approaching from the east. He is young, long and lanky, with eyes of perpetual sorrow, and a spirit of eternal hope. He is a warrior almost without equal, but he fears battle more than anything else. Only family can make him push forward into this land of turmoil. His courage lies in his love, a young woman to which he is bound in body, heart, and soul."
Ryo could almost feel the emotions that the presence sent into the words and pictures. Pride and warm trickles of thanks and love were evident. But not so much as the strong feeling of tender, yearning regret. The boy felt the same feelings soaking into his heart, and hot tears flooded his eyes as he suddenly spoke. "Was he your son?" He did not know how or why such a question could even make sense, but he felt almost implored to ask it.
There was silence for an answer. The most complete silence Ryo could ever have imagined, but it was filled with a soundless moan of anguish that tore at the boy's heart.
"He would have been." The presence finally answered with a blowing whisper. "Even if things had happened differently, he would have found his way to my home somehow, fate would have seen to that. But do not trouble yourself with such questions now. Just listen."
"There is a darkness that lives in the warrior," the presence continued "constantly tearing at him like a rabid animal. It takes all of his will, in addition to the will of his love, to keep the darkness from consuming him completely."
The images in Ryo's mind shifted and turned, and all at once he was being told a different story.
"Another wolf approaches from the West. He is strong and bold, with the clear but weary eyes of one born and raised on the battlefield. Duty drives him into war. He seeks to protect those he cares about, his lover above all others. And his greatest fear is that he will bring sorrow and death upon those who dare to love him. There is a darkness in him as well, rooted in his heart like a cancer, lying dormant until the time when it can cause the most pain."
Another set of images filled Ryo's mind. And along with them came the wind, blowing in short, shrill gusts of warning, carrying the distant scent of grief and death. The boy felt himself slowly slipping away from the dream place. He was waking up, and he struggled against it as best he could.
"There are those who worship the darkness, those who would see it consume the world. They are powerful, but they are afraid, for they know that the ones who will destroy them have already been conceived, and grow strong and safe in the womb. They have but one chance, one dark hope, and that is to push the wolves, the brothers, into combat against each other."
"And I have to stop them." Ryo thought to the presence, struggling even more as the images and words began to fade away. "I have to keep them from fighting each other."
"No." the presence thought back, its astral voice quivering with tears. "They will meet on the battlefield, and one shall fall. There is no escaping that, no matter how hard you try."
Ryo felt rain hit his face as the presence began to weep. "Only when the wings of the angels are broken, when the lion cries, and the rose wilts, will there be a chance for victory." The mental voice of the presence was now no more than a plead. "You must remember then, what you will not remember now. You must speak to the seer with violet eyes, and remind him of the circle with twelve points. That is the only way."
Ryo tried to shout back to the presence, tried to find a voice for all of his questions and fears. But he was already awake. The sky outside his window was turning gray. The boy sat up in his bed, desperately trying to remember everything about the dream. But all of it just evaporated into mist, and he was left only with the tears that would not stop falling from his eyes.
----------------------------------------------
Kari awoke from the nightmare with a start, her senses screaming at her that something had happened to TK. She lay there for a moment, frozen with terror, before realizing that it had just been a dream, and that her husband was sleeping safely beside her. She shuddered in relief as she felt his strong arms wrapped around her, one worn hand placed protectively over her stomach. His warm breath grazed the back of her neck. She blinked her eyes in the darkness and waited for her heartbeat to regain its regular rhythm. The particulars of the nightmare were already fading, all she could remember were the horrible feelings of anguish and loss that had frightened her awake. And these she wanted to forget as quickly as possible.
It had almost been a month and a half since they had left the comfort and safety of Takaishi Manor, and Kari was becoming more homesick by the day. It amazed her how much she missed it, even the daily grind of making the household run without any serious problems. The young princess sighed as it once again occurred to her that the old castle had truly become her home. And she was proud of it too, proud of every drafty hallway and loose cobblestone. And of course, there was another very important reason why she wanted to be home so badly.
Kari gave a wistful smile, and gently caressed the hand that TK had placed over her stomach. She could not wait to feel her baby kick for the first time, to see the look of absolute love and awe in her husband's eyes as he felt it too. And more than anything, she wanted that moment to happen in the warmth and safety of her home, not in some canvas tent during an army march. By God, if she were going to have to become bloated and fat, then she wanted to be able sit in her own chair by the fire. And there was no way she would even begin to entertain the notion that her and TK's child would be born during a military campaign, far away from the place that he or she would call home.
The young princess shifted a little in her lover's arms, an inner voice telling her she was being selfish in some of her thinking. After all, the other members of her family were not faring well either.
The armored carriage Kari and Sora traveled in became hot as an oven in the harsh sun, but they were hardly in it anyway. Most of their time was spent helping out wherever they could, usually by aiding Jyou and his medical team. The Lord of Kido was constantly attending to the various illnesses and injuries that plagued any prolonged march, his rock hard stability being as great an asset as his healing skills. But he was also running himself ragged, trying to take care of every cough and fever he came upon. Sora and Kari considered it a minor victory if they managed to get him to take a short nap every now and then.
Tai was much worse, though. Any sleep he got was fitful, tossing and turning as Sora did her best to keep him calm and still. The young king just could not rest. Everywhere he looked he saw a land tortured by war, the common people paying the price. He was always pushing himself harder, desperate to do what was right. So far, the Kamiyian column had not come into contact with any enemy groups larger than a scouting patrol. But Tai knew this would not last long. All reports from Lord Artur's informants said that Rolen's forces were backing away from the Kamiyians, massing together in central Ishida while their Tachikawan allies rushed to join them. Tai only hoped that the forces of Artur's compatriots would soon join with the column. They would be sorely outnumbered otherwise.
Kari was suddenly pulled from her thoughts as she felt TK stir beside her, lifting his head and mumbling something in his sleep before settling down again. She waited until he was still and then slowly turned around in his arms to face him. It was too dark to make out anything besides his outline, but she did not need light to see. Every inch of him, every one of his features and expressions, had been etched in her memory. She reached out a hand to gently brush away the golden hair that she just knew had fallen over his eyes. He had been absolutely exhausted earlier, barely able to pull off his armor before collapsing on the stack of large pillows that made up their bed. He had been running extended scouting runs for the past two weeks, sometimes taking Cody and Lucas with him, but usually going alone.
Kari lovingly traced her fingers along his cheek. She found herself suddenly thinking back to their first nights together. She felt soft tears start to form as she saw in her mind the look in his ocean blue eyes, gentle and loving, but also scared. She remembered a few times when he would reflexively tense up when she touched him, his eyes clenching shut as if he were expecting to be struck. Other times he would be plagued by horrible dreams, shooting up from the bed in a cold sweat, too scared to even cry out. It was after one of these nightmares that TK had finally confided in Kari all the horrors that haunted him, the ones that had scarred him in mind and body. She remembered holding onto him tightly, both of them crying as he choked the words out. It was then that she made a silent vow to herself, that she would protect him always, just as he had always protected her. She knew without a doubt that she would die if she ever lost TK. She would just waste away, drained of all her hope and strength.
Without really thinking, Kari leaned over and began to lightly kiss him. She trailed her lips over his mouth, then up to his nose and eyes. She placed butterfly kisses on his forehead, and then moved down to his cheeks before nuzzling his neck. TK's eyelids fluttered, and then he instinctively pulled her closer in the darkness, intent on returning the affection that had awakened him. His lips followed a similar trail over her face before tenderly meeting her mouth. Kari gave a contented sigh as she moved her head to the side, letting him bury his face in the hollow of her shoulder. She moved her hands to his back, her fingers gently trying to rub away the long white scars. They stayed that way for a few long moments, just soaking up the warmth and love of each other's presence.
"Is it morning?" TK asked finally, his voice husky with sleep.
"Not quite." Kari answered, rubbing her cheek against his forehead. "The watch fires are still burning."
TK sighed and closed his eyes. "Tai wants to check out a monastery a ways from here. Supposedly the monks are sheltering some refugees that might be able to give us information on Rolen's troops."
"I know." Kari whispered. "Sora and I are going too. She convinced Tai it would be a sign of goodwill if we brought the refugees some of the extra food and blankets."
TK held her a little tighter. "Just stay close. We're not sure how stable the area is." His finger started to trace little circles on her shoulder.
Kari did not answer, but slid down a little in his arms so that she could put her head on his shoulder. She put a hand up to his face and softly ran her fingers over his lips, smiling a little as he gently kissed them. She let herself relax completely, her eyes closing and her body fitting itself to his. She drifted off towards sleep.
TK lay awake holding her, his calloused hands caressing her angelic face with the greatest of care. How long had it been since the first night he fell asleep with her beautiful face flashing behind his eyes? Eight years, he remembered. It had been eight years since he had first sworn never to leave the side of a heartbroken little princess. Three years since he had looked into her soft brown eyes and seen unconditional love in them, three years since he had first been able to hold her in his arms and love her. And soon their child would be born, a perfect little being made from their love.
TK felt tears suddenly start to collect in his eyes. He had three brothers, a sister, a beautiful wife whom he loved more than anything, and soon he would have a baby son or daughter. Never during the nightmare he had grown up in, nor even in his wildest dreams, had TK ever imagined he would be blessed with riches such as these. And he knew that he would do anything to protect them, even brave the murdering darkness of his own heart.
He leaned forward and placed a final soft kiss on Kari's pouting lips. Then he slowly began to untangle himself from hers arms and slip out of the bed. But he only got one foot on the ground before she jolted awake, immediately grabbing hold of his arm.
"TK?" She whimpered. The nightmare had come again, the one where she lost him.
"I'm right here, Kari." He answered, his eyes narrowing in concern. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing." She stammered. She shook her head and tried to slow her scared breathing. "W-where are you going?"
"I was just going to check the watches, make sure everything is alright." He slid back into the bed, placing an arm back around her shoulder and hugging her close.
Kari put her arms as tightly around him as she could. She knew it was just a bad dream, she was under a great deal of stress and nightmares were not unusual in such a situation. But the emotions felt so horribly real. Her heart was still cringing from the anguish of the dream, and there seemed to be no way to control the tears that suddenly sprang up in her eyes.
"Don't l-leave me right now." She stuttered. She pulled his head next to hers and buried her face in his hair, letting her nose fill up with his familiar scent. "J-just stay here."
"Okay." TK said soothingly, he could feel her frantic heartbeat. He kissed the side of her head and tenderly rubbed her back. "It was just a bad dream, Kari. There's nothing wrong."
"I know." She answered softly, her voice still shivering from the fear. "But just stay here and let's hold each other. L-let's not let go of each other until we absolutely have to." She leaned back and looked into his eyes, still trying to convince herself that he was okay.
TK gently cupped her face and kissed away the tears on her cheeks. "I'll never let go of you." He said.
Kari sighed and laid her head on his chest. "Promise?" She asked.
"Promise." He answered.
"I promise I will never leave you."
-------------------------------------
Ken knew they were close, the poor fools with the clouds of darkness hanging over them. They would probably arrive within the hour. "We're going with them, you know." He said aloud in a detached voice. "We'll be right there with them when the storm finally breaks. When their hearts cry out in primal sorrow."
The Abbot sighed. "Now why on Earth would we go with the Kamiyians?" He asked, not looking up from his writing. The quill in his hand whipped back and forth across the parchment, recording the accounts of war told to him by the refugees being sheltered at The Ichijouji Monastery.
Ken gave a lethargic shrug. "I'm going with them because I'm supposed to, I've already seen myself standing with them in the mud." He turned his head in the Abbot's direction, the glow from the candlelight moving over his face. "You will go with them because of a little boy with haunting blue eyes."
Something in Ken's tone made the Abbot stop writing. He thought he heard an accusation hidden in the words, or maybe he was just imagining it. Either way his heart suddenly began to sting like it had not in years. "Funny." He said in a careful voice. "I don't think I know any children with blue eyes."
"I see what I see." Ken responded in his usual uncaring manner.
The Abbot frowned wearily and turned around to face his pupil, his heart aching as he looked at the poor young man. Ken was sitting over by the window, his dark hair blowing limply in the chill night breeze. His legs were drawn up to his chest, his chin resting on his knees. He was thin and gaunt, having lost his desire to eat some time ago. And there was a soiled bandage wrapped around his head, covering his eyes.
Horrible, gruesome visions had plagued Ken since the day he had first tried to set out from the Monastery. The young man had always been told that his fiery purple eyes would allow him to see things others could not, and his first impulse when the nightmarish sight developed had been to stop the problem at its source. The Abbot had to forcibly restrain Ken from putting out his eyes.
A blindfold helped to keep the visions partly at bay. But little wisps of pictures or emotions still managed to slip through. Heart-wrenching feelings of anguish, scenes of people crying in the rain and mud, they came to Ken so often that they had almost become a part of daily life. Occasionally, the young man would receive little flashes of information, little prophecies such as the one he had relayed to the Abbot. These always came true, and though the Abbot tried to downplay them for Ken's sake, deep down both of them took the predictions as facts.
"You are free to go with them if you wish." The Abbot said, turning back to his writing. "But I assure you, it will take some doing for me to leave my work."
"It will take a little boy with blue eyes." Ken responded immediately, a trace of bitterness in the words.
The Abbot quickly turned around again, a stern chastisement on his lips, but an excited knock sounded at the door before he could get the words out.
"The Kamiyians are approaching, Abbot." One of the younger monks opened the door wide enough to stick his head in the room. "It's a rather small party under the circumstances; only about twenty warriors. And it looks like they brought some provisions with them." The young man was visibly excited by what was happening. His eyes were gleaming eagerly and he impatiently licked his lips.
"Thank you, Julius." The Abbot said, getting up from his desk and smoothing out his robes. "But please remember to wait until you are invited into a room before entering, rather than inviting yourself."
"Sorry, Abbot." The young man said with an embarrassed blush.
"Apology accepted." The Abbot answered in a monotone voice. "I shall be down shortly. Go find some dinner for our guests, they've been traveling for most of the day."
He watched the young monk nod and disappear into the darkened hall before turning back to Ken. "Well?" He asked somewhat sarcastically. "Are you going to come down and greet your traveling companions?"
"In a few minutes." The young man answered softly. He turned his head to the wall.
The Abbot breathed a heavy sigh. He would have done anything to spare Ken the torture he was forced to endure. He tried his best to treat him in the manner he always had, hoping that it would offer Ken some sense of stability. But the young man seemed to drift farther away with every passing hour. Maybe he would find relief if he went with the Kamiyians, he suddenly thought. Maybe that was the purpose of all the nightmarish visions.
The old man shook his head and tried to clear the thoughts from his mind. Such ungrounded hopes often did more harm than good. He would just have to have faith that God was watching over all his children. And he would have to do his best to help Ken hold on to what little faith he had left. He took one last pitying look at the young man before walking into the hall, softly closing the door behind him.
Ichijouji Monastery was in the process of being subject to a scenario few of the monks had ever imagined. Refugees from miles around had crowded into its thick walls, seeking protection from the war raging across the land. And in the process they were beginning to transform the quiet, serene place of mediation and study into a near fortress, bustling with noise and activity. The younger brothers seemed to be handling it well, their youthful energy allowing them to get caught up in serving their fellow man. Some of the older monks, however, were quite dumbfounded by the recent developments. But they were doing their best to adapt, and that would just have to do for the time being.
The Abbot went over these matters in his mind as he moved down the stairs to the main entrance. The Kamiyian envoy was standing just outside the doors, and as the Abbot walked outside, he forcibly shifted his thoughts towards being welcoming and hospitable. But then his eyes met those of the Kamiyian prince, and for a brief moment all capacity for rational thought left him.
He had seen those eyes before, years ago. They were the deep, suffering eyes of a little boy who had just seen his parents murdered by a man in black armor. They were the eyes that had flickered in the Abbot's thoughts for days without end, turning him from a thief and killer into a penitent before God. His hands started to tremble and shake, and he realized that Ken was right. He would follow the Kamiyians to wherever they were bound to go, he owed an unspeakable debt to a little boy with haunting blue eyes. And for some strange reason, this thought calmed him.
--------------------------------------
Sora sighed and reached down to rub her cramping legs. It felt like forever since she had last been able to walk around and stretch her aching muscles. The small Kamiyian party had been traveling almost non-stop since dawn, and it had now been almost two hours since the sun had set. She wanted to poke her head out of the carriage window and see if she could spot any lights from the Ichijouji Monastery. But Kari had fallen asleep with her head on Sora's shoulder, and the young queen hated the thought of waking up her adopted sister. The young princess needed all the rest she could get.
"I wish I could sleep." Sora whispered to no one. She was bone tired, but could not bring herself to close her eyes for even a few seconds. Not with everyone else still going on at the point of exhaustion, and with her poor Tai stumbling around with the weight of the world pushed up on his shoulders. During the whole march from Kamiyia, they had not met any serious problems. But everyone seemed to be filled the nagging thought that something bad was going to happen. Sora hated that thought, there was nothing she could do to fight it, and it left her feeling helpless and distraught. She wished they could just go home, stop having to be soldiers and just be family.
Sora would have thought more, but she became aware of the carriage slowing down. And Tai's face suddenly appeared at the carriage window.
"We're here." He said wearily, his warm brown eyes looking sunken and dull. His gaze moved over to the sleeping face of his sister. "Is she okay?" He asked.
"Just sleeping." Sora answered with a thin smile. She reached out the window to squeeze his hand. "You should try it sometime."
Tai gave a little grin back, his eyes briefly shining with love for his wife. "Maybe later." He said. He squeezed her hand back before moving away towards the back of the carriage.
Sora gave another worn out sigh and began to gently nudge Kari awake. "Come on, sweetheart." She whispered. "We're finally here."
The young princess blinked her eyes, and gave a soft moaning sound as she lifted up her head. Sora took a hold of her hand and guided her out of the carriage door and onto the ground.
"How long was I asleep?" Kari asked with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head.
"A couple of hours, maybe." Sora answered, stifling a yawn of her own. She began to look over their new surroundings
They had stopped in a clean swept courtyard right in front of the main doors. The walls of the Monastery were made of plain gray clay, but they appeared an appealing orange when bathed in the glow from the torches set all along the yard. A young, nervous looking monk was making his way down the stairs towards them. And Sora gave him a warm smile before turning to check on everyone else.
Twenty of TK and Kari's Takaishian warriors had traveled with them to provide protection. And half of the young soldiers were already beginning to unload the five carts full of provisions they had brought to aid the refugees. The other half had formed a loose perimeter around Sora and Kari. TK was still on horseback, and was steering his mount around the courtyard, checking every little shadow and corner for any possible hidden threat. Cody too, was casting a cautious eye towards the dark night just beyond the torchlight, but after a moment he moved to help unload the wagons. Tai and Jyou just stood talking in hushed voices, waiting for the young monk to make a formal greeting.
"On behalf of the Abbot, and all of the brothers, I welcome you to Ichijouji Monastery." The young monk said with an awkward bow, his voice squeaking a bit with nervousness.
"We thank you all. It is an honor to be welcomed into your home." Tai said with a practiced bow. Sora knew he usually hated such formality, but she also knew that he would be as formal and dull as a wooden post until he felt comfortable.
The young monk gave a small smile, and he was about to say they should move inside, when the Abbot appeared at the door.
Sora was immediately impressed by the man. He was tall, with straight, broad shoulders, and had the imposing stance of a general. His head was gilded with thinning blonde hair, and he had a sharp, Roman nose. His eyes were a hard, intelligent gray. And he seemed to Sora, as the type of man who could do great good, or great evil, and not think a thing of either one.
The young queen was about to greet him, when she suddenly saw a flash of fear in the man's eyes. The heart-stopping terror of one long hunted and haunted. She thought for a second that he was looking at her, but then she realized that his gaze was locked on something just over her shoulder. She turned around, half-expecting to see something akin to the Devil. But instead she only saw TK.
The prince was standing right behind her, one arm wrapped around Kari's shoulder, and obviously guarding both his wife and adopted sister. His face seemed to shine with cooling sweat. And maybe it was a trick of the light, but Sora could almost imagine that his deep blue eyes were filled with a dark, astral glow.
Confused, Sora turned back towards the Abbot, and was surprised to see that the fear was gone from his marbleize eyes, wiped away without a trace.
"My apologies for not being here directly." The man addressed Tai in a professional voice. "I was finishing up some records."
"That is nothing worth an apology." Tai answered, apparently no one else except Sora had noticed the look in the Abbot's eyes. "It is an honor that you should choose to meet us at all."
"You seek to bring peace to this land. And you have brought supplies to aid the unfortunates here." The Abbot replied. "I could not in good conscience refused to welcome you. But enough talk. I am sure that you are all extremely tired, and food and quarters have been prepared for you."
"Thank you." Tai responded, his voice relaxing slightly. "I am forced to admit that we are all in need of rest. And I hope that we can discuss most of the matters in the morning."
"Of course." The Abbot answered. "I will show you to your beds as soon as you wish."
There seemed to be a general sigh of relief from everyone present. The soldiers fixed thanking glances on Sora and Kari, knowing that it was only because of their presence that they would not have to march through the night back to the column.
Behind her, Sora heard TK softly tell his men to do a short patrol around the Monastery, just to be on the safe side. They nodded and remounted their horses, moving quickly out of the courtyard.
The Abbot hitched up his robes and moved back up the stairs to the door, motioning for everyone to follow him. The company moved quickly and silently through a small reception area, and Sora could not help staring at some of the beautiful murals painted on the walls. She recognized them as coming from various points of Genesis, and they were so vivid, so obviously crafted with love and joy pouring out of the artist's heart, that they took her breath away.
"They were painted almost two-hundred years ago." The Abbot's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. She had not been the only one caught up in the beauty of the chamber, as the awe-struck look on everyone else's faces told her. "It is common practice for the more artistically gifted brothers to keep them in good condition, and maybe add little pieces of their own."
Sora could hear the barely perceptible traces of pride in the man's voice. And she wondered again why the man had looked at TK with such thoughtless fear locked in his eyes? The question filled her with a queasy nervousness, the nasty feeling that something bad was close by. She felt the strong desire to gather up her family around her and march them all home. But instead all she could do was take a hold of Tai's hand, and commit herself to watching over them closely.
Tai found himself looking into his wife's simmering crimson eyes as he felt her take his hand in her own. They were tense and uncertain. And the young king knew from experience that this meant she felt there was something off about their situation, but she could not quite figure out what it was. He gave her hand a firm squeeze. Everything would be okay, he told her silently. He would not let it end any other way.
The king turned back to the Abbot, sifting through his thoughts to find the questions he felt necessary to ask the man before he let himself consider sleep. And one of those questions seemed to force its way to the front of the pack. And it came spilling out of Tai's mouth before he really had a chance to think about it.
"Abbot, what can you tell us about the House of Ishida?"
Tai could feel everyone's eyes turn to him as the words left his mouth, wondering what could have possibly made him ask such a question. Tai was asking himself the same thing. The Abbot himself did not seem at all phased by it. He just stopped and looked off to the right, like a teacher trying to think of the best answer to give a student.
"According to legend." He said after a moment, his voice coming in an exhale of pent up breath. "There was once a minor lord of a long-dead kingdom. He was greedy and hateful, a coward and thief by nature. But at some point he came across an ancient spell that let him contact Hell itself. He wished to sell his soul in exchange for the power to conquer the world. As the story goes, the Devil told him that one, weak soul was too small a price for such a grand ambition. Lucifer wanted the right to a portion of the soul of each of the man's descendents, just a little piece, from which he could work to bring them all under his influence. The man agreed without hesitation, and the House of Ishida was born. A dynasty where every child was born into damnation."
The Abbot finished, and looked at the six stunned faces starring at him.
"My God." Cody stated.
"No." The Abbot responded immediately. "God had nothing at all to do with it." The man paused, and glanced down at the floor." Of course, that is only a legend, written to explain the murderous tendencies of the Ishidas. Some people are just more inclined towards evil, I suppose, without God or the Devil having to get involved."
The words slowly sunk into Tai's mind. And another question suddenly presented itself, drawing him to it like a moth is drawn to a flame. "But what was so distinguishable about the members of the Ishida line, that some little boy could claim to be a descendent hundreds of years after they were wiped out."
The Abbot opened his mouth, the answer poised on his lips. But someone else spoke before he had the chance.
"I can answer that." Ken said softly, standing at the mouth of a small side corridor. A ratty, yellowed book clutched in his hand. Tai and the others beheld him with surprise in their eyes. The young man's shirt and trousers hung loose on his gaunt frame. His long, dark hair fell around his face, slightly masking the eyes of churning violet fire. The bandage covering them was gone.
"T-this is Ken." The Abbot spoke out, not able to fully hide his shock and amazement. "A pupil of mine."
No one really heard the words. The strange young man owned their attention, drawing heir hearts and minds into the purple inferno of his eyes.
Ken looked at them with pity. He had received an image of himself standing before them, a book in hand, and his eyes uncovered. So even though he was loathed to, he had had removed the bandage, retrieved the book, and come down the stairs to stand on the spot that had been pointed out. The visions had sapped away all of his strength. He had become a slave to them.
"The sons and daughters of Ishida were born with blue eyes and blonde hair." Ken said, his eyes traveling over all of them, before coming to rest directly on TK. " Satan wished his minions to be perfect images of beauty, perfect images of the fallen angels before Hell twisted them into abominations."
Ken could almost feel the pressure of the princess' grip on her husband's arm. The fear was rising uncontrollably in her heart, nightmares and memories crashed together in her mind. He wished he had the will to spare them.
"But the most telling sign was a mark on the back of the neck. The brand the Devil placed there to mark his property." He slowly opened the book to a crude drawing done in coal, a tongue of black flame.
"The mark of the House of Ishida."
Kari felt her heart surge into her throat and she needed to throw up. She had known. She had felt in the pit of her being what those old pages held. But she desperately did not want to believe it.
"T-that's impossible." She stammered, fear and anger mixing in her voice. "It-it just can't be." She turned to her husband, staring into the bottomless blue eyes that were now creased with pain. He could read the truth in the beat of her heart, in the flash of her eyes.
"TK..." She whined, griping him by the arms.
The prince did not say a word. He just stared at her beautiful face, trying to bury himself in the flowing pools of brown that were welling up with tears. He felt her hands slowly slide up his shoulders to move the hair off the back of his neck. It was only after hearing a choking gasp escape from Kari's mouth that TK pulled her tightly into his arms, madly kissing the top of her head as she cried into his chest. He tried not to think of anything besides comforting her.
The others just stared at them, their faces frozen in shock. The tongue of black flame kept flashing through their minds. They had just come face to face with a horrible legend, and it had taken the form of one so dear to their hearts. All thoughts and feelings just seemed to explode as they were born.
" But how...?" Sora asked finally, her voice trailing off at the end.
No one had an answer for her. And it was only by turning his back on his charging emotions that Jyou could manage to speak at all.
"We should send word to Lord Artur and his allies." The young doctor said softly. "Who knows what this could mean for the war effort?" He looked down at his feet and cursed himself for sounding so heartless.
Tai nodded and blinked his eyes. "Y-yes." He stuttered. "They should know."
"No!" TK shouted, clutching his wife to him as tightly as he could. He had been trying to lose himself in Kari's embrace. But Tai and Jyou's words had sparked a flooding panic in his heart. "Nobody can know!" His face took on a pleading expression. "Kari and the baby... We don't tell anyone."
It took a moment for the meaning of TK words to hit. But then Sora's face filled up with fear. And she rushed to throw her arms around the prince and princess.
"Oh my God." Cody murmured, crossing himself reflexively. "The legend... A child born between the Houses of Kamiya and Ishida."
That was all that needed to be said. A deep fear suddenly flashed through Tai like a bolt of lightening, leaving his fingers trembling and his vision hazy. He knew the old legend as well as anyone; a child born of the two great houses would banish the forces of darkness forever. He could not bring himself to give voice to the thoughts that were already foremost in everyone's minds. Every lunatic and murderer in the land would be after Kari and her unborn baby if they knew.
There was near silence for the next few moments. The only words came from Kari, who was sandwiched tightly between TK and Sora. And her voice was so low, so muffled by her sobs, that they were the only two who could hear it. "Our baby is not going to be some messiah." She whispered, her cheeks glistening with tears. "It's just going to be a normal, healthy baby."
TK's heart suddenly moaned in his chest, and he tried to kiss all the tears out of Kari's eyes.
"Of course it is, sweetheart." Sora whispered back. Her own eyes beginning to shine with her own tears. "That's all it's going to be." She laid her cheek against Kari's head.
"We're going back to the column right now." Tai said, his voice strong and determined. He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder gently telling her to steer TK and Kari towards the door. Jyou and Cody were right on his heels.
The Abbot knew he could not let them leave yet. He was stunned almost beyond rational thought, but he knew that there were things he had to do. "Wait!" He called, taking a hesitant step forward.
The Kamiyians turned back towards him with warnings in their eyes, like a family of lions rallying around their wounded. They were still too scared and shocked to see anything besides threats wherever they looked.
"I promise I wish only to help you." The Abbot kept his voice low and calm. And met each of their gazes so that they could see the truth of his words in his eyes. He could also not help looking over at Ken. The young man stood off to the side, a numb, weary look on his face. He made the Abbot think of an actor, who after reading his lines, had withdrawn from the stage to watch the play unfold.
"May I speak with Prince Takeru?" The Abbot asked.
Tai's mouth opened wide, and his head turned sideways as he prepared to vigorously object. But TK spoke out before the young king had a chance.
"Why?" The prince asked simply, his stare boring into the Abbot. His eyes were twinkling like far off stars, hoping for, but not really expecting help.
"Because I think I can be of some assistance."
Tai wanted to shout out a resounding 'no' so badly that his hands squeezed themselves into fists. But he bowed his head and left the decision to TK, knowing that many more lay ahead for his adopted brother, whether the young man liked it or not.
TK looked at the Abbot a long time before finally giving a small nod of his head. Kari reluctantly let go of him, falling back into Sora's waiting arms. Jyou and Cody both put firm hands on his shoulder, and Tai whispered to him that they would be right outside.
The Abbot found the last remark a little humorous as he motioned for TK to follow him into a small side room. He doubted there was a chance in hell that he could be any sort of threat to the young man.
"Do you have the feeling in your heart right now?" The Abbot asked as soon as he had closed the door behind them.
"What?" TK asked, a little apprehension rising in his chest.
"It is okay to tell me, young prince." The Abbot answered calmly. "I have seen accounts written from King Justin's own hand about the impulses that dwelled in the pit of his being. He referred to them as 'The Sin', but I assume you have given them another name."
TK stared at the man for a long moment. "The Darkness." He said softly.
"Have you confided in anyone else?"
"Just Kari, my wife. And Cody may have figured out some of it." TK did not feel entirely comfortable revealing all of this, but he looked into the older man's steel gray eyes, and could not find any real reason why he should not.
"And what does it feel like?"
The young prince looked down at the ground, searching his mind for words to describe the thing that was ever-present in all he thought and felt. "It varies... changes, depending on what is happening, or what I'm feeling."
TK looked down at his feet, and the Abbot could not help being reminded of a shame-faced child. "Most of the time, its just like this great black hole in my heart. And-and I have to always be careful of it, inching around it all the time. But then when I'm in battle, or angry, or-or just at random times, it's like this huge beast throwing itself against the bars of a cage, fighting to get out. And lately it's gotten harder to control it. It's-"
TK suddenly stopped talking. He looked up at the Abbot and captured the man's thoughts in his sapphire gaze. "I should leave, shouldn't I?" He asked in a serious voice mixed with fear and sorrow. "I'm only going to hurt them if I stay. I'll only end up hurting Kari and the baby." His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to hold back tears.
The Abbot felt his own heart seize in his chest, and he griped the young prince's shoulder. "Do not be foolish." He said firmly. "You will never be able to leave them, just as they would never let you go."
"Then tell me how I can fight it." TK's voice became stronger as he tried to shake off the tears. "You said you wanted to help. So help me."
The Abbot sighed and closed his eyes. "The Ishidas were monstrously cruel to their children. They would be abused almost from birth; their spirits crushed before they ever had a chance to grow. This was the way in which they brought the darkness to the surface. But the children who showed the greatest strength, the potential kings and generals, would be given a companion, a pet, a friend, a lover. Someone who shared in all their misery and suffering, someone upon whose love and support they would grow to depend on just to live through another night. And when the time was considered right, their other would be taken from them, murdered slowly and painfully while they watched helpless. It was only in such a moment of pure anguish and hatred that a true monster could be born, a thing that killed for the sheer joy of killing."
The old man suddenly stared deep into TK's eyes, holding him by the shoulders. "But you are not such a monster. You have a family, a wife, and a child who you will be able to hold in your arms in but a few short months. And when you fight, you do not do so for the sake of conquest and bloodshed, but only to protect those you care about. You are surrounded by love, and long as you trust in that, as long as you keep hope, then the darkness can roar and fight all it wants, but it will never be able to break free." The Abbot stared at TK with an almost pleading expression, like his own salvation depended on the young man's will to keep fighting.
TK could not make himself meet the older man's gaze. He was scared, terrified of all the thoughts and ideas that were assailing his mind. He kept seeing himself in battle, his eyes frozen in ice, and his mouth locked in a wolf's grin. He was a predator, a killer, and by all rights he deserved to be put down like a sick animal. But he kept hearing the Abbot's words echo in his ears, kept seeing the faces of his family. And he remembered that he had promised Kari he would never leave her. He finally looked up at the Abbot, his blue eyes sad but determined.
"Thank you." He said simply. He could feel the darkness slinking about in his heart, but his hold on it seemed tighter than ever.
The Abbot nodded. "If you are feeling grateful, then allow myself and my pupil to accompany you for the remainder of your journey."
"Why?" TK asked, his eyes narrowing.
The Abbot once again found himself haunted by the questioning eyes of a small boy. "An old debt. And please, I beg of you, leave it at that."
The young prince frowned. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he suddenly wondered if the old man's voice had ever had a cruel ring to it, or if his gray eyes had ever peered out from behind narrow slits in a black visor. But he willfully forbade the thoughts to reach the surface
"Okay." He said with a small nod. "We'll probably be leaving soon." And he went out the door without waiting for a response.
The others were clustered together in the hall, and their eyes were wide with worry when they saw him emerge. They looked him over carefully, as if afraid that he had been somehow changed during the few moments in the other room. Kari came up to him and gently took hold of his hands, millions of questions in her soft brown eyes. TK pulled her close and softly kissed her. She sighed gratefully and wrapped her arms around him, satisfied with the answer.
Tai was almost boiling over with nervous energy, plagued by the knowledge that he could not somehow take TK's place in the battle he was being forced to fight. He was about to clasp the young man on the shoulder, when they were all suddenly stricken still and silent by the tense, urgent baying of a hunting horn, drifting through the open doorway from the courtyard.
TK took off like a shot, slipping from Kari's arms and racing out into the yard. His men were under attack, as told by the blasts from the horn, and all of his personal thoughts and worries could not stand before this fact. His horse was tied near the door, and the animal was already anxiously pulling at its leather straps as he reached its side. The prince tore off his cloak, and hurriedly replaced it with a chain mail shirt and steel helmet from his saddlebags. He then jumped on his mount and galloped out the Monastery gates, moments ahead of a group of monks seeking to close it against the sounds of battle raging nearby. TK followed the chorus of clashing steel and adrenaline screams around one of the corners, and there it was. Torchlight from up on the Monastery walls reflected off the armor of the combatants, making it seem like a war of shadows. The prince could see that his men were outnumbered, but he could not tell by how much. The pink rose of Tachikawa was barely discernable on the uniforms of the antagonists.
TK launched himself into the fray, cutting into the enemy ranks like a knife. The fighting was at such close quarters that all he could do was hack all around with his sword, but men fell beneath him like wheat under a thresher. Hours seemed to pass every second. His muscles burned, and the sound of his own breathing rang in his ears. Enemies came at him in waves, but he knocked them all away. Then all at once the Tachikawans retreated, scattering into the night.
"After them, sir?" A young soldier panted at his elbow.
"Huh? I mean n-no." The prince stuttered back. "See to the wounded."
TK reigned in his horse and looked around himself in confusion. Something seemed off, something was missing. And it took him a moment to figure out what it was. He did not have to throw up, at least not more so than any soldier after a battle. He would have laughed in relief, if he had not suddenly had to jump off his horse and try to stop the bleeding of one of his men. Even still, there was a sudden ease to his thoughts. He knew what the darkness was now. It was a curse, and a part of him, yes. But it was not his fault, and he did not have to let it control him. He could kick it around like a stray dog, and all it could do was hide under a table and growl at him. He did not have to be in constant fear of it. He would have smiled at thought, except the young soldier he was trying to help suddenly closed his eyes. And like all leaders before him, TK felt this very much was his fault.
---------------------------------------------
"What do you think?" Izzy whispered. His fingers tapped nervously on the ground in front of him.
"Don't know." Jun whispered back, keeping her eyes straight ahead. They were splayed out on the ground perhaps fifty yards from the front gate of Ichijouji Monastery. And had an excellent view of the armored carriage used by Queen Sora and Princess Hikari of Kamiya. Which meant that at least part of the royal family was inside the Monastery, a day's march from the Kamiyian column.
"Well, should we take a closer look? Should we prepare some sort of attack? What?" Izzy prodded, his voice rising a little with anxiety. He knew more than anyone else that he was not cut out for sneaking around in the dark. It made him too impatient and irritable.
"How about you just shut up and let me think." Jun responded flatly. She heard her companion grumble something in reply before becoming still. She let her eyes travel over the scene, absorbing every little detail. The courtyard was empty except for the carriage, five covered wagons, and four horses hitched near the door. Jun frowned, she thought it highly unlikely that Tai would let either his wife or sister travel so far from the column without a good-sized escort force. And the lack of horses in view meant that force was most likely patrolling somewhere close by. Her eyes drifted to the forest to the left of the Monastery walls. The thirty men in her scouting patrol were waiting somewhere near there, and she did not feel at all confident in putting them against Kamiyian troops trained highly enough to serve as royal bodyguards.
"Come on." She said, patting Izzy on the shoulder. "Let's get out of here." She started to crawl backwards to where they had left their horses.
"What?" Izzy asked surprised. "We're not going to do something?"
"We have to get that information back to the camp." She answered, grabbing hold of his leg and starting to pull him after her. "Lord Artur and the eastern lords are about two days away from meeting up with the Kamiyians. And we have to give Matt and Mimi enough time to prepare."
Izzy sneered. "Prepare to go home is what we should do. Let that asshole Rolen and his 'king' do their own fighting." He batted her hand away from his leg, but began to inch after her.
Jun was about to voice her opinions on Lord Rolen, when the sound of the Monastery doors opening made them both freeze and hug the ground. The heavy wooden portals opened wide, and a small group of monks rushed over to the wagons and pulled back the canvas covers, revealing baskets full of food and blankets. A few moments later a group of men and women, with a few small children, came out of a side passage and began to help the monks unload the provisions.
"How do you like that?" Izzy whispered, his eyes narrowing in concentration. "One moment they're slaughtering helpless villagers, the next they're sending supplies to refugees. Looks like the Kamiyians can't seem to make up their minds." It was hard to miss the sharp implications of his tone.
Jun sighed, and something in the pit of her stomach made her feel queasy and uncertain. "Let's just go." She responded, taking a long last look at the wagons. The whole situation made her feel uncharacteristically trapped. And barely suppressed fear filled her muscles with a loose sensation. She crawled along the ground as quickly and quietly as she could, and had almost reached her tethered horse when the sounds of fighting broke out from the forest. A sudden panic made Jun's heart jump into her throat. She jumped into the saddle with a curse, trying to strap on her helmet even as she steered her horse in the direction of the noise. Izzy was only a few yards behind her.
As soon as Jun saw the actual battle, she knew that she had to get her men to disengage and retreat without delay. The opposing soldiers boasted not only the mid-day sun on their armor, but also the gold shooting star that designated them as the Takaishian guard, the cream of the Kamiyina forces. The two sides were hopelessly tangled, but even as Jun charged into the fray she could tell that her men were getting the worst of it. Five had already fallen from their saddles, and another was slumped over his mount's neck.
Jun's thick, strong horse bullied its way into the thick of the battle, and she had struck down two men within moments. But the Takaishians were as fierce and tenacious as hound dogs. They seemed to recognize her as the strongest warrior, and thronged about her in an effort to bring her down. One gave her a glancing blow across the helmet that made her head ring. And in the brief disorientation that followed she was sure that she would die. But the deathblow did not come, and when she looked up Izzy was at her side, panting hard and favoring his right shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words were drowned out by the low, warning blasts of a hunting horn. One of the Kamiyians had managed to get clear of the battle to call reinforcements.
"We have to get out of here!" Jun shouted over the din, wildly waving to any of her men in sight. But overmatched as they were, the Tachikawans could not, or would not break clear of the battle. She spotted a small pocket of her troops at the edge of the fight, and began yelling at them to retreat. But before they could respond, a lone horseman plowed straight into their midst. Jun watched in horror and amazement as the warrior cut them down with unbelievable ease. A helmet masked his features, but she knew it could only be Takeru, the Iron Prince. A conclusion reinforced by the way the Takaishians rallied around him.
This must be what it is like to fight against Matt, Jun thought to herself. To fight against a warrior whose mere presence is enough to inspire his own men, while sapping away the strength of his enemies. Jun spurred her horse towards the Prince. She knew that she could not match him, but her responsibility to her troops urged her onward. Izzy struggled along at her side, and she came close to ordering him back. But she did not. Despite all of her courage, she did not want to enter the fight alone.
The pair fought their way to the warrior, and Jun swung at him with her sword. But the Prince blocked the blow easily, then let loose with a horizontal stroke that cut into her sword arm. She did not even have time to grit her teeth before the Prince followed up by striking her in the face with his gauntlet-covered fist. The force of the punch was so much that Jun was almost knocked out of the saddle, and she was desperately trying to hold onto her horse's flank when she heard Izzy cry out in pain. She pulled herself back up to see her companion doubled up in the saddle with his hands pressed over his stomach.
All at once, the fear and panic that Jun had been holding at bay came rushing to the surface. Without thinking, she threw her sword at the Prince, and then ripped off her helmet and hurled that at him too. It did not harm him in the slightest, but it gave Jun enough time to grab hold of the reins of Izzy's horse, and steer her own mount away from the warrior.
"Fall back! Fall back!" She shouted as she tried to fight free. It seemed to take forever, but she finally got clear, instinctively spurring her horse into a full gallop. Her only conscious thought was to keep hold of the reins of Izzy's horse. Both mounts raced on for many minutes, until Jun finally regained enough composure to bring them to a halt. She immediately jumped off her steed, and carefully as she could, pulled Izzy out of the saddle.
"Oh fuck... Fuck." The young man groaned. His face was white with shock but his eyes seemed focused and livid. Jun immediately feared the worst by the way he was holding himself. She had seen men who had their stomachs cut open in battle, their hands all they had to keep their entrails from spilling out.
"Let me see, Izzy" She whispered, gently pulling his hands away from his stomach. Her heart pounded in her ears as she searched for the wound, but she could not find it.
"T-the bastard c-cut off my fingers." Izzy stammered to her.
Jun suddenly felt herself fill up with relief at the words; her eyes went to the stumps that had once been the little and ring fingers of his left hand. "Only your fingers?" She asked, unable to keep her relief from forming into a small grin.
"What the hell do you mean 'only my fingers'?" Izzy shouted at her, his face twisted up in pain and disbelief. "Have you gone mad?"
Jun did not respond, but just pulled him into a fierce hug. She had been so scared, and she could not even bear the thought of losing someone else she cared about, not after Davis.
"M-my fingers." Izzy stuttered again, his mouth hanging open with confusion.
The words brought Jun back to reality and she pulled away. She hoped that he could not see the foolish blush of her cheeks, or the tears she was trying to blink away. "Just shut up, Izzy." She told him tenderly as she tore part of her cloak into strips. "My father had one whole hand cut off, and he still manages to get along all right." She took the strips and wrapped them as tightly as she dared around his hand.
Izzy winced as he watched her apply the makeshift bandage. The wound hurt horribly, but his mind and body were beginning to become accustomed to the pain, and clearer thoughts formed in his head. "You're hurt." He said, nodding at the wound to her arm.
"Just a scratch." Jun said as she continued to wrap his hand. The wound pained her, but she thought it hardly worth any attention at the moment.
"Even still..." Izzy said quietly. He picked up one of the spare strips of fabric, and managed with his right hand to tie it haphazardly around her wounded arm.
Jun did not say anything, but the corners of her mouth turned up in the beginning of a tired grin. "We should probably cauterize your fingers the first chance we-" She was cut off by the sound of a rapidly approaching horse. The pair jumped apart and reflexively looked for their swords, cursing as they realized that they had both lost their weapons. The horse and rider burst into view, and they both felt their shoulders sag in relief as they saw it was one of their men.
"Lady Jun, Lord Koushiro." The young soldier said, giving a haggard salute. "We thought the Iron Prince had killed you both."
Jun shook her head as she got to her feet. "Are the Kamiyians pursuing?" She asked.
"No." The soldier answered, panting hard. "And everyone who made it is in a clearing not far from here. "
"How many are alive." Izzy asked expectantly.
The young soldier bowed his head. "Fourteen. Two are wounded pretty badly."
Jun clenched her fists and fought the impulse to scream. She had lost more than half of her men in a span of minutes. "We start for Castle Ishida and our camp right now." She said in a forced voice, climbing back on her horse. "And we don't stop until we get there."
The young soldier nodded, and they both waited for Izzy to climb slowly into his own saddle. Then she gave a nod and the soldier began to lead them toward the rest of the troops. No one said a word as they moved, Jun too deep in her own thoughts to do more than stare at the back of her horse's head. The dogs of war were about to be given full leash to roam about Ishida. And if the recent skirmish were any indication, the hounds would soon have their fill of blood upon which to feast.
