AUTHOR'S NOTES: I have this headcanon that Gunter and Reina know each other from earlier encounters. That said, this chapter starts closing up the game's 3rd chapter, and from there we'll get to deal with the magical castle, and soon the escapades in Hoshido, where hopefully I'll be able to develop the relationship between the twins, and also flesh out dear Mikoto before she gets taken from us. Also, I will never apologize for any Princess Bride quotes or references. Never ever.
Happy Reading!
CHAPTER 14: The She-Devil of Hoshido
Sing with me a song of Demons and Dark...
"Hold!" the Hoshidans warned, "Do not advance any further, Nohrians!"
"Crossing those bridges armed as you are is a violation of our peace treaty," Omozu added as a warning, "Turn back at once, and you will not only be spared, but we will call off our men. Draw a weapon against us, and you will force us to attack."
"We're not here to fight," Kamui called out, although muttered 'though I'd like to make a few heads roll with that kind of smug attitude…'
"What do you propose, milady?" Jakob spoke up for the first time on the journey; he knew that soldiers and politics were not really his thing, which was part of why he had settled for and come to enjoy his life as a butler.
"I suppose at this point we turn back and report to Father that this place is crawling with Hoshidan ninjas and snipers," Kamui shrugged. "We're too outnumbered to engage anyways."
"A wise decision, Lady Kamui," Gunter approved.
"Who asked you, old man?" Hans growled, licking his lips as he brandished his axe.
"Hans, the fuck are you doing!?" Kamui shouted as Hans raced right in towards a crowd of Hoshidans, swinging his axe fiercely and nearly slicing four of them in half. None of the injured soldiers got back up.
"Die, Hoshidan scumbags!" He cackled, winding his axe up for another swing,
"Fiend!" Omozu shoted, "you'll pay for this! Archers!"
"Hans, seriously!" Kamui shouted, as she, Jakob, and Gunter watched each other's backs, "what the fuck are you thinking? We had no reason to engage these troops!"
"Speak for yourself, whelp!" Hans laughed, now dodging arrows as he closed in on the archers. Naturally, his actions led Kamui, Gunter, and Jakob to become guilty by association.
"Soldiers of Hoshido!" Omozu shouted, "hear me! Strike them down! Leave none of these Nohrian cowards alive!"
"Looks like you'll get your fight after all, Lady Kamui," Gunter groaned, drawing his weapon as Jakob whipped out a pair of knives.
"This is not what I wanted either," Kamui brandished the demon sword Ganglari, "but I'll do what I must to protect my friends."
"If we can reach the fort we can likely break through their ranks," Gunter pointed out as they began defending themselves from the Hoshidan onslaught, "That commander's own line is fairly weak, considering he has put a majority of his troops at the bridges as chokeholds."
"I still want to know what the hell Hans was thinking?" Kamui gritted her teeth. He had charged right into the fray and had killed at least another half dozen soldiers before he grabbed his axe and hightailed it right out of there. He explained his own actions as he raced past the other three Nohrians leaving a light trail of blood and a slew of angry Hoshidans in his wake.
"Haha, I've done enough damage for the time being!" He taunted as he disappeared into the dark, gnarled woods, "time to lay low and see how this all plays out!"
"Fuck you, Hans…" Kamui growled. As the scrambled to hold their position, Kamui sensed something in the ground similar to what she picked up when fighting Rinkah and Kaze; and when fighting Xander and Camilla in the Northern Fortress: a Dragon Vein.
"Here goes nothing!" she shouted, stamping her foot against the ground. The cliffs rumbled as if they were going to collapse, but then a stone bridge emerged right where Kamui was standing that led right around the armies and right to the fortress.
"Gods!" Omozu exclaimed as he stood his ground but also tried to rally troops for a defense that he did not anticipate needing to create, "Did anyone else just see what she did with that cliff? Hold the line, men! What in oblivion are we dealing with here…?"
However, his small contingent was not enough to stop the three Nohrians, who were much stronger than Omozu had anticipated. Jakob was nearly impossible to strike because of his agility, and Gunter's armor was thick and resilient. Kamui was as fierce as a berserker, shrugging off the pain as she charged towards her adversaries in a passionate counterattack. Despite their resistance, Omozu and the Hoshidans could not repel the three attackers, and soon he was defeated as soundly as his men. The Hoshidans that had been guarding the bridges that Hans had tried carving his way across had reached the fortress, but Kamui's vantage point from inside the fortress enabled her and her retainers to maintain their advantage and strike down most of them.
"Do you realize what you've done?" Omozu warned as he gathered his men to begin a retreat, "Hoshido will not stand for unprovoked attacks like this. Revenge will be ours, and you will face justice at our hands!"
Without Hans to continue the aggression, Kamui ordered Gunter and Jakob to cease their fire, and they allowed the Hoshidans a safe retreat—or what they had assumed was a retreat. For the moment, however, it was silent, and they were alone.
"Well…" Kamui ripped an arrow out of her shoulder that she was previously unaware of during her earlier adrenaline rush, "this wasn't what I had in mind when Father told me to 'scout out a fortress', although I suppose I should have seen it coming."
"Indeed," Jakob nodded, "whatever the case, milady, it seems we have completed the mission. We should return and report to King Garon as soon as possible."
"I do not think that is possible just yet." Gunter's eyes widened, and for a moment, Kamui was actually terrified. Behind her, Gunter was clearly fixated on something that was either instilling genuine fear into his heart, or was simply so surprising that he was speechless.
"Lady Kamui, watch out!" He jumped right off his horse and jumped in front of Kamui, his shield deflecting a pair of arrows. Kamui spun around and saw a lone Kinshi rider approaching them with a terrifying glint in her eye.
"I know this woman," Gunter growled, "they called her the 'She-Devil of Hoshido' back in my day."
"Well, well…" the blue-haired woman slowed her Kinshi's flight, landing not far from where the trio was standing, "Gunter, my dear boy, what a pleasure it is to see you again… although I must admit I was hoping to hear your screams of pain as I ended your life for real this time."
"Reina," Gunter frowned, knowing that they probably couldn't talk their way out of this one, "you should have just stayed down the last time we fought."
"As long as you still lead troops, you're as good a match for me as any."
"I serve under Princess Kamui." Gunter began. Incidentally, Kamui already had a story on the tip of her tongue. It was worth a shot.
"One of our own went rogue and stabbed us in the back," Kamui began, "Very well might have been a Hoshidan spy the whole time. We fought primarily in self-defense, and offered the attackers a retreat."
"Whether or not that story is actually true, I'm here on a mission, Princess Kamui," Reina deducted the girl's name from Gunter's earlier remarks, "despite my earlier interactions with your friend Gunter here, I am here because I was instructed to end your life. Do try to put some character into your death cry for me, dear—I'm a connoisseur."
"Well, shit." Kamui frowned, "so much for diplomacy."
"I like you!" Reina laughed, flipping herself back onto her steed and drawing her bow. "You don't mince words. You seem a decent person; I hate to kill you."
"You seem a decent person;" Kamui admitted. There really was something almost soothing about her voice and demeanour, but Kamui couldn't put her finger on it. "I hate to die."
"Perhaps I can let Saizo do the work for me then, hmm? Oh, but I will miss your screams—or linger long enough to hear them."
No sooner had she said these words when a red-haired ninja appeared as if out of nowhere, his single eye fixated on Kamui.
"My name is Saizo," he grunted, "And I have come to take your life."
He was surrounded by another small contingent of Samurai at these words. Kamui opened her mouth but did not speak. Saizo took this as an opportunity to speak himself.
"Destroy them all." THat was the only cue the soldiers needed to press their attack, but before they could reach the trio, a shockwave knocked them back, and suddenly the rest of the Nohrian family was on the scene.
"Seems we've arrived just in time," Leo quipped as Camilla didn't even bother with words; instead racing right in with her axe. "You really do have the devil's own luck, sister."
"Leo!" Kamui exclaimed, mustering up more courage as they began pushing the Hoshidans back. Gunter and Jakob kept their focus on Reina, who was trying to rain terror down from the skies on them, but it seemed that Jakob's deft hands knew how to throw the heavy arrows like knives, and so it became a game of exchange. "How did you know we were in trouble?"
"Usually if you're gone more than 11 minutes that means there's trouble." Leo quipped, "Rite of passage or not, this is not a fight you can reasonably win with numbers that small."
"Well, thanks for the help." Kamui exclaimed, especially after watching a bloodstained Camilla brush a few bangs out of her face as she turned back to face Kamui.
"You're okay then, right darling?" she asked. Battle or not, her concern for Kamui was genuine (and perhaps a little overbearing at times, although Kamui was hesitant to admit this).
"I'm fine;" Kamui shook her head, drawing her sword, "a little frazzled, but what else is new? These Hoshidans don't know how to give me a beatdown quite like you do, except that Kinshi rider up there."
"What?!" Camilla cocked her head towards the offender, "who dares attack my beloved Kamui!? I'll have their heads on a platter and bathe in their blood by evening!"
"Camilla… I'm not hurt." Kamui asserted.
"Darling, every time you say that, we find half a dozen new scars on you after the fighting," Camilla reprimanded her, "but if you insist you're okay, then it's the thought that counts!"
Reina was keeping Jakob and Gunter busy, and Saizo remained elusive, although he was reassessing the situation when fellow ninja Kagero showed up.
"Saizo! What's our status?" The question was somewhat rhetorical considering the carnage the two ninjas were witnessing.
"We're outnumbered, Kagero. It seems we misjudged them."
"And what of Rinkah?" Kagero knew of Saizo's scheme.
"She'll be ready for 'em." Saizo nodded, "although it looks like they're retreating now…"
"Do we pursue them then?"
"Let them flee. We still have a way to pry Kamui from their grasp…"
"I'm so glad you're safe, big sister!" Elise giggled as the Nohrians rendezvoused and began pulling back.
"Indeed," Xander nodded, "and since she is safe and the fort's condition is evaluated, we have no further business being here."
"I'd beg to differ…" a voice from behind them interrupted. Approaching them was a small but powerful contingent of Flame Tribe warriors, each woman either carrying a heavy club or wielding flames around their arms and hands, and with Rinkah at the helm.
"Kamui, you and Gunter lead on," Xander drew his sword, "and we'll take the rear."
"Are you sure?" Kamui trusted her siblings' power, but was also curious as to why she couldn't stay and fight."
"Absolutely, darling." Camilla cooed, "They don't know you as well as they know us, and we'll make sure these ladies go running home with their tails between their legs."
"Right then." Kamui took off with Gunter in tow, the carnage between the Flame Tribe unit and the Nohrian Royal family growing quieter the farther they retreated. It was only when they were halfway across the final bridge that Kamui froze, realizing something was wrong.
"Gunter… was Jakob with us when we ran?"
"I'm sure he's right behind us," Gunter assured her, "now come; let us get off of this rickety bridge. I cannot stand being on it much longer."
"Don't worry…" a gruff voice snickered, "you won't have to."
Out of nowhere, Hans barreled into Gunter, knocking him off the side of the bridge. The rickety handrail didn't stand a chance against the weight of Gunter, his horse, and his armor, and they tumbled into the abyss.
"HANS, YOU FUCKER!" Kamui shouted. "First you piss off Hoshido for literally no damn reason and then you kill my closest ally?! Whose side are you on, anyways!?"
"Aww, did I knock your babysitter into the ditch?" Hans leered, "Don't worry—I'll let you meet up with him at the bottom. King Garon's orders!"
"What!?" Kamui had suspected foul play, but was King Garon really behind it all? She contemplated it for only a moment too long, however, and Hans slammed into her, knocking the Ganglari from her hands and pushing her off into the abyss.
Kamui's shrieks echoed as she plummeted, but, as loud as they were, the tumultuous noise of the canyon drowned them out, and not a soul save Hans was able to hear her scream...