Three archers stood in the lower courtyard of the citadel taking in their surroundings in confusion. They had just arrived from the state of Medina and were not sure whom they should speak with or where to find the rebel leaders.
Hyoko and Mekkachi spied the newcomers from a window on a higher level of the layered fortress and headed down the crooked steps to greet the new recruits. "Indigo and brown? What state are they from?" the kimono clad woman inquired.
Sir Mekkachi walked slowly to stay beside his friend, "Medina, I think."
"Father Kiisan fought Medina before, did he not?" Hyoko asked.
The knight shrugged, "I guess the peace efforts around the time of Serif City's siege did make a difference. It did take Medina a while to send representatives though."
Reaching the bottom of the steps Hyoko waved at the archers, "Welcome!"
They turned to see who was calling to them and smiled humorously at each other. "How long were we standing here?" the red-haired girl questioned her two male companions.
"Long enough to look dumb," responded the young copper-haired man at her side.
Mekkachi and Hyoko approached cheerfully. "I am Hyoko, this is Sir Mekkachi. Father Kiisan is in Dunan, so we are in charge."
"It must've been a difficult journey from Medina," Mekkachi added.
"It wasn't so bad as you would think," the oldest of the three responded with a nod. "My name is Callisto and these are my students, Waia and Dattel."
Hyoko shook Callisto's callused hand warmly. "Every glad to have you here," she smiled.
"Glad to be here, Miss," he replied with a wink.
"Master Callisto..." Dattel groaned.
The master archer laughed, "What's wrong with being a little bit friendly?"
Murasaki Fuji no Shita ni Kuni
"The Country Under the Purple Wisteria"
Chapter 39- Carrying Ringing Bluebells
Kiisan stood beside Sanada and Mio atop the green grassy hill. He was reminded of his days on the Serif-Medina border. The chill of winter had still been hanging on the spring air then, and now the cold breezes of fall were blowing down from the mountains. Mio shivered and tightened his red scarf. Sanada did not seem cold, although she was not dressed well for the cooler weather. Kiisan rubbed his hands together, the friction warming them slightly before fading away all too quickly.
Caio raised his rifle and squinted down the barrel, "How long will we have to wait?"
"According to my contacts, it won't be long," Sanada told the gunner.
"Good. I'm starting to get a bit twitchy."
Kiisan looked around at his companions assembled on the top of Windfall Hill. Mio and Sanada gazing into the distance, Caio sitting on the ground with that "gun" thing of his, Yuki stretching, Carlos with his hands folded in prayer, and Yuber licking his lips at the thought of approaching battle; they were all preparing in their own way. Was he prepared? Could anyone truly be prepared?
A cloud of dust rising to the southwest signaled the arrival of the Imperial Army. Yuki scrambled into a small tree and tied a rebel banner to one of the uppermost branches to make their position plain to the enemy.
Sanada calmed the troops with a dismissive wave of her hand towards the Imperials. Mio's brow furrowed as the soldiers drew near. His father rode near the front, alongside General Cuaran Raecliff. The young strategist knelt down beside Caio and gestured to the red-haired man, whispering something Kiisan could not understand. Caio nodded and smiled as Mio stood.
The sound of bells caught Kiisan's attention as his troops parted to allow someone on horseback up the hill. The reins of Sita Katyana's horse were ornamented with silver bells that jingled melodiously as she rode. She slowed to a stop and hopped down, hurrying to Kiisan's side. After she get off the horse, a second rider was revealed, sitting with a smile on his tan face and a bundle of bluebells in his arms. "Sasshalai?!" Kiisan exclaimed, pushing past the leader of Miiro, "What are you doing here?!"
The boy clutched the flowers to his chest and spoke softly, "Miss Sita needed someone to give her directions, since she didn't remember where you were and I knew you really wanted Big Sister Falina to stay in Tanrensho, so I volunteered. I'll be okay. I can help here too."
Sita nodded in agreement, "Sassha's been a real help."
"What brings you out here, Milady?" Yuki asked curiously.
"I want to fight alongside you," she replied, looking at Kiisan, "I need to set an example for my people by fighting for my own freedom like all of you and not just waiting for someone else to set me free." The dark-haired woman glanced at Father Carlos hesitantly; "...I could not rightly say such words to you if I was not willing to risk everything for them."
Carlos almost missed hearing her words, not realizing the small woman was speaking to him, but he caught their meaning instantly and smiled faintly, "I'm glad."
Mio interrupted their discussion awkwardly, "Don't look now, but I think we're surrounded now..."
Imperial troops approached from the other side of the hill to the southeast, led by General Tej K'aan astride his black horse.
"Everything is ready," Sanada said with lightning in her dark eyes.
*********
Han Li stretched and stood up, pushing his chair in at the table. "Well, I guess we've talked about the dust of ages past long enough. It's about time for that battle to begin."
"It is?" Mitsu frowned; he was enjoying his conversation about the early revolutionaries with the mysterious man. He rarely met anyone with much knowledge of rebels earlier than the T'Rumours because the government did not really encourage teaching about them.
"I know that you don't want to miss it. You were trying to get there hard enough," the cloaked man commented.
"Yes, I was..." the strategist murmured, "I guess we have to go." He pulled himself to his feet and leaned shakily on his staff, unable to fully maintain his balance. Han Li pushed in his companion's chair and placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him.
"We don't have to travel the long way, you know," the wind mage told the strategist.
Mitsu looked at him strangely, "What do you mean?"
"My True Rune," Han Li explained, "I can use it to teleport us there. It's simple enough."
"I wish I could do that..." Mitsu replied wistfully.
The traveler raised his right hand above his head and a bright light enveloped them. Some villagers passing by blinked at the light and then looked around in confusion. The two men had disappeared into thin air.
*********
Louis Abdul nearly fell off his horse as Han Li appeared beside him with a small man wearing a yellow hat. "Where have you been?!" he yelled at the mage.
"I went to save our friend some of the trouble of the trip," he said nonchalantly. "Say hello to Mitsu Riyadh. He walked all the way to the state of Wesder from Rupanda in this condition."
The captain turned his attention to the strategist and nodded in acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you. You're pretty famous, Sir Mitsu. I am Captain Louis Abdul, formerly of Serif's State Army."
Mitsu laughed quietly, "Sanada mentioned you in her letters. She said that you were intolerable."
"That woman!" the captain fumed, "She has some nerve!"
"Is this Windfall Hill?" Mitsu asked quickly, returning his focus to the situation at hand.
"It is," Han Li stated plainly.
The strategist peeked out of the cover of the trees and brush to see the Imperial troops closing in on the rebels atop the hill. "...I can see Sanada...and that must be Father Kiisan beside her..."
"Does everything look okay?" Louis Abdul inquired.
Mitsu drew back under the trees swiftly, "Yes, the plan seems to be ready to go into action."
Rizu's eyes sparkled as he teased his commander, "Luckily for us, Mio won't be lighting any of the signal flares near us."
"You better do a good job, Rizu," Louis Abdul reminded him, "We don't want to confuse him with a strange reply to the signal."
"I know, I know..." the orange-clad man responded.
*********
Kiyon de Silverburg looked confidently up at the small group of rebels assembled on Windfall Hill. "Do they think they have the advantage because they have the higher ground?" General Raecliff asked with a laugh in his voice, "Their numbers are so small it won't make any difference."
"It looks like something my fool of a son would plan. ...It's just that Sanada Morin doesn't seem like the type to favor anything so simple. She always liked complicated plans."
"Do you think they're trying to trick us?" the armored man continued, with his voice growing more serious.
"No, I don't think so. Tej told us Sanada is going to turn on the rebels and rejoin us anyway," the calm strategist told his companion.
General Raecliff nodded his agreement and began to signal his troops forward up the side of the hill when a strange thing happened. Bluebells began to blow down from the hill, carried by a warm wind.
"What's this about?" the general asked his commanding strategist.
Kiyon caught a cerulean blossom in his hand and examined it, "I don't know..."
Before he could continue his train of thought aloud a stern voice interrupted him. It rang in his head like the toll of a funeral bell.
"You have heard the chime of bluebells on the battlefield; leave now or die."
Kiyon and Cuaran looked at each other before glancing about for the source of the voice. The general turned to his aide-de-camp and asked angrily, "Did you hear where that voice was coming from?"
"What voice, sir?" the man asked innocently.
"What do you mean, "What voice?" you fool?!" General Raecliff exclaimed.
The man stuttered nervously, "I d-didn't hear a thing..."
"Silence Cuaran," Kiyon commanded, "He must not have heard it."
The general narrowed his eyes and gazed coldly up at the hill, "Then why did we?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."
********
Sasshalai's bright eyes were covered slowly by drooping lids. Yuber picked up the child and held him with one arm. "Nice touch," Sanada congratulated the boy.
Sasshalai mumbled something incoherent as he drifted into sleep. A few last bluebells fell out of his small fingers to the grass.
As they landed Kiisan heard a tiny ringing sound quite unlike that of Sita's bells.