Chapter 4
Tsukasa had to fight the cold of the mornings. Becoming a shaman had involved learning
many things, one of them was how the land acted with the sky. Where the land was
barren, the sky would show no interest in her and keep his warmth away from her at
night. That is why the mornings were so cold on the savanna. He pulled his blanket off
and reached for his tunic. He had set up his tent at the center of the group he commanded,
letting other generals keep control of their own detachments. Although he had held
command over the soldiers on their way from Nairobi, now he was suordinate to Bear,
and equal with a few other men that had been detached to this area. Straightening his cap,
he pulled back the tent flap and stepped into the brisk wind that whistled through camp.
He shuffled into the line that lead into the mess tent, took his rations, and sat on the
leeward side of a tree, thinking. He had spoken to Mimiru the day before, and there was
talk of an impending battle. A battle. He had always pproached battles with some sort of
fanatacism, the rush of the charge, the joy he felt when he felt an Imperial's skull cave
beneath his staff. But now, things were different. Every arrow that his men fired could
land on Subaru. His mind was filled with images of her being ripped from her horse by a
pike, cleaved in two by Mimiru's enormous blade, or even worse, she could be captured.
All nobles that were captured faced two choices: Ransom and interrogation (using an
arsenal of methods that had ironically been developed by the Imperials themselves), or
death, by any of such lovely methods as hanging, burning alive, a swift arrow into the
heart or throat...
"Hey, boss, are you gonna' eat that?"
He'd been sitting with his head in his hands. His bread lay half-eaten on the ground, and
his sausage not too far away, untouched. "No, help yourself." Tsukasa dragged himself to
his feet. He couldn't go on like this. He had to talk to her.
Yet again, Bear sat in his office, a fire burning, lending warmth to the cold stone walls
and floors. Battle plans and strategies went around and around in his head. Equipping his
soldiers with woven grass pavises to shield them from crossbow fire? Flanking the
enemy? Mines? Possibilities whirled in his head. Mimiru pulled back the hanging door,
unnoticed by Bear. She saw that the lines under his eyes were getting darker. She sighed
and moved on.
As the sun rose, so did the temperature. Tsukasa appreciated this. Sora, however, did not.
Sweat ran down his brow as he wearily jerked from side to side, following the movement
of his horse. His horse, for it's part, struggled onward, it's head low. If Sora leaned too
far forward, he would have been in serious danger of sliding down it's mane.
"Hmph. Helba. Thinks she's all high and mighty, gives me gold. Fat lot of good it does
me! If I don't live to get back to Shanghai, why do I need gold! Go west she says. It's a
new fronter, she says! The new frontier STINKS!"
He shook his fist at the world in general as his voice echoed off the rocks. He sighed,
realizing just how futile it was. Sora peered into his water jug, trying to see if there was
any moisture left. Just in case his eyes failed him, he shook it hungrily over his open
mouth. A single drop did fall and land on his nose. He furiously tried to reach it with his
tongue, the thrashings and twistings of which led him to fall off his horse. On the way
down, he happened to give it a solid kick while trying to regain his balance. When he sat
up again, it was disappearing over the horizon.
"I HATE THIS PLACE!"
He struggled to his feet and groaned. He walked. And he walked. And he walked more.
He felt like he was carrying his horse. With a groan, he finally collapsed. "Well, I guess
that this is it. Goodbye oh cruel world, never shall I sleep in the warm comfort of a
brothel again."
He coughed and rolled over on his back, his eyes losing focus before closing slowly. A
large savanna mosquito fluttered down and settled between his eyebrows. One eye
opened. The other followed suit. They crossed on the large insect. Sora's eyebrow
twitched.
"YAAH!"
He leapt to his feet, swatting madly at his nose. He leaned over and rested his hands on
his knees. Looking ahead, he saw nothing but the same empty grass that he'd been staring
at for days. And... something else. A mirage? He squinted. Mirage, hell! He broke into a
run.
Subaru was waiting for him at the oasis. She leapt into Tsukasa's arms. They fell in a
mad lock of tongues and hands, roaming and touching and feeling, love making them
almost a single being. They fell onto the cool grass, the wet dew clinging to their
clothing. Tsukasa
finally broke the kiss, and let his arms fall away from her.
"Subaru, I need to ask you something."
She ran a hand through the grass, only able to see him through one winking eye, the other
hidden beneath the lush carpet.
"Sure." She replied with a giggle.
"In three days, your Imperial soldiers will attack our fort, and then there will be a battle.
A huge battle."
Subaru looked away from him, down at the grass. The little haven they'd built together
could only last as long as their respective armies were seperated.
"Subaru, in three days you could be killed. I might have to give the order that will kill
you."
Again, she refused to meet his gaze, and started to turn over on her stomach. He stopped
her, pushing her shoulder back firmly, surprised at his sudden tenacity.
"I can't let that happen."
"But, I can't call off a whole attack." She whispered.
"You don't have to."
"What?"
"Run away with me, Subaru."
She gasped. In the Empire, to forsake duty was the greatest shame one could ever
commit. Tsukasa continued.
"We'll leave this war behind us. We'll run away, far away, we'll go to the south, where
there's peace, we can be together, and never have to see men die for no reason again!"
He raised his hand up to cup her cheek.
"I love you, Subaru."
She brought her hand up to meet his. Long moments passed before she slowly, yet firmly,
nodded her head.
"All right. I'll go."
Tsukasa smiled, and reached out to hold her again.
Sora laughed as he dove into the creek.
"An oasis! I'm saved! Dear gods that I may have offended earlier, thank you for your
mercy!"
He drank deeply from the creek before he splashed the water into his hair, lossening the
clumps of dirt and twigs. His jaw dropped as his gaze passed over the shrubs at his feet.
"Are those..."
He fell to his knees to examine the bush more closely.
"Strawberries!"
He ripped off a handfull and stuffed them greedily into his mouth. Feeling about on his
person for a bag, he muttered around the pulp,
"What wath the market prith on theeth again? Fiffy a pound?"
He swallowed.
"Or was it thirty... what the hell! I'm rich!"
He skipped merrily along, dropping the berries in his sack, whistling a tune he'd picked
up in Shanghai. He thought to himself,
'Hm... I haven't been to Nairobi yet. I wonder what I'd get for these there? I heard the
women have dark skin. And are... eh...'
The word 'endowed' went up in big neon letters across Sora's brain as he let out a
contented sigh. He pranced along before a noise reached his ears. A noise he would
recognize anywhere.
"Lady Subaru?"
Tsuka's tongue danced in her ear... she could feel his arms, pulling her closer, his hands
grazing her nipples ever-so-slightly...
Sora's look of pure astonishment upon finding strawberries in this hell-hole was put to
shame by the utterly stupefied look he wore now. Subaru and... and... somebody that
wasn't Kurim, that's who! Although he didn't feel any particular loyalty to either of
them,
his decency as a human being drove him to reach for the pocket where he kept the
recording glass Helba had given him.
He was in her, around her... she was moving... they were moving, together...
Sora didn't stay to watch the ending. He grabbed his sack and dashed off in the assumed
direction of the Imperial camp. It had to be close, and he had to tell Kurim about this!
"So these are the new weapons? What kind of... I've never seen anything like it before!"
The leader of their new troops had handed Kurim his own weapon for the commander to
inspect. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It had a base of wood, and a long
hollow shaft of metal, with gears and clockwork in the center. It was wholly unwieldly as
a club, although a strong man could make some trouble with it, however, the soldiers
he'd been sent were from his homeland of China, a land hardly known for it's people's
size. Kurim, at his lanky build and nearly six-foot height, was considered a small giant.
Kurim scratched his head.
"So... what does it do, exactly?"
The leader bowed and extended his hands in a request to have his weapon returned to
him. After Kurim complied, he reached into his robes and, after procuring several bizarre
items, began setting the delicate clockwork, pouring fine black powder into the strange
weapon, and struck a match, which he laid in a small grip after pulling it back with a
small 'click'. He raised the weapon to his shoulder in a most odd fashion, pointed it
threateningly at a tree (All of his soldiers took several quick steps away from the tree.
Kurim waved his hand, and his own soldiers did the same.) The man smiled and ordered.
"I suggest you cover your ears."
Kurim did this.
BOOM!
Kurim looked with confusion from the smoking mechanism to what was left of the tree.
The leader smiled, full of satisfaction with himself, as he handed Kurim the weapon.
"These are called muskets, from the technological school of firearms."
Kurim smiled.
"Lord Kurim! Lord Kurim!"
And thus the moment was ruined. A certain curiosity was piqued in Kurim. That was the
first time Sora had ever called him Lord without meaning to ridicule him. He handed the
musket back to it's owner and ordered him to settle his troops, then come to his tent. The
general bowed, about-faced, and began shouting orders to his troops. Kurim turned to
face the stain on his existence, who seemed to be very out of breath.
"What IS it, Sora?"
"Message for you... You should watch it... in your tent..."
"Watch?"
Sora shook his head to indicate that he didn't want to explain, and waved his hand
towards the command tent.
Kurim's teeth clenched. A cord on his neck was standing out, and he was gripping his
spear in a manner that made Sora take a few steps backwards from the commander's seat.
Kurim stood and began to pace as he watched the events unfold. Finally, the glass
dimmed. Kurim lowered it from his eye, and crushed the glass in his hand, the shards
drawing blood from his palm. With a roar, he threw them across the tent. His shoulders
drooped and he leaned on his spear. Sora thought that the ever calm man was on the
verge of crying.
"Kurim..." Sora couldn't help but try and comfort the man, however he could. In an
instant, Kurim was standing up straight, his robes waving behind him as he shoved Sora
out of the way and disappeared into camp again, the look of a demon on his face.
Kurim had seen her go this way four times a week since they'd arrived here. With a
company of eight of his new musketeers, they watched for a lone horse on the horizon,
and found it.
"Light your matches."
Subaru could see them, even from here. An Imperial control, led by a man wielding an
awfully familiar spear... wait, that was Kurim! He'd come to greet her? That was strange.
She kicked her horse into a gallop, yelling his name as she came within earshot. That was
strange, what were those things the men were... pointing... at... her? The soldiers rode to
surround her. Her horse turned, nervously. It was an officer's horse, it had never seen
combat in it's entire life, so this type of situation did make it quite nervous.
"Kurim? What's... what's going on?"
"Subaru, you're under arrest."
"What?! Who are these men? What are those... things?!Kurim? I demand an
explanation!"
"Come with us, Subaru."
"No!"
She had to make a break for it! Those things didn't have too much reach, and how the
men were holding them
wasn't going to help that either. If she could just squeeze through... She kicked her horse
and broke through the circle, heading back the way she had come. Her horse was much
faster than theirs, if she could just get to the oasis in time...
Kurim shook his head.
"Shoot her horse."
And all her plans came to naught. She was thrown to the ground, her mount flopping
about as though it had been hit by an arrow. But, it was bleeding too much for it to have
been an arrow, and there was no shaft. A hole in her horse's leg that was too big to
explain. Kurim approached her and hoisted her into his saddle.
"Now, let's not try that again." He whispered in her ear. He cast a disdained look on the
fallen horse.
"Kill it." he ordered, before giving a 'Hya!' and riding back to camp, Subaru sitting
across his lap. She jumped at the crack of the musket.
Kurim rode with her back to the camp, the sun setting behind the mountain ridge.
Tsukasa had to fight the cold of the mornings. Becoming a shaman had involved learning
many things, one of them was how the land acted with the sky. Where the land was
barren, the sky would show no interest in her and keep his warmth away from her at
night. That is why the mornings were so cold on the savanna. He pulled his blanket off
and reached for his tunic. He had set up his tent at the center of the group he commanded,
letting other generals keep control of their own detachments. Although he had held
command over the soldiers on their way from Nairobi, now he was suordinate to Bear,
and equal with a few other men that had been detached to this area. Straightening his cap,
he pulled back the tent flap and stepped into the brisk wind that whistled through camp.
He shuffled into the line that lead into the mess tent, took his rations, and sat on the
leeward side of a tree, thinking. He had spoken to Mimiru the day before, and there was
talk of an impending battle. A battle. He had always pproached battles with some sort of
fanatacism, the rush of the charge, the joy he felt when he felt an Imperial's skull cave
beneath his staff. But now, things were different. Every arrow that his men fired could
land on Subaru. His mind was filled with images of her being ripped from her horse by a
pike, cleaved in two by Mimiru's enormous blade, or even worse, she could be captured.
All nobles that were captured faced two choices: Ransom and interrogation (using an
arsenal of methods that had ironically been developed by the Imperials themselves), or
death, by any of such lovely methods as hanging, burning alive, a swift arrow into the
heart or throat...
"Hey, boss, are you gonna' eat that?"
He'd been sitting with his head in his hands. His bread lay half-eaten on the ground, and
his sausage not too far away, untouched. "No, help yourself." Tsukasa dragged himself to
his feet. He couldn't go on like this. He had to talk to her.
Yet again, Bear sat in his office, a fire burning, lending warmth to the cold stone walls
and floors. Battle plans and strategies went around and around in his head. Equipping his
soldiers with woven grass pavises to shield them from crossbow fire? Flanking the
enemy? Mines? Possibilities whirled in his head. Mimiru pulled back the hanging door,
unnoticed by Bear. She saw that the lines under his eyes were getting darker. She sighed
and moved on.
As the sun rose, so did the temperature. Tsukasa appreciated this. Sora, however, did not.
Sweat ran down his brow as he wearily jerked from side to side, following the movement
of his horse. His horse, for it's part, struggled onward, it's head low. If Sora leaned too
far forward, he would have been in serious danger of sliding down it's mane.
"Hmph. Helba. Thinks she's all high and mighty, gives me gold. Fat lot of good it does
me! If I don't live to get back to Shanghai, why do I need gold! Go west she says. It's a
new fronter, she says! The new frontier STINKS!"
He shook his fist at the world in general as his voice echoed off the rocks. He sighed,
realizing just how futile it was. Sora peered into his water jug, trying to see if there was
any moisture left. Just in case his eyes failed him, he shook it hungrily over his open
mouth. A single drop did fall and land on his nose. He furiously tried to reach it with his
tongue, the thrashings and twistings of which led him to fall off his horse. On the way
down, he happened to give it a solid kick while trying to regain his balance. When he sat
up again, it was disappearing over the horizon.
"I HATE THIS PLACE!"
He struggled to his feet and groaned. He walked. And he walked. And he walked more.
He felt like he was carrying his horse. With a groan, he finally collapsed. "Well, I guess
that this is it. Goodbye oh cruel world, never shall I sleep in the warm comfort of a
brothel again."
He coughed and rolled over on his back, his eyes losing focus before closing slowly. A
large savanna mosquito fluttered down and settled between his eyebrows. One eye
opened. The other followed suit. They crossed on the large insect. Sora's eyebrow
twitched.
"YAAH!"
He leapt to his feet, swatting madly at his nose. He leaned over and rested his hands on
his knees. Looking ahead, he saw nothing but the same empty grass that he'd been staring
at for days. And... something else. A mirage? He squinted. Mirage, hell! He broke into a
run.
Subaru was waiting for him at the oasis. She leapt into Tsukasa's arms. They fell in a
mad lock of tongues and hands, roaming and touching and feeling, love making them
almost a single being. They fell onto the cool grass, the wet dew clinging to their
clothing. Tsukasa
finally broke the kiss, and let his arms fall away from her.
"Subaru, I need to ask you something."
She ran a hand through the grass, only able to see him through one winking eye, the other
hidden beneath the lush carpet.
"Sure." She replied with a giggle.
"In three days, your Imperial soldiers will attack our fort, and then there will be a battle.
A huge battle."
Subaru looked away from him, down at the grass. The little haven they'd built together
could only last as long as their respective armies were seperated.
"Subaru, in three days you could be killed. I might have to give the order that will kill
you."
Again, she refused to meet his gaze, and started to turn over on her stomach. He stopped
her, pushing her shoulder back firmly, surprised at his sudden tenacity.
"I can't let that happen."
"But, I can't call off a whole attack." She whispered.
"You don't have to."
"What?"
"Run away with me, Subaru."
She gasped. In the Empire, to forsake duty was the greatest shame one could ever
commit. Tsukasa continued.
"We'll leave this war behind us. We'll run away, far away, we'll go to the south, where
there's peace, we can be together, and never have to see men die for no reason again!"
He raised his hand up to cup her cheek.
"I love you, Subaru."
She brought her hand up to meet his. Long moments passed before she slowly, yet firmly,
nodded her head.
"All right. I'll go."
Tsukasa smiled, and reached out to hold her again.
Sora laughed as he dove into the creek.
"An oasis! I'm saved! Dear gods that I may have offended earlier, thank you for your
mercy!"
He drank deeply from the creek before he splashed the water into his hair, lossening the
clumps of dirt and twigs. His jaw dropped as his gaze passed over the shrubs at his feet.
"Are those..."
He fell to his knees to examine the bush more closely.
"Strawberries!"
He ripped off a handfull and stuffed them greedily into his mouth. Feeling about on his
person for a bag, he muttered around the pulp,
"What wath the market prith on theeth again? Fiffy a pound?"
He swallowed.
"Or was it thirty... what the hell! I'm rich!"
He skipped merrily along, dropping the berries in his sack, whistling a tune he'd picked
up in Shanghai. He thought to himself,
'Hm... I haven't been to Nairobi yet. I wonder what I'd get for these there? I heard the
women have dark skin. And are... eh...'
The word 'endowed' went up in big neon letters across Sora's brain as he let out a
contented sigh. He pranced along before a noise reached his ears. A noise he would
recognize anywhere.
"Lady Subaru?"
Tsuka's tongue danced in her ear... she could feel his arms, pulling her closer, his hands
grazing her nipples ever-so-slightly...
Sora's look of pure astonishment upon finding strawberries in this hell-hole was put to
shame by the utterly stupefied look he wore now. Subaru and... and... somebody that
wasn't Kurim, that's who! Although he didn't feel any particular loyalty to either of
them,
his decency as a human being drove him to reach for the pocket where he kept the
recording glass Helba had given him.
He was in her, around her... she was moving... they were moving, together...
Sora didn't stay to watch the ending. He grabbed his sack and dashed off in the assumed
direction of the Imperial camp. It had to be close, and he had to tell Kurim about this!
"So these are the new weapons? What kind of... I've never seen anything like it before!"
The leader of their new troops had handed Kurim his own weapon for the commander to
inspect. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It had a base of wood, and a long
hollow shaft of metal, with gears and clockwork in the center. It was wholly unwieldly as
a club, although a strong man could make some trouble with it, however, the soldiers
he'd been sent were from his homeland of China, a land hardly known for it's people's
size. Kurim, at his lanky build and nearly six-foot height, was considered a small giant.
Kurim scratched his head.
"So... what does it do, exactly?"
The leader bowed and extended his hands in a request to have his weapon returned to
him. After Kurim complied, he reached into his robes and, after procuring several bizarre
items, began setting the delicate clockwork, pouring fine black powder into the strange
weapon, and struck a match, which he laid in a small grip after pulling it back with a
small 'click'. He raised the weapon to his shoulder in a most odd fashion, pointed it
threateningly at a tree (All of his soldiers took several quick steps away from the tree.
Kurim waved his hand, and his own soldiers did the same.) The man smiled and ordered.
"I suggest you cover your ears."
Kurim did this.
BOOM!
Kurim looked with confusion from the smoking mechanism to what was left of the tree.
The leader smiled, full of satisfaction with himself, as he handed Kurim the weapon.
"These are called muskets, from the technological school of firearms."
Kurim smiled.
"Lord Kurim! Lord Kurim!"
And thus the moment was ruined. A certain curiosity was piqued in Kurim. That was the
first time Sora had ever called him Lord without meaning to ridicule him. He handed the
musket back to it's owner and ordered him to settle his troops, then come to his tent. The
general bowed, about-faced, and began shouting orders to his troops. Kurim turned to
face the stain on his existence, who seemed to be very out of breath.
"What IS it, Sora?"
"Message for you... You should watch it... in your tent..."
"Watch?"
Sora shook his head to indicate that he didn't want to explain, and waved his hand
towards the command tent.
Kurim's teeth clenched. A cord on his neck was standing out, and he was gripping his
spear in a manner that made Sora take a few steps backwards from the commander's seat.
Kurim stood and began to pace as he watched the events unfold. Finally, the glass
dimmed. Kurim lowered it from his eye, and crushed the glass in his hand, the shards
drawing blood from his palm. With a roar, he threw them across the tent. His shoulders
drooped and he leaned on his spear. Sora thought that the ever calm man was on the
verge of crying.
"Kurim..." Sora couldn't help but try and comfort the man, however he could. In an
instant, Kurim was standing up straight, his robes waving behind him as he shoved Sora
out of the way and disappeared into camp again, the look of a demon on his face.
Kurim had seen her go this way four times a week since they'd arrived here. With a
company of eight of his new musketeers, they watched for a lone horse on the horizon,
and found it.
"Light your matches."
Subaru could see them, even from here. An Imperial control, led by a man wielding an
awfully familiar spear... wait, that was Kurim! He'd come to greet her? That was strange.
She kicked her horse into a gallop, yelling his name as she came within earshot. That was
strange, what were those things the men were... pointing... at... her? The soldiers rode to
surround her. Her horse turned, nervously. It was an officer's horse, it had never seen
combat in it's entire life, so this type of situation did make it quite nervous.
"Kurim? What's... what's going on?"
"Subaru, you're under arrest."
"What?! Who are these men? What are those... things?!Kurim? I demand an
explanation!"
"Come with us, Subaru."
"No!"
She had to make a break for it! Those things didn't have too much reach, and how the
men were holding them
wasn't going to help that either. If she could just squeeze through... She kicked her horse
and broke through the circle, heading back the way she had come. Her horse was much
faster than theirs, if she could just get to the oasis in time...
Kurim shook his head.
"Shoot her horse."
And all her plans came to naught. She was thrown to the ground, her mount flopping
about as though it had been hit by an arrow. But, it was bleeding too much for it to have
been an arrow, and there was no shaft. A hole in her horse's leg that was too big to
explain. Kurim approached her and hoisted her into his saddle.
"Now, let's not try that again." He whispered in her ear. He cast a disdained look on the
fallen horse.
"Kill it." he ordered, before giving a 'Hya!' and riding back to camp, Subaru sitting
across his lap. She jumped at the crack of the musket.
Kurim rode with her back to the camp, the sun setting behind the mountain ridge.