Note: This story isn't historically accurate. The author made great use of historical license on writing it. The inaccuracy is designed to add to the dramatic aspects of the plot. The Huns' invasions and the first Japanese incursion into Chinese territory is at least two centuries apart. The military apparatuses used in the story are out of their respective Eras, as well. That being said, the cultural aspects of Chinese society were extensively studied and are, mostly, accurate, though. Enjoy the reading!

Flower of China

By Kath Klein

Translated by Yoruki Hiiragizawa

Chapter IV

Sakura was standing in front of Li, badly balanced over two wooden stumps while holding a bo staff in her hands. The Major was finally about to begin the martial training of his soldiers.

'Why can't we fight on the ground?' she asked, looking down.

'You must learn to keep your balance, Kinomoto.'

'I can do that on the ground, Sir,' Sakura replied, looking up to see the man's smirking face.

Xiao Lang raised his staff and saw the kid's green eyes widening in apprehension. 'Let's begin, kid!' He moved his weapon towards the boy.

Sakura closed her eyes and raised her bo, trying to block the attack. The strong hit caused her to stagger and lose her precarious balance, landing on her face.

'Dammit.' She bristled, trying to clean her face and ignoring the men's laughter.

'Climb up, already. I don't have the whole day, soldier,' the Major grumbled.

She felt like the Major had purposely turned her into the troop's laughingstock just to humiliate her for being able to get that damn arrow. She stood up, still feeling her aching body, got her bo staff and climbed the stumps, trying to keep her balance.

The man attacked again and Sakura tried to hold her own against him, but could only endure a few more hits than the first time. He hit her on the legs, making her fall to the ground. She bit her lips in order not to cry out in pain. The blow had certainly left another bruise on her body. Ban got close to her and held out his hand to help her get up.

'It seems like it was just out of luck that you caught that arrow, kid. You don't have what it takes,' the Major sneered, watching as the kids helped each other.

Sakura felt humiliated beyond belief and moved away from Ban's helping hand. She then stormed away from the troop, leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree in the shadow to recover from both the beating and the bruised pride.

The Major called for another soldier to go against him.

Sakura kept watching closely, scrutinising the Major's every movement and paying attention to every comment about what they were doing wrong. Of course, that none lasted long against their superior officer, but some had actually held their own for a while.

That same night, after the soldiers had been ordered to their tents, Sakura found herself back at the stumps, holding a bo staff in her hands. She would learn how to fight by any means necessary. Her father was a soldier; she had the blood of a warrior in her veins.

'What are you doing awake this late, Kinomoto?'

She almost fell from her perch at the sudden question and turned around, seeing Ban's serious face. 'I came to practice. I won't stand hearing that arrogant man make fun of me anymore.' She stated, controlling herself not to insult the Major.

Ban got one of the staves and climbed onto the stumps in front of her. 'That makes two of us.' He declared, raising his bo toward her. 'Let's show him we're not kids anymore.'

'Yes.' She replied, touching her staff against his.

They began practising, slowly, barely cracking the staves together, just learning how to stand over the stumps. Now and then, one of them would lose their balance, but the other would hold them to keep them from falling.

At a distance, a pair of amber eyes watched the scene as the two boys practised in an almost childlike manner.

Sakura woke up, feeling worn-out at the perspective of yet another wearing day. She would very much enjoy being able to stay in bed a while longer, but the Major's punishment, if she decided to slack off, would be ten times worse than just getting up already. So, she just got up and put her uniform on. As usual, the first thing to do was run a hundred laps around the camp.

After four weeks of daily running, Sakura started to notice that her body was becoming more resilient. She could perform the whole course without stopping and without her legs going numb, even if she still ended up gasping for air.

That day they would have their first archery lesson and spent the morning forging the iron tips and putting the arrows together.

Xiao Lang was finding that he actually enjoyed teaching those men, especially once he noticed that the recruits were giving their all and heeding his orders. He had, finally, begun to understand the wise Emperor's words. He had given him a great responsibility upon trusting those wimps under his care.

He opened a lopsided smile watching Touya and Ban assembling arrows under a cherry tree. He approached them, noticing how their hands moved swiftly and quite practised on their task after only a morning. Those two were the most stubborn amongst all of the men in his troop and, even with chafing hands, they were still pressing forward. The boys noticed his approach and stood up, respectfully.

He caught one of the arrows and watched it closely, handing it over to Touya. 'Tie the feather tightly, Kinomoto. An arrow can't shatter after being shot.'

Sakura shot daggers at him and clenched her jaws. Of course, the Major Almighty would come out only to find fault in their work. She grudgingly took the arrow from his hands. 'Yes, Sir. I'll make it better.'

Suddenly, the Major narrowed his eyes and held her wrist, looking at a burn mark that was previously hidden by her sleeve.

'How did you get burned, soldier?'

'I got distracted while forging the arrow tips, sir.'

'Got distracted, my arse! Yancha bumped on him,' replied Ban.

Sakura shot him an annoyed look. 'It was an accident.'

'Come with me. Let's take care of that.' Xiao Lang turned and marched towards the tents, not bothering to wait for her reply.

Sakura heaved a sigh, shaking her head disapprovingly at the boy for ratting on Yancha. Ban just shrugged, raising his eyebrows. Ban and Yancha were at odds at all times, always provoking each other and fighting. They were worse than kids, and Sakura usually found herself trying to break them up.

'Kinomoto!' She startled when the Major called her with a strict voice and ran after him. The Major got into the tent where were stored the medical supplies.

Sakura got into the tent right after him, her eyes darting around at the thought of being alone with him in there. The last time they were alone like that didn't go too well.

Xiao Lang glanced in the boy's direction. 'Are you going to stand there, Kinomoto?'

'Huh? No, sir. Sorry, sir,' she said, with a deeper gruffness in her voice as if to prove to herself that she was a man now.

She watched as he went about for something between the many flasks until he found what he'd been looking for and turned back her way, motioning her to show him the injured arm. Sakura pulled up her uniform sleeve, showing him the burning. Truth be told, it didn't even hurt anymore.

'It's quite deep. I'll reproach Yancha about it. He can't cause accidents like that on camp,' he muttered harshly. 'And you should be more attentive. Arrows won't come your way screaming your name on the battlefield.'

Sakura felt a sharp sting in her arm as he applied the medicine on and controlled herself not to pull her arm back or curse. 'Arrows don't speak,' she hissed through clenched teeth.

'Thankfully, you know that at least, kid,' he quipped, bandaging her arm. 'Change the bandage and apply the medicine twice a day.' He gave her a small flask filled with a yellowy slime.

She took the medicine flask and nodded, ready to leave when he spoke again.

'Do you think you're ready to go against me in a bo staff fight, soldier?'

She turned his way with wide eyes. 'I-I don't know, Sir.'

'Then let's find out.' He motioned with his head for her to follow him.

Sakura took a deep breath and followed him. Ban and she had been practising every night and she was starting to get the hang of it. It wasn't as hard as it seemed at first. The secret was dodging from the adversary's hits, as well as using the staff to attack, defend and keep the balance.

Sakura saw the Major get two staves and throw one of them in her direction, which she caught easily. She set the medicine flask on the ground, watching as the man climbed on the wooden stumps and looked her way with that annoying smug smile on his face she had gotten so familiar with in the last month. She sighed and climbed the stumps, facing her commanding officer.

'I've noticed that you got better at this, Kinomoto,' he mentioned nonchalantly.

She widened her eyes. 'Have you been watching Ban and I practise, Sir?'

'The two of you make too much noise.'

'Forgive us...' she began, seeing his staff move in her direction without any warning and barely being able to evade it. She almost fell from the stumps but was able to keep her balance at the last second by raising one of her legs ridiculously and crudely.

The Major smirked. 'I don't suppose you knew about surprise attacks.'

'I do now, Sir,' she answered with clenched teeth, getting ready to fight.

The Major raised his staff and stroke against her again, but this time, Sakura was ready for it and endured the hit without being too much shaken. The longer she remained over the stumps, the more her confidence grew and she, gradually, started to dare a few attacks against the man. It wasn't a fight solely based on strength, but on balance, resistance and strategy.

Little by little, the clumsy, weak, unskilled kid she had been gave way to an excellent strategist who began to control the tempo of the practice using the fact that the Major was underestimating her. She set him up with a dozen small openings, which she easily defended, and presented him with an irresistible gap in her defence which he took, as she knew he would, and was prepared for. Once he attacked her, she ducked and hit him with a powerful blow on his legs, making him lose his balance. He would fall from the stumps if she hadn't held him by his wrist like she was used to doing while practising with Ban.

Xiao Lang looked at the hand around his wrist and then glared at the boy. 'I don't need your help, Kinomoto.'

Sakura felt her body shaking and let go of his wrist. Luckily, there was no one around them to see that, since everyone else was busy with the making of the arrows and targets. 'I know that, Sir. I'm sorry. It was involuntary,' she muttered, avoiding his eyes.

Xiao Lang jumped down from his perch and watched as Kinomoto did the same. It was weird to see how a young boy could be so resolute and intelligent. He had already noticed that the kid, unlike most of the men on the troop, didn't try to bludgeon his way through the tasks he'd assigned, but used his sagacity, instead. Just now, he took advantage of an opening in his defence and came close to winning the match.

"No, not "came close to". The kid did win." The Major thought with a bruised ego, but somewhat proud at the same time.

'Where are you from, kid?' he inquired.

Sakura looked his way and blinked a few times, furrowing her brows at the question. 'From a village south, Sir,' she said, taking the medicine flask from the ground.

'The south of China got invaded by Japanese soldiers a few years ago.'

'That's right, Sir,' she said quietly.

'About fifteen years ago… I was fourteen, then... when my father got killed fighting them,' he mentioned, throwing his bo over a pile.

Sakura felt a tight grip in her chest, finally understanding why the Major was so unfriendly toward her and seemed to take pleasure in humiliating her. So, his father died at the end of a Japanese sword. She swallowed hard, not knowing what she could say to him and just watched as he kept his back on her, looking to the forest that surrounded the camp. At that moment he didn't seem so high and mighty as he usually did, being just a man, instead.

He turned around, facing her. 'You are the son of a Japanese soldier, aren't you?'

She just nodded, holding tightly to the flask in her hands.

Li smirked, but, for the first time, she noticed that the taunting which coloured his manners was absent and he actually looked quite sad. 'Now I understand why my father died at the sword of a Japanese. You can be quite persistent.'

'I am not Japanese, Sir. I'm a soldier of the Chinese Imperial Army.' She looked him straight in the eyes, trying not to make it into a challenge.

'Yes, you're right.' He replied with the trace of a smile on his face and patted her on the back, walking away.

Sakura watched as he walked off and the sight of his large shoulders sent a shiver up her spine. She looked away from his withdrawing figure and furrowed her brow staring at the bandage on her arm.

Sakura tried to hit the centre of the target, but no matter how many times she shot the damn arrow, it never hit the mark she was aiming for. She scowled, drawing the weight on the string, reminding the lecture she got from the Major on the first day because she hadn't even known how to hold the bow.

"But of course I didn't know how to hold it! I never held a bow before, because you men are too scared to even allow women to look you in the eyes. Heavens forbid a woman should handle a weapon…" She thought, gritting her teeth and imagining Li's sarcastic face at the centre of the target, before releasing the arrow.

It nailed to the left and up of where she was aiming at. She snorted with derision and looked at Ban beside her, hitting the mark with every single shot.

'I give up,' she said, feeling like snapping the bow in half.

'You need to relax your shoulders. It's no use being tense,' Ban said, stretching his back with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

'Says the know-it-all,' Yancha grunted, in a worse situation than Sakura.

'I know it better than you, Pig.'

'Are you two going to fight again? The Major has already punished you the other day. Do you want to be sent to clean the latrines again? Because I don't! And whenever you fight, I'm always punished along, somehow,' Sakura complained.

'Who cleaned the latrines was just the two of us because this fat pig hardly fit into the cabin.'

'Ya cleaned it 'cause ya is already used to deal with shit.'

Ban threw his bow on the ground and drew nearer to Yancha, stomping his feet. 'You're the one who's nothing but a bag of shit!'

'Oy, ya little imp!' Fuming, Yancha jumped on the kid.

They got into a fight, throwing punches and kicks around while Sakura and a few others tried to break them apart, to no avail.

They were lucky that the Major had left the camp a few hours ago to scout the area for a bear that had been invading their food storages, or else, they'd have undoubtedly be sent to latrine duty, again.

Ban already had a black eye and Yancha got a bloody nose and, still, no one seemed to find a way to make them stop.

'The Major!' Sakura yelled, at last, pointing towards the camp. The pair finally broke apart, cowering in fear.

When nothing happened, they stood up and looked in the direction she had pointed, furrowing their brows in confusion.

'Just kidding.' Sakura smirked, watching their reactions closely.

Both of them growled at her.

'Oy, ya liar!' Yancha grunted, still out of breath from the fight, starting to run towards the kid.

She dodged him easily and kept running, easily staying out of his reach. After all those weeks running around the camp, she was in top condition. She climbed a tree, escaping Yancha's desperate grab at her.

'Ha! You can't catch me now, Yancha.'

'Get off that tree and face us like a man, Kinomoto!' Ban demanded.

She smirked, seeing the two hot-headed men teaming up to come after her now. Boys were such simpletons.

A distant and muffled sound drew her attention away from the men on the ground. She narrowed her eyes, looking towards the snow-covered mountain ahead, trying to find the source of the noise.

She tuned out the callings and yelling coming from below her and climbed higher. What she saw sent her heart racing, her throat closing in fear. The sight seemed simply unbelievable, but no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes to wake herself from the fevered vision, it wouldn't go away.

'Huns!' she muttered, watching as a platoon of them - probably a hundred men or more - walked through the mountain, passing toward the heart of China.

Sakura climbed down the tree, almost falling to the ground a few times in her hurry. When she touched the ground, Yancha and Ban tried to get her to settle their differences over the lie she'd told, but she easily evaded them and ran towards the camp. She needed to find the Major quickly.

She kept running, desperately trying to find him. When she couldn't find him in the camp, she ran in the direction the search party had gone and saw them coming back, carrying the food burglar's carcass with them. She cast a sympathising look at the bear, thinking that, just like herself, it was just trying to survive.

'Why aren't you training with the others, Kinomoto?' the Major asked, with his trademark bad-temper.

Sakura looked away from the dead beast and met the man's amber eyes. 'I need to talk to you, Sir. It's important.'

The Major narrowed his eyes at the kid's serious demeanour, but the other men laughed at his sense of urgency.

'What happened, Kinomoto? Did you pee in your pants?' joked a soldier who had hated her since the first day of training because she had been the one to retrieve the arrow from the pole.

'I'm not a cry-baby like you, Pu, who keeps belly-aching at the corners.'

'Why, you idiotic whelp!' Pu said, jumping over Sakura, who just dodged the attack and, with a spin, kicked him on the back, making him eat dirt.

Xiao Lang felt in awe, seeing the boy perform, flawlessly, the fighting movement he'd only taught the troop the previous week. He smirked at the kid's quick-thinking. Despite his low stature, Kinomoto was fast and nimble and knew how to turn to his favour what many saw as a disadvantage.

When Pu got up, ready to charge again, sizzling in anger, Xiao Lang ordered him to stop and turned to Kinomoto who was in a defensive form. 'What was so important, soldier?'

She hesitantly let her guard down, still looking at Pu until she knew for certain that he wouldn't try to hit her again. Then turned to the Major and took a deep breath. 'The Huns, Sir. They're crossing the mount at East, toward the Emperor's Palace.'

Li widened his eyes as the men started babbling around them and didn't seem like shutting up. He had to shout so that they would hush. 'Are you sure?'

She nodded, dead-serious. 'I saw them, Sir!'

'The whelp is going crazy, Sir.' Pu claimed, despiteful.

'I'm not lying, Sir.'

He shook his head, furrowing his brow. 'Why would they use the passing at Mount Fuy? This time of year, it's entirely covered with snow. It's the worst possible way. A treacherous way.'

'Which makes it the best way, doesn't it? There's the surprise element because no one expects them to attack from there and they'd have a privileged view of The Forbidden City, being able to trace the guard's patrol,' Sakura reasoned, staring at the Major.

'You're right. It is a perfect strategy,' Xiao Lang muttered, trying to come up with a counter-strategy. 'How many days ahead of us are they?'

'Uhm… I'm not sure, Sir. I think they're one day ahead.'

'I'll get my eyeglass and you can show me where you saw them.'

Sakura nodded and Li ran to his tent and came out a second later. She guided him toward the tree she had climbed before. She climbed on it and reached out to him so that he could climb along. They carefully reached the top and she pointed at the mountain pass.

Xiao Lang felt his mouth go dry at the red dots covering the white terrain of the mountain ahead of them.

'Blasted Huns!' he growled, watching them through his eyeglass. 'They really are just one day ahead. You're good with precision.'

She shrugged. 'It was just a guess, actually.'

'Have you ever used something like this?' he asked, offering the eyeglass to the kid who shook his head with wide eyes. 'Try it,' he encouraged her.

Sakura bit her lower lip and took the apparatus from his hand, looking at the Major. 'Just do what you did?'

He nodded, pointing to the narrower side. 'Close one eye, keep the other open to see through it.'

She took a breath and turned on the direction of the Huns, placing the eyeglass over her right eye as she closed the left. She widened her eyes and almost fell from the tree at seeing them so closely.

Xiao Lang held the kid by the uniform and laughed nervously at what had almost happened.

She gripped the branch of the tree tightly and looked through the apparatus again, furrowing her brow and chewing her lip, carefully scrutinising their enemies.

'Sir, did you notice the carts they're pushing?' she inquired, giving the eyeglass back to him.

Xiao Lang took it and brought it up to peer through the glass again. He focused on the covered two-wheelers. 'Yes, what are those? Catapults?'

Sakura shook her head. 'I don't think so. They're being too careful with it. Catapults wouldn't require so much caution.'

'Mortars…' he gulped, feeling the sense of urgency increasing rapidly.

'You're probably right. They can hit the Palace from high ground and then charge by land.'

'Dammit!' he growled, climbing down the tree. 'Let's go, Kinomoto. We have no time to lose.'

Sakura descended right after him. The Major was visibly agitated, probably knowing that, as she'd imagined, the Palace would be mostly unguarded by the Mountain Passing. After all, who could imagine that the Huns would try such a bold move?

'Soldiers, prepare yourselves to battle! Training is over!' the Major ordered as he got to the ground.

To be continued.

Edited: November 28th, 2019.