Author's Notes: See chapter one for disclaimer and explanation.
Love, Life, and Death By Annie-chan Chapter Sixteen: WarHôjun lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. Kônan-koku and Kutô-koku were at war. Suzaku had been sealed. The Suzaku Shichi Seishi were powerless. Miaka had disappeared. Tamahome had disappeared. Nuriko was dead. Chiriko was dead. Mitsukake was injured very badly. Hotohori was fighting personally, and was likely to get himself killed. The Kônan-koku army was hopelessly outnumbered. Empress Hôki was pregnant, and worrying over the emperor's welfare on the battlefield was just making her and the unborn baby sick.
Basically, life had gone to Hell in a hand basket, in Hôjun's opinion.
Really, the only thing good that had happened lately was the arrival of Tasuki's Reikaku-zan bandits that afternoon, led by the fire Seishi's best friend. Hôjun couldn't remember exactly, but he thought he heard Tasuki yelling the name "Kôji!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", then doing a funny little dance with the scarred young newcomer. It had taken everyone completely by surprise. Still, it wasn't nearly enough to even the odds between the armies.
He couldn't help but turn his thoughts toward home. Were his wife and children all right? Was the war affecting Shôryû much? Were they far enough away from the border with Kutô-koku to keep the Kutô-koku soldiers from coming across it and invading? So many questions were constantly going through his head lately. He had lost his imôto several months back to some mysterious illness. He couldn't bear the possibility of losing anybody else dear to him. The losses of Nuriko and Chiriko had strained his morale in this whole Seishi deal, and if he was to lose his wife or either of his children while he was away and couldn't protect them, he was almost sure he would lose all desire to continue his duty as a Seishi as well.
Suzaku…Byakko…Genbu…anyone who's listening…please keep them safe, no da! He kept repeating that little prayer throughout the day for a few weeks now. It was becoming as automatic as breathing.
He heard his stomach complain from lack of adequate food. Food was being conserved as much as possible, so rations were slim, but he wasn't eating much of what he got, either. He knew his body was hungry, but his appetite had been absent for some time now. In the past few months, he had lost a lot of weight, and he wasn't that heavy to begin with. He was toned and muscular, but slender. His body was starting to cannibalize his muscle tissue, which was very bad during something such as war, where he had to be as fit as possible. Still, he couldn't bring himself to eat much.
He wasn't getting very much sleep lately, either. He spent most of every night staring up at the ceiling like he was at the moment, his head running with thoughts and worries.
He sighed. Everything just seems more and more hopeless every day, no da, he thought gloomily. Is there any way we could win this war, no da?
He rolled over onto his side, a single tear sliding down his cheek. Kôran…if I don't return to you…know how much I love you. His magic was gone, so he couldn't contact anyone telepathically anymore—he wouldn't be able to contact Kôran anyway, due to the distance between them—but he hoped against logic that she would hear him. He closed his eye, and finally dropped off into an uneasy sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In a smallish town next to a mighty river, a young woman woke up suddenly. She had just dreamed a dream that lasted only a few seconds, but left her in shock just the same. In it, she saw her husband, looking slightly ill, lying in a bed, a single tear sliding down his cheek. She distinctly heard his voice, though his lips were not moving. Kôran…if I don't return to you…know how much I love you.
She dropped back to sleep a few minutes later, wondering if it had been a dream at all.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hôjun sat on the ground, taking a rest. He wasn't much of a fighter, so the emperor had told him to help Mitsukake and the other doctors with the sick and the wounded. Part of the time, he took care of them. Part of the time, he protected them. There was always the threat of Kutô-koku soldiers coming across the makeshift hospital and attacking, and there had to be guards. Hôjun had been given a sword and two knives, but he wasn't very comfortable with them. He didn't like the idea of killing, and he had gotten a sick feeling in his stomach and his heart when he had to personally kill a few days ago. He witnessed a lone Kutô-koku soldier attacking three little siblings, and had to fight to save them. It was half luck, but he had managed to get his sword through the soldier's chest, killing him almost instantly. Tasuki and Kôji had found him a few minutes later, kneeling next to the body with a look of disgust and horror on his face.
He got up, adjusting the sword at his belt and heading back toward where Mitsukake was with the newly named Tama-neko. Miaka had told the healer that "Tama" was the perfect name for the little cat—heretofore unnamed—and the cat had taken a liking to it, apparently. It responded every time that name was said.
"Mitsukake, no da," Hôjun said, approaching the healer. "Is there anybody new here, no da?"
"No," Mitsukake replied. "Not for about half an hour, anyway." He glanced up at Hôjun. "You look awful. Are you all right?"
"No, no da," Hôjun said. "I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm sick of this whole damned war, no da. I'm basically like everyone else in Kônan-koku, no da. You don't look so good, either, no da." He sat down near Mitsukake and took a short drink from a ladle in the nearby bucket of drinking water. "Do think it'll be over anytime soon, no da?"
"I don't know," Mitsukake said, finishing replacing a bandage on someone shot through the arm with an arrow. "I hate to say it, but we will probably come out on the short end of it."
Hôjun said nothing.
"Soldiers!!!!!!!!!!!!" came a cry from a little ways away. "Kutô-koku soldiers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hôjun jumped up. "Shimatta, no da! Those damned soldiers can go to Hell, for all I care, no da!" He ran back to were he was a few minutes ago. Sure enough, there were about four Kutô-koku soldiers, looking a little lost, not far away. But, as soon as they saw Hôjun with two other guards, they drew their weapons and moved in to attack. Hôjun, tired as he was, did the same.
There is one more of them than of us, no da, he thought. Please don't let that make much of a difference, no da! Just at that moment, he and the other guards met with the Kutô-koku soldiers. The other two guards were two of Tasuki's bandits, and most likely more skilled with the sword than Hôjun. He hoped the soldiers wouldn't be too much for the bandits, because they'd be impossible to beat for Hôjun if they were.
His sword was almost knocked out of his hand, the soldier's first blow was so hard. Hôjun tightened his grip and gritted his teeth, determined not to lose. This Kutô-koku bastard wouldn't get away from here alive!
He checked himself. He didn't want to kill if he didn't have to. Still…this fight would probably end with one of them dead.
He found himself being driven back. The soldier had much more experience than the powerless Seishi. Hôjun had to put all his effort into defending, and his already sapped strength was quickly wearing out. It wasn't long before his vision started to get blurry.
Oh, Suzaku, he thought hopelessly. I'm done for. That thought was barely through his mind before he felt a sharp pain in his sword arm. The soldier had slashed a shallow but long gash in his lower arm, making him drop his weapon. He cried out and clutched the wound, feeling the blood run through his fingers. He collapsed to the ground, black spots starting in his vision. The soldier brought his weapon down toward his neck…
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
A young man's voice screamed out not far behind the soldier. Suddenly, the soldier's arm was separated from his body, it and the sword dropping harmlessly to the ground. The soldier's cry of pain ended in a gurgle as a sword blade passed through his chest from behind. The now lifeless body dropped to the side.
It was Kôji. He and several Reikaku-zan bandits were returning from a skirmish not too far off. Hôjun saw through a haze of exhaustion that Tasuki was running up behind Kôji, along with several of his bandits. There was genuine fear in Tasuki's eyes.
"Chichiri! Daijôbu?!" Tasuki almost screamed, dropping to his knees next to Hôjun. Fatigue and blood loss was taking its toll, and Hôjun couldn't answer coherently. Tasuki wasted no time in picking him up and running into the "hospital."
"Doctor!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tasuki screamed to any doctor near enough to hear. Hôjun felt himself set down on the ground, Tasuki's arm supporting him in a half-sitting position. He looked up and saw a young doctor he had become acquainted with start to cut his sleeve open to get to the wound.
"Shôka…"
Hôjun looked over and beheld Mitsukake, holding a little baby. The baby looked very sick, and may not be able to survive. The little girl's parents were kneeling nearby, obviously very anxious. The look in Mitsukake's eyes…
Hôjun got a distinct feeling that something terrible was about to happen. He gathered all his remaining strength, heaving himself to his feet, ignoring protests from Tasuki, Kôji, and the young doctor. He staggered over to Mitsukake, who was hugging the baby to his chest, concentrating on something. Hôjun dropped to his knees next to the healer.
"Mitsukake…? Wha…what are you—" He stopped when the healer glanced up at him, a look of "Farewell" in his eyes, and suddenly relaxed. Oh…Suzaku…
He felt nothing like when Nuriko and Chiriko died. There was no deep, gripping cold, no sense of dread leading up to the cold…nothing. The seal on their powers made it impossible to even sense when one of their own died.
"D-dead…" he murmured. His mask slipped off his face, and tears could be seen making their way down his cheeks. There were gasps of shock from the baby's parents and the young doctor, a sharp hiss of surprise from Kôji, and a choked sob from Tasuki. Another one gone. Three Seishi dead, and one missing.
Hôjun's eye suddenly rolled up into his head, and he fainted dead away.
To be continued…Author's Notes: *sigh* Well…things are going mighty pissy for Chichiri and the others. War does that. I'm pretty antiwar, so I didn't glorify the war in this chapter at all. Oh, and Mitsukake's death was based on the manga, not the anime, so his energy only went to little baby Shôka, not the whole crowd. Just thought I'd clarify that point. Anyway, did I do well on this chapter? Please let me know. Comments and stuff can go to mangareader@hotmail.com, onegai shimasu!