Author's Note: Okay, I shouldn't be putting this chapter up, considering I was going to wait for more reviews, but the fic is being expedited by others (not that they aren't good) and I want to keep this one noticed so it gets those much needed reviews. REVIEW, people. That's what keeps me going. jade: There is actually a reason why Satoshi looks the way he does. You gotta stop unraveling my plot, woman! Very astute, though. Cookie for you. Now, all shall be explained in due time...Especially if you review. Next chapter may take a bit.
P.S. There is no Yun/Taki romance in this chapter, if it looks that way. My beta (technical, that is) commented that it seemed like something might be developing, so I just want to assure everyone that that is not the case. There's an 11-year age difference, and I've already-...well, that would give to much away. So read, review, and read some more, than REVIEW!!!! Thanks...P.S.S. A cookie to whoever recognizes my villain.
Disclaimer: I own no SC2. I'm pretty sure Namco does, actually.
Chapter XI – The Battle at Pusan
It had been days, as far as Yunsung's weak recollection could tell. It had been hard enough walking for that long, but carrying an unconscious ninja made it worse. By the minute, Yunsung considered dropping Taki and continuing on, but her pulse seemed unstoppable, and Yunsung could not find it in his perturbed heart to live a living female who had, quite possibly, saved his life, lying by the roadside. Even if the wound was not fatal, some Korean would find her and kill her anyway, thinking the Japanese woman to be a spy, which she very well might be. In the long run, it was curiosity that kept the flame-haired warrior from leaving Taki. He still didn't understand why she'd risked her life for him. She obviously didn't like him, and certainly hadn't stepped in that dart's way on purpose. Yunsung posed an educated guess that she had some ulterior motive.
He lugged her as carefully as he could; trudging through the rain-soaked, muddy farmland as he neared the coast. There would be more farms, countless, barely navigable paddies of millet and race for Yunsung to ford. He'd almost been assaulted by an angry old man with a chute of reed the other day for trotting on his very minute supply of millet. Now he had neared Pusan, the bustling port and military city of Korea. It was the only city that had doctors who Yunsung could trust. Technically, he'd been closer to the Seung Dojo when he encountered Taki and should've returned there to get treatment, but he couldn't face his master and friends after running away so recently.
The sky was calmingly cool now, a sifted breeze whistling with a very slight eeriness, which was thankfully overshadowed by the serenity born in the skies. Countless dots of white hot light speckled the cloak of night, and Yunsung managed to crane his stiff neck up to look happily at the sky, peacefully reminiscing about how he used to lie back on the tall grass just outside the town of the Seung Dojo, reclining on amber fields with Hwang at his side, both with arms clasped comfortable behind their heads and staring up with stirring sighs at heaven's unending beauty. That had been paradise, but was to be no more. Now, the sky's beauty could not be dwelled upon. With gooey mud welling up on his legs and a ninja on his shoulder, Hong Yunsung of Korea had far too much to be thinking about other than the silver euphoria brought on in dusk.
Trudging along, weariness setting in upon the redhead, Hong Yunsung at last felt the stability of crusty earth beneath the tattered remnants of his feet. He looked up, his eyelids drooping, and saw the oblivious roofs and beaming windows, lit with hanging lamps scented of graceful oils. He sucked in the wafting smell and sighed, reminiscing once again as he shook his head, ridding himself of the melancholy humor, and continued towards the greater buildings. Here, there were only smaller structures, patched together foolishly with mortar and misplaced stone. He headed, hefting the ninja's limp body from arm to arm as his strength began to ebb and flail in its last seconds. The streets around him were oddly empty, but Yunsung dismissed that as he headed towards one of the houses towards the southern center of town, near the coast. He managed his way up the sweeping stairs to the veranda and rapped his hand wearily upon the metal-rimmed, oak solid door. No answer came, merely a vague echo from within. No sound otherwise, and that resounding soon faded entirely, the pounding noise evaporating like water on a sweltering day.
He moved along, worming his way off the porch of this home to the next. The process was repeated, as was the result, a duplicate stillness within this abode as well. Sighing, almost slumping and sagging as he dragged his numbed feet along the ground, Yunsung continued on, trying with his last tattered breaths to find a house that still had someone in it. 'How can all these houses be empty?' he thought, 'This is Pusan, one of Korea's busiest cities!' At last, a hollower sound reverberated in one of the houses as footsteps could be heard coming from within. He heard much commotion inside, more than enough to be one person skulking about. There must have been at least five or more inside, but the windows were shut and barred so he could not see within. At last, as he leaned, his chest heaving steadily, against the door, it swung open fully, with a headache-inducing metallic shriek of protest.
In the threshold stood a petite, shrunken fellow with lazy, curled gray eyebrows and a stubbly little oval-shaped face. He wore normal clothes, expect for the color spattered apron wrapped stupidly about his protruding, rounded waist. The gruff eyebrows shot up as the man looked out at Yunsung, who began to speak hurriedly. "Shille-hamnida, sir, but I really must use your home for something."
"Oh, don't worry lad," said the man understandingly, "It's not my home anyway." Yunsung didn't bother asking why the man was in someone else's home, since he was too busy thinking about Taki's revival. "Alright, fine, just let me come in. I have a sick patient here!" The man shook his head, bemoaning some such thing, and pushed the door aside for Yunsung. "There's plenty of room, considering." Yunsung, turning his gaze from Taki long enough, looked up quizzically as he entered. "Considering what, sir?" The man just shook his head and beckoned. "Look within."
In the long, rectangular room, the floor of sloping birch wood planks was pockmarked with arranged sheets, blankets, and cushions of varying size and position, laid out without a care for aesthetics throughout the gaping, hallway-like room. Several, five or more men were walking quickly through the place, adding more candles to the area to illuminate the room's dark corners and flesh the shadows out of the vicinity. They also placed leaky buckets filled to the brim beside each of the makeshift beds. Yunsung wondered what was going on as he looked across, seeing an elongated, body-sized table at the other end of the table with thin leathery straps on it halfway down its length and at both ends. Trying to disregard the strangeness and blinded by relief at finding a place to rest, Yunsung stumbled over to one blanket and carefully set the cold husk of ninja down on it. He got up, stretching his numb, bruised legs and turned fully to the shorter man, standing nearly a full head above the stout little man. "This woman is sick, she needs a doctor." The man didn't even hide it as he laughed dumbly, gesturing around the room. "A doctor? There must be five in this room alone? Ever since this became the new hospital of Pusan, all the available physicians have come here to set up for the first arrivals."
"What first arrivals?" questions began to spill extraneously out of Yunsung, "Why is this the new hospital of Pusan. Why-" The short man cut him off swiftly. "Woah, too many questions, lad. It's the new hospital because the old one, in the temple, is too close to the shoreline. If the invasion occurs, the foreigners would easily reach and overrun the small temple there. So, the medical center was relocated to this empty home after the evacuation." Yunsung just stared at him for a slovenly moment, both looking strangely confused, until Yunsung went off again like a gun firing. "What invasion? Evacuation? What is all this nonsense you speak of? Explain yourself!" He almost spat right into the man's face, who flinched and backed off.
"Settle down, kid." He tried to quiet the panting redhead, slipping forward towards him again, "You haven't heard, have you?" Yunsung looked at him, annoyed sparks flashing in his darkened eyes. "Heard what?" he growled. The man looked back at him with a pitying look and lay a broad hand on the boy's shoulder. "The Japanese fleet has been sighted at sea, not far from the coast. It was guessed that they'd go for the biggest coastal city…which is Pusan. The navy established a permanent garrison at the coast and evacuated the city so no one would be hurt when the attack came."
Yunsung stared again, his jaw dropping as his eyes widened, nearly pulsating in place. He should've known, he'd inadvertently stumbled upon the site of a soon-to-be battle with a Japanese ninja wounded in his arms. He didn't even wait before swiveling around and rushing towards the door. He had no idea what he was doing, he just let his muddled legs carry him to the threshold until he hit something there and fell backward. He looked up at the obstacle and gasped open, recognizing all too well the face looking down at him.
"Hwang!?" he almost screamed, his voice's pitch shooting up in shock. "Yunsung!" said Hwang, a mixture of misplaced happiness and disappointment on his face, "It's you! The whole dojo is worried sick about you! What are you doing here?" Yunsung, trying immediately to look as if Hwang's very sudden arrival hadn't fazed him in the least, leapt up, dusting himself off indignantly. "I was just checking out the sites."
"He dropped off a sick woman," interjected the bulgy-bellied man, "She's over there." Yunsung froze as Hwang walked past him. Taki was Japanese, and she was in a Korean city surrounded by Korean warriors, and he had brought her here. 'Shit!' Yunsung spun around and darted after Hwang, but it was already too late. As he sprinted over the beds, Hwang swiveled on his heel and grabbed Yunsung by both shoulders angrily.
"What is the meaning of this!? You brought one of the enemies here? What the hell is the matter with you, Yun?"
"Ummm…" the only, slurred syllable that escaped Yunsung's lips as he searched for an answer. He went with the only thought that struck him. "She's a spy, yes, a spy and…and…she attacked me, but I knocked her out and…here…she is…yeah." Hwang looked at him skeptically, seeing the lie in his eyes, but explored the possibility that Yunsung was telling the truth. "So, she was a spy and you captured her?" he questioned, his tone slightly amused. Yunsung nodded vigorously, his arrogance and conceited buffoonery taking over abruptly. "Yes, that's right. She was hard to beat, but I did it, and brought her here." Yunsung nodded, grasping the strange situation made up by Yunsung. "So, you mean to take her to the naval garrison?"
"No!" Yunsung shouted, realizing the mistake he'd made, "I wanted healers to tend to her so I could…ummm…wake her up and interrogate her." Yunsung shook his head this time, lowering his firm hands from Yunsung's shoulders. "She should be interrogated by the military, not by you. Come, now that you're here, you can help defend the garrison south of here. We'll take the spy to Admiral Lee." Yunsung gasped again, trying now to break the bad habit, "A-admiral Lee Sun Shin is…is here?...In Pusan?" Hwang looked at the boy as if he was insane. "Of course he's here, Yun, this is a naval and military base now. It's only right that the commander of the Korean fleet be here. He's the garrison commander." Yunsung gaped, nodding dumbly. Hwang gestured to the ninja lying limp on the bed sheets. "Pick her up and come with me. Admiral Lee will be thankful for our help." Poor, confused, and stupefied Hong Yunsung just kept nodding and dutifully obeyed the man he'd vowed to defeat.
…
The air outside was eerily cold, and a fluid sea of clouds was tainting the starless sky of dusk now. It was growing later, the last thinning rays of piercing sunlight overshadowed by the thick layers of smoggy cloud husks and night's radiant cloak.
In the distance, Yun could see the garrison. As small and slipshod as it was, it impressed him. Pusan, the city, had a great harbor at its southern end, but most of Pusan's shores were sandy beaches. Over the beach and the houses bordering it, a makeshift wall of fortresses and watch posts had been erected seemingly overnight. There was a mass of buildings that looked as if they'd been glued together, attached by small bridges, ramps, newly built wooden walls, some bare plaster and stone to hold the whole scheme of it in place. Overall, the garrison was just a wide-width wall, broad and tall with a roof above capable of being walked on, some barbs of turret and pockmark towers with thatched roofs set up every hundred feet down the garrison's length. The fortress dipped into the ground at left and right, surrounded by high sand and steep slopes. The whole building was designed to overshadow the beach below it, which was depressed into a valley that seaward invaders would have to cross under a hail of archer fire.
The northern, less military looking section of the garrison was very modest compared to the rest, with a much lower-roofed set of buildings strung together. Yun and Hwang arrived unceremoniously at one of the doors and were admitted inside by a pair of low-ranking soldiers, smartly dressed in Korean military outfits that shone of gilded cerulean to signify whatever naval status or prowess they held. Hwang greeted them, but Yunsung did not, and simply followed as they led the pair into the garrison. The younger Korean's mind was racing vivaciously, surprised and confused by his surroundings. He was going to meet Admiral Lee, which would've been a point of pride for him, except that he was far too concerned about manufacturing excuses for Taki. He had seen Lee before, but never met him.. For years, most of his comprehensive life, Yun had looked forward to encountering this great man. Now, he wasn't sure if he even could.
The four, Yunsung most behind, walked through a growing throng of commotion within. Near the northern end, there was very little hustle or bustle, but as Yunsung and Hwang were led deeper into the overnight fortress of Pusan, soldiers began to materialize out of nowhere. They were everywhere, some tall and some short, some heavily armed and some clad in rags, some walking and some running, all beginning to clutter up the area. After being separated from the men of minute rank, Hwang tried to locate a more knowledgeable figure amongst the crowds. He waved down one of the guards and his mate, dressed more fancifully than the others with uniforms of pale teal and straps of leathery armor, swords at their sides. Hwang, pulling Yunsung along with him, took one by the shoulder. "Take us to Admiral Lee Sun Shin! Now!"
Though confused, the men obeyed, recognizing the mighty Hwang Sung Kyung after a few double takes and weary glances. He had 'performed' and exhibited his prowess with the blade before the emperor himself in the Phoenix Court enough times to have a recognizably daring face. So, they were led on, deeper into the pulsating pit of hustle and bustle until they had come into a more fully lit room. There, between the mess of guards who Hwang and Yun forded like a raging river and its froth-white rapids, was the man who Hwang desired to see. He had tick brown hair, with vague strands of aging, wizened gray, but was fit and bore an adequately strong musculature. He was clad more regally in a robe-like vest and military tunic, darker in color with fringes of royal, noble blue and shanks of silver plated mail strapped to shoulder, leg, and arm. His face was clean shaven, but for some mild stubble with the ivory tinge of age that he had carefully exterminated from his visage. He wished, obviously, to look as the bold young Captain who'd once led them to victory aboard seaward ships that bounded across the waters of his triumph. As he turned from his conversation, he grinned wisely to see his loyal past friend.
"Hwang Sung Kyung, my friend, at last you've come. And, you've brought a guest…two…guests." Lee's aged, experienced eyes turned to Taki, still hanging in Yunsung's arm. "What is this that you bring me? A Japanese female?"
"She's a spy," said Hwang curtly, beating Yunsung to it, who's mouth was hanging slack in readiness for a rant, "Yunsung here was attacked by her, but he won and here she is for you." At last, a hint of confidence and pride was reflected in Hwang, but Yunsung was too busy formulating a way to not have Taki beheaded in front of him. He knew that, no matter how good a man Admiral Lee was, he would not hesitate long after the interrogation to flat out kill any Japanese prisoner who'd threatened his countrymen, especially after he found out that she wasn't a spy with vital information. "Very well," said Lee soberly, "I would not have expected a spy. The Japanese are blunter than that, as I know them. If they sent a spy to the north, there must be something they are planning. You've done well, Yunsung." Lee shook Yunsung's hand firmly, though the redhead was too dazed to realize what an incredible honor he was receiving. Lee turned from him and gestured to some guards.
The guards, right beneath Yunsung's nose as he stared blankly, picked up Taki's limp body and dragged it across the floor. Suddenly, Yunsung was again jogged rudely into reality. "Wait, where are you taking her?" he said quickly, grabbing one of the guards by the shoulder. "To the holding cells, of course. We need to wake her up before the arrival of the Japanese fleet so we can get the needed information." Yunsung scowled invisibly at Lee, and couldn't help but follow after the guards and the Admiral, with Hwang insatiably behind him. The two pulled Taki through the small room, which had in it several narrow but sturdy wooden, rectangular columns to hold up the low hanging, shadowy roof of the room. Most of the poles were at the room's corners and sides, but one was in the center, a firm support beam. The first guard leaned the ninja against that central one and stepped back to allow Lee to inspect the wound. With a strange look in his beleaguered eyes, one of the soldiers looked up. "Admiral, sir, I don't think this one's knocked out." He said, with confusion in his fluctuating, throaty pitch. Admiral Lee Sun Shin looked questioningly at him, then at Yunsung. "What do you mean, not knocked out." The one guard held up Taki as he dragged her and pointed to her limp, pale throat. "There's a mark here, from a dart or needle, probably poisoned." He said, pointing to a very slight indent in the flesh which was tinged eerily yellow. He looked at it curiously for a moment before looking at Yunsung. "How exactly did you knock this ninja out?" he murmured suspiciously.
Yunsung gulped, so openly that both Hwang and Lee took notice. He'd been discovered, but his slow wit tried to formulate a solution. "Umm…She threw a needle at me, but she missed, and I…I…threw it…back…" it would've been slightly believable if he hadn't paused and stuttered so much. Both Lee and Hwang snorted under their respective breaths, recognizing the obvious lie in the statement. Lee raised his hand, his mouth opening to speak, but was overshadowed by the voice of the guard examining Taki. "Admiral," he said quickly, "I think we could wake 'er up, maybe. She's not unconscious…just…not conscious…if ye get my drift." Lee shook his head, as did Hwang, but the man continued anyway. "Anything would do it, a quick jolt, something sudden."
"I've got something sudden for her." growled Lee, obviously angry at Yunsung for lying. He walked over to the limp ninja and didn't hesitate to drive his palm across her face. She slumped to the side, falling from the grip of the two guards, but the effect was enough. The eyes of the female drifted open as a bead of blood fell from her mouth. The guards bent down as her eyes began to adjust to the world around her and pulled her back up against the pole. "I think that did the trick, don't you?" laughed Lee, looking at Hwang and Yunsung. To his surprise, neither of them laughed back. Hwang, scowling, was obviously displeased, but times of impending war had made the two nations and their people enemies. No Japanese man or woman could expect any form of amnesty from Admiral Lee or any other Korean.
"Wha…what's going on?" murmured Taki, the words coming very slowly as reality began to flood back into her.
"You hear that?" Lee said, smiling, to Yunsung, "She doesn't even know." The Admiral approached Taki, looking down and assessing her carefully. "Actually, ninja," he said to her, "we were hoping you would tell us." Taki looked up at him, trying to figure out the situation. "Who are you?" she said drearily, realizing with some little dismay that her lip was split open at the middle. Lee looked down on her and shook his head. "Now I'm starting to see how you beat her, Yun." He smirked, "This one doesn't look like a very good spy anyway. But, she'll probably have the information we need."
"Spy? What? Who are you?" Taki, piecing together her surroundings, spoke more coherently. Lee turned, gripping the shimmering metallic hilt of his blade. "I am Admiral Lee Sun Shin of the Korean Navy, but that's not important. What is important is who you are…"
As Lee paused, openly expecting an answer, something interrupted him. A young man, gasping for breath and sweating bullets madly, nearly fell into the room, pushing past Hwang and Yunsung and falling to his knees at the feet of Admiral Lee. "Sir…" he took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure, which was no where to be found, "Sir, there are ships…thousands of ships…thousands of Japanese ships…on the horizon…coming this way…warships, Admiral, warships!" Lee's eyes widened, as did those of Hwang and Yun, but Taki, still in the dark, just looked up and tried to figure out why she was bleeding at the mouth. Lee paced forward, removing his hand from the blade at his side, with a look of fuming hatred resting upon his brow. "Come," he said swiftly, "The time has finally arrived. The Japanese will wait no longer, and neither shall we. Come, my friends."
As Lee and Hwang neared the edge of the room, Yun hung back, nervously fidgeting. "What about the spy?" he said, reluctant to pose the query. Lee didn't even turn as he answered. "Since the battle has come, we have little need of her. Keep her here, simply enough. Maybe she's worth something to them, but I highly doubt it." And, actually shivering with anticipation as an eerie silence descended on the room, the hallway, and the surrounding vicinity, Admiral Lee Sun Shin marched out, followed by Hwang, who shot a concerned look at Yun before leaving.
Hong Yunsung turned, about to leave, but hesitated for a second. The two guards behind him, still holding onto a confused ninja, pulled Taki's arms behind the large pole she was leaning against and coiled some thick rope around her wrists there. After she was securely fixed to the column, the two of them headed out, tipping their hats to Yunsung as they left. The door remained open behind them, and Yunsung watched it for a long, seemingly endless second before he turned back to Taki, who was, incidentally, looking right at him.
"Alright, are you going to tell me what's going on now?" she said, almost completely unfazed by the situation. Yunsung, his mouth still unfixed from his upper jaw, began to speak meekly. "I…I had to tell them you were a spy." Taki nodded, "Yeah, I sort of figured out that part." Yunsung looked down, his eyes clouding up a little. "I'm sorry…I wanted to thank you for saving my life…back there…People don't usually risk their lives for me, especially people I don't know." Taki, despite looking badly injured, managed a self-satisfied smile. "I wasn't really risking my life. I knew that the ninja's needle had a certain kind of poison on its tip. The poison would've killed you, but I've built up immunity to it over the years."
"How did you know what poison was being used?" said Yun, with legitimate curiosity. Taki looked up at him, pausing for the first time before she spoke, until, at last, she murmured the answer. "Because…because the ninja that attacked us was a ninja of my clan, the Fu-Ma…I knew his name, I remembered his face, his style from back at our dojo in Fu-Ma No Sato. He was called Hidosu. He was very young, but a good fighter…I taught him."
Yunsung had no idea how to respond, none at all, his eyes, livid pallor, and slack jaw all bore a blank, depthless look. "You…you killed your own student? You knew him, and you killed him?" his voice sounded more horrified than astonished. Taki nodded solemnly, "Yes. Kid, the Fu-Ma want me dead now. Times have changed, so I changed. Whether he knew me or not, I wasn't going to let him kill me…or you." Yunsung, still in a state of near-catatonic shock, let his eyelids droop merely. "Why did you care if I got killed or not?" he said after more uninterrupted silence.
"I still had questions for you. I didn't expect to be in a naval prison when I woke up." Yunsung stepped back as she finished speaking. He took a step towards the door, but pulled it back as he heard Taki's caustic tone again. "So, you're not going to return the favor, I assume" she murmured, looking a little disappointed, but otherwise unaffected "…at least not yet, anyway." Yunsung shook his head, not entirely sure what he was actually thinking. "No, I can't…I'm sorry."
His mind already in the midst of a raging battle, Yunsung left the room and slammed the door behind him.
…
The beach was suddenly filled, though it had not been but minutes ago. It was if ships, huge and boundless in their course, had just materialized on the waves. They were truly just cresting the horizon, but they seemed to have pulled out of a descended mist. They were not too far, since the horizon was not too far, and thus the thin line of the Japanese fleet leapt, drifting ominously towards the shores of Pusan. There were a great many of them, that was assured, and all bearing a mess of different standards. On their decks, though they were far off, one could see that there were many men crammed onto each, bristling in anticipation of the battle ahead.
Hwang stood, looking through an open upper window, an arrow loop, surrounded by the other commanders of individual Korean groups. Admiral Lee leaned over the railing beside him, peering out towards the ship-bearing waves with a gilded telescope firmly in hand and cupped over his eye as he examined their course while it drew nearer. Soldiers rushed through the room, emptying the weapon racks, arsenals, and tables of all equipment before scurrying back to their positions. Below, looking down, Hwang could see the acute tips of hundreds of arrows at the ready in their bows, poking out from the many arrow loops and crenellations. On the beach below, great, sharpened poles of wood had been pushed into the sand as obstacles, along with dug trenches and dips to make for preventing terrain difficulties. The whole wall-like structure bordering the valley of sand was only about one hundred feet high, not astoundingly far from the earth, but windows, slits, and arrow loops had been gouged into it for archers and warriors alike. Far below, at the bottom and center on the top of the sloping hill of sand was a moderately large double door gate built into the confined gatehouse, allowing entrance.
As the Korean warrior stood, humming an ancient ditty of the sea to calm his savaged nerves, he heard the huffing and puffing of tired lungs behind him and clapping footsteps on the garrison floor. Hong Yunsung spurted up from behind him and alighted, leaning beside Hwang on the rail of the window.
"Have I missed anything, Hwang?" Hwang raised his hand, causing his voice to dwindle on instinct. "Silence," he murmured, filled with a foreboding tone, "the ships are nearing the coastline. Doubtless one of their leaders will either ask to parley with Admiral Lee, or address us right out. Even these foul foreigners would not be so dishonorable as to simply attack us without first declaring their war on us." Yunsung looked at him, not entirely understanding. "But, why should they do this? There is nothing that requires them to tell us before they attack. It would be like warning an opponent before stabbing!" A faint, flickering grin crossed Hwang's lips. "Yun," he said as the ships drew ever nearer, "In war, there is always some guideline. There is some boundary, some vaguely remembered code. Even if you must kill your enemy, you need not kill them dishonorably. In battle, single combat, only the weak attack without provocation. In war, that provocation should be made clear. Say, the Ming Empire arrived in Pyongyang and attacked. That would not be an act of war: that would be an act of futile terror. If the Japanese want war, they will say so here and now, if they are simply raiding our lands, they will attack first." He paused, mouthing something under his breath before he continued, "Also, I have seen the Japanese in battle…On my travels, I could not help but meet some…There are ninjas, there are ronin, there are samurai, warriors of every sort, but each of them have some guideline to follow. War without rules is not war, it is simply a hell manufactured by man where one can kill another without repercussion or satisfaction."
At last, the first ship, in one of the longest single seconds in Hong Yunsung's life, collided roughly with the shore, sending up a gentle but ominous spray of sand and water. The ship was, in fact, not as imposing as the others, smaller in bulk and build, but bore more armoring and subtle intricacy in the gilt on its mast, its sides, and the banner of its sails. The ship hovered momentarily above the shore before it crashed down sturdily, stopping fully against the coastline as the silence returned, unaffected by the whirring of waves beneath the other ships. After a time, more spots of men appeared on the vessel and milled over to its railings. Several surrounded the jutting prow of the ship.
Though Hwang and Yun could not well make out what was going on so far below, they could each tell as a small semicircle was formed around the spot on the ship's front, allowing a few more regal looking dots of human beings to push their way in as other ships began to pull towards shore. The few dots were invisible to the Koreans in the garrison, but Hwang and yun could tell that he was somehow important. Suddenly, as complete silence fell, the other ships screeching to a halt in the sand and readying themselves, a booming blast of a voice came from the stilled flagship.
"SOLDIERS OF KOREA, MEN OF PUSAN," roared the voice, echoing thunderously over the garrison, possibly augmented by some technical megaphone or device that had swelled his melodramatic oration, "CITIZENS OF THIS CITY; FOR YEARS NOW, OUR TWO NATIONS HAVE BEEN AT ODDS, WAITING FOR THE OTHER TO STRIKE. TODAY, MY PEOPLE TAKE THE INITIATIVE; THIS PROBLEM SHALL BE RESOLVED HERE AND NOW! I COME BEFORE YOU TO ASK FOR A CIVIL SURRENDUR ON YOUR PART, UNCONDITIONAL AND COMPLETE! IF YOU WISH THIS WAR TO BE OVER BEFORE IT BEGINS, YOU WILL BOW TO THE OBVIOUS VICTOR BEFORE BLOOD IS SPILT. I, LORD ODA NOBUNAGA, GIVE YOU THIS CHANCE!"
Oda Nobunaga; Yunsung had heard that name. He had heard it from Master Seung. He knew little, next to nothing of this feudal lord, but he was supposedly powerful in the foreign lands of Japan, with a great surplus of control over the military and government. Yunsung had heard he was a general of some sort, but had not expected him to ever lead his troops at the front, since so few men of rank and honor did these days. The only commander he knew who rallied his troops in mid-conflict was Admiral Lee himself. The flame-haired Korean looked down at the unperceivable figure, barely able to see him.
"Pompous fool," snarled Hwang, "He is issuing terms for surrender before there is a war to be won." Yunsung glanced at him, for once with little or no arrogance in him when he looked at his rival. "He has many men, Hwang" murmured the redhead, out of character, "…Many." Hwang shot a fiendishly prideful look at Yun this time. "Don't tell me you're scared, Yun." He laughed. The calming sound of Hwang's ever-confident laughter evaporated Yunsung's fears as he shook his head vivaciously, loose strands of fiery hair swinging. "No, of course not…I just…" his voice became meek again, no matter how much he tried to sound unflinching, "I didn't expect to stumble upon a battle of these proportions…Hwang, I'm worried…I was running away, I was trying to find glory, and here is glory…But I don't see any, Hwang, I only see thousands of men who want the blood of my people."
"Yun, you wanted to fight. What you are about to see is war, nothing else is. You might as well learn now." Hwang concluded with a warrior's wisdom that reflected the image of Han Myong, whose tone echoed in the voice of his most famous and greatest student. Yun looked up at him, both confused and understanding. "Hwang, I know what it's like to kill men now…I did it, my first one, on the road here…I think I'm ready." Hwang nodded in consolation, but looked stern and serious. "Death, or killing, is not something to take lightly, Hong Yunsung. There is an appropriate time when you must take human life. Always spare it if you can, but take it if you must and only if you must. There is a time and place for it…That is a lesson, I fear, that my friend Admiral Lee may have forgotten, but that cannot be remedied now. The storm is here, we have to face it."
"YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!" repeated the voice, heedless of the conversation he couldn't hear, "THE ARMIES OF JAPAN SHALL NOT STOP!"
"Get on with it." Hwang snorted, even though this Oda Nobunaga couldn't possibly detect what he was saying from so far away. Just as he said this, the lord below apparently realized that he was not going to receive an answer and retreated slowly into the mass of men on that vessel. Now, with no one speaking, there was complete and total silence, save for the lapping of the frothy water at the beach and resonating footsteps on each ship. There were now ten ships that had alighted in the beach valley, their men ready to pour off and charge…
Which was exactly what they did...