Note: This story isn't historically accurate. The author made great use of historical license in 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 are 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 XIV

'Are you nervous?'

Xiao Lang's voice startled Sakura out of her meditative state. They had been quietly riding side by side for the last hours, thick fog clouded their path, making it difficult to see more than five metres in front of them. They were aiming for a stealthy approach as their troops were advancing at an easy pace with only the waning moon and the stars to guide them, the horses' hooves barely making a sound on the silence of the night.

Shrugging lightly, Sakura grunted something noncommittal as an answer to his question.

'You don't need to worry so much,' The General went on after a few minutes of silence and Sakura wondered if his sudden chatting mood wasn't as much for his benefit as it seemed to be for hers. 'It'll be easier now. You've faced them before and you haven't even been ready back then.'

'I already know tha–'

'That doesn't mean you can be careless, though,' he interrupted her, his voice stern and serious. 'That's why I want you beside me at all times,' he commanded.

Sakura frowned, gritting her teeth. What was he getting at with that? Any other day, she'd have no qualms about following his orders. She actually would rather fight with someone she trusted at her back, but if she wanted to flee the site at the end of the battle without drawing attention, she needed to move away from the General during the fight.

Xiao Lang watched as his pupil's face contorted with displeasure and sighed. 'I'm well aware that you're agile and smart, Kinomoto, but I don't want you risking yourself unnecessarily. Don't try and measure strength with the enemy. You're still not strong enough to do that.'

She frowned, looking straight ahead and biting the inside of her cheek to avoid replying to his unreasonable overprotectiveness. 'I've understood it the first three times you said that, Sir.'

'Glad to hear it,' he said satisfied with her answer. 'Other than that, don't show any mercy to the enemy. And don't hesitate.'

'When have you known me to hesitate, Sir?' Sakura rolled her eyes, annoyed at his condescending voice tone.

The General smirked and raised an ironic eyebrow. 'I remember having to shake you out of a trance in the middle of a battle once upon a time.'

'That was a long time ago. I've changed since then,' she replied, trying to ignore the shudder running down her spine at the memory of crying over Ban's body at the top of Mount Fuy.

Another half an hour of silent ride led them to the edges of the Hun encampment. The enemy Sentinels had been eliminated beforehand, which allowed them to approach unnoticed and without a hindrance.

At the opposite side of the clearing, the Chifeng Palace's lanterns and torches were faintly seen. The tension amongst the men thick enough to cut with a sword.

'Are you ready, General Li?' An older General who was in charge of the cannons inquired.

'As ready as I'll ever be,' Xiao Lang said, nodding in his direction as they split their ways. As the younger General on the field, Xiao Lang had been in charge of leading the cavalry and would be the only such Officer in the thick of things.

They had maybe another hour before the sunrise started dissipating the mist around them and had to use that time to position their troops. Up till now, their plan had been full of intricacies and deceptions, but for this part, everything was as clear-cut and straightforward as it could be.

First, they'd attack the enemy's mounts, their supplies and the officers' tents from the main passage at the Shangu Valley with the cannons. The cannons would be the sign to the archers at the Palace to rain down on the enemies in order to help thin out their numbers and then, finally, the cavalry would charge to engage the Huns in direct combat.

The men stationed at the Xiazhai passage were to remain hidden until second order, only picking out those who tried to flee the battle. That specific point was planned trying not to press the Huns into desperation and to make them believe that there was a road to safety available. It was important to keep in mind the knowledge that, when desperate, men fight twice as fiercely. After all, as the old saying went "Birds and beasts when brought to bay will use their claws and teeth."

When the time came, everything happened very quickly and suddenly, even if Sakura knew what was to come. With their swords drawn, General Li and Captain Kinomoto pressed the assault downhill against their foes, an entire platoon riding at their heels. All around the place, other units followed suit from their positions with the objective to scatter the Huns' attention.

Sakura hardly registered the weight of her own sword in her hands or the pressure she kept on Yin's reins turning her knuckles white. Later, she'd remember that battle as one of the bloodiest and gruesomest events of her life and the screams of pain and despair over the clank of metal on metal would keep her awake on several nights to come. But time to dwell on those details would come after; the most important thing right now was to focus on surviving and defeating their foes.

Smoke from the previous explosions and the fire burning down part of the encampment let Sakura bleary-eyed as she rode through the enemy ranks, cutting them up and stomping them down as she went. Absentmindedly, she could hear the cadence beat of drums issuing orders more efficiently than voices could.

At her peripheral sight, she noticed Xiao Lang being dropped down from his horse and tumbling to the ground. She immediately pulled Yin's reins, careening her way and thrust her foot squarely onto the back of a Hun who tried to get the jump onto her General as he went back to his feet. Without a second thought, she dismounted at Xiao Lang's back as they proceeded to fight on foot.

'Fancy meeting you here, General,' she quipped, slightly out of breath while clutching at the handle of her sword.

'Heh,' Xiao Lang snorted with laughter, panting at her back. 'Keep it up, Captain, and see if I ever save your life again.'

'Ooh,' she snickered, dodging an incoming attack and swinging her blade straight against the enemy's kneecaps. 'Big talk from the man who decided to take a nap, Sir.'

With her mind working at a thousand thoughts per seconds and her Commanding Officer at her back, Sakura adjusted her senses to the dawn light breaking over the snow-covered mountaintops.

'Yeah, yeah,' The General smirked, smudging some of the enemy blood that speckled his face with the back of his hand. 'Let's win this war, Kinomoto…' And with those words, the time to banter and play around was over. There's no place for hesitation and nonchalance in a battlefield.

After the battle, staring at the still carcasses spreading over the once white clearing, Sakura waited for the sense of triumph to hit her. Instead, all she could feel was the sheer weariness settling over her bones. The eerie sound of nothingness a sharp contrast to the endless hours of pained screams and dying groans. The carnage in front of them was enough to fuel her nightmares for the rest of her life.

The shrill sound of a gong broke through the stillness, making her shiver as if waking up after a long restless night of sleep. She watched with some degree of detachment as the palace's monks started perusing the bodies, separating those who would go through the funerary rites and those who would be burned along with the enemies. She didn't envy their task.

Taking a sharp breath, she pressed a trembling hand against the right side of her abdomen, feeling the bloody dampness seep into her under-armour. She was still bleeding and needed to look after the injury or risk passing out from loss of blood, which would be bad for her plan to keep her head attached to her neck.

She suppressed a snort of derision at her thoughts. That should be easy enough now that the battle was over, right?

As if to ask her question, Xiao Lang stopped by her side. Sakura wasn't sure how she knew it was him, she just knew. And sure enough, there he was in all his glory, also covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises, pulling the reins of both their horses.

'It's over,' She couldn't resist uttering, looking back to the sea of bodies.

The General kept his eyes on the monks and heaved a sigh, looking as exhausted as she felt. 'Yes, Touya. It's finally over.'

With him by her side, Sakura finally allowed her shoulders to slump and closed her eyes, breathing in the sulphur from the cannons and the smoke from the fires that were yet to be put out. She fell to her knees, swaying her body slightly as she recited a mantra for the departed.

Xiao Lang only watched as his pupil honoured the dead in that small way. He admired Touya for his thoughtfulness and, if he were a different man with different beliefs, he might even have joined the young Captain in his tribute. Even so, he remained beside Touya while he prayed for the souls of those who hadn't survived.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Captain stood up and gazed at the General. Xiao Lang took an account of his pupil's numerous scratches all the way from his face to his abdomen. He frowned, looking sour and shook his head, passing Touya the reins to his white mare. 'You need to take care of that injury, immediately,' He waited a moment to make sure the Captain would be able to mount before doing the same. 'If you had remained by my side as I ordered you to do, this wouldn't have happened.'

Sakura groaned and kept the pressure on the injury, but didn't say anything. What could she say? She had, indeed, been hurt while trying to get away from the General and he, undoubtedly, noticed that she had moved away. It was no surprise, really, once she had tried to lose him more than once by the end of the fighting. Damn that stubborn man and his overprotectiveness! He unknowingly hindered her plans of "killing" Touya in that battle. It was as if he knew she was up to something and had purposefully kept her by his side.

She turned Yin toward the Chifeng Palace. 'I'll do just that,' she said through her teeth, trying not to wince by the jostle of the horse's movement. 'I don't need a keeper. I can take care of myself. Plus, you also need to dress those wounds.'

'None of my injuries is as serious as the one on your abdomen. I'll be alright,' he dismissed her worries as they made their way through the Palace's gate.

'Mine isn't as serious, either,' she replied, shrugging and trying to downplay the seriousness of what she knew to be a somewhat deep cut. 'It's just a flesh-wound, Sir.'

The General lifted a sceptical eyebrow and Sakura looked the other way, keeping her head high while trying to prove her point.

'I'll take a round to see the state of our troop and see how our men are faring,' She started to walk away, trying to find an isolated place to look at her wound.

'Go see a healer, Kinomoto. That's an order!' Xiao Lang commanded at her back.

Sakura kept walking past a crowd and found an isolated corner, near the barracks where she allowed herself to lean against the building, making pressure against the wound before untying the stripes of her breastplate. She attempted to take out the heavy suit, but the movement made her wheeze out of pain and she almost lost her grip on the wall.

'Dammit!' She grumbled, taking a deep breath in order not to lose consciousness.

'I told you to get that wound looked after,' Xiao Lang's voice at her back startled her back to attention. The General had followed her, it seemed. Shaking his head, Xiao Lang helped her out of the armour.

Sakura couldn't even complain because she needed to get the protection gear out of the way if she wanted to cleanse and bandage the injury.

'Come on, I'll take you to the medical ward to have that looked at,' he said, pointing out at her injured side and made to grab her forearm.

'No need, Sir,' She flinched away from his grasp. 'I can handle it myself.'

Xiao Lang furrowed his brows in an expression of disapproval and opened his mouth to counter his pupil's statement. He was ready to drag the stubborn kid to go see a healer if need be when a soldier approached them.

'General Li, I've been looking for you everywhere, Sir,' The man, clearly a messenger of sorts, said slightly out of breath. 'General Xue has summoned the surviving high officers to debrief about the battle.'

The General sighed and nodded his acknowledgement, before glancing one last time toward Touya. 'Get that treated, Captain,' he ordered once more, making it clear that that wasn't a suggestion as he turned to follow the messenger. 'Let's go.'

Sakura watched the General walk away and looked around, noticing the soldiers crowd the palace's garth while feeding the mounts or helping out other men with minor injuries. She could probably get the material she needed there, but it would make her no good unless she could access her injury in a more secluded place.

Moving sluggishly, she went over to a soldier who had some bandages and an assortment of ointments and salves and grabbed the material before crossing the second gate threshold. She hesitated at the thought of moving to the innards of the palace when she was supposed to be getting out of there.

'One step at a time,' she muttered, clutching tightly to her side. She had to dress her wound first, otherwise, her fake death would turn into an actual death and that was the last thing she wanted.

From there, she limped her way toward the Palace's temple. With any luck, all the monks would be out in the battlefield sorting through the dead and she would have the privacy needed to treat her injury. Leaning against the temple's door, she closed her eyes for a second and felt her breath hitch when it became increasingly harder to keep herself awake. She shook her head, aware that she'd needed to clean and dress her injury before allowing herself to rest for a bit.

At entering the building, she was immediately assaulted by the strong scent of incense. With faltering steps, she moved to the farthest most hidden corner of the room and let herself slide with her back against the wall. She then proceeded to open her uniform and assessed the wound.

'Shit,' she said through gritted teeth. Even with all the blood she'd lost, she tried to be positive and not think of it as being too serious, but the damn thing wasn't a simple wound; it was deep gash.

Taking a deep breath, she bit a leather sash from her uniform and cleansed the cut with one of the bandages she took with her, groaning and sobbing through her tears at the lancinating pain. Breath coming in short pants and trembling hands, she smeared the cut with the salve and almost fainted due to the blazing feeling of the plaster acting over the laceration.

Taking a deep breath to control the convulsive gasps coursing through her broken body, she dressed up the wound the best way she could and closed her uniform. She let herself slip to the side, curled up on the ground as she cried out in pain.

Remaining like that, she couldn't say if she fell asleep or simply lost her consciousness.

Sakura stirred up at the sound of footsteps echoing through the temple's great hall. She quietly moaned, rubbing her eyes, and wakened with a sharp gasp, her hand immediately going to her wound as she tried to sit up. With unfocused wide eyes, she noticed the door opening and closing before her mind registered the presence of a pair of monks beside her.

'What are you doing here, soldier?' one of the monks inquired, offering her a bowl with some kind of lukewarm broth.

'Forgive me, sir,' She said, gratefully accepting the bowl. 'I came over here to pray for those who've fallen in battle, but I think I was too tired and fell asleep,' she explained, taking a sip of the broth and choking through a coughing fit at the hideous taste.

'There, there. Take it easy, boy,' One of the monks gave her a few back blows between her shoulder blades, before taking a good look at her face. 'You look feverish, kid.'

'Don't worry about me, sir,' She stood to her feet with slightly wobbly legs. 'I didn't mean to impose on you. I thank you for the broth, but I should go back to my unit now.'

It was dark and silent outside as Sakura moved through the shadows back to the outer gate, trying to remain unseen. She approached the house where the medical ward had been set up and saw something different there. It took a few more moments before her mind took notice of the several covered bodies which had been aligned on the outside of the building. It seemed like some of the soldiers who initially survived the fighting had perished before the day was over.

The pain dulled her senses, making her almost unfeeling as her mind came up with a new plan to disappear. She needed to find a young slim corpse who could be mistaken with her, place her Captain identification on it and cause enough damage that it would be impossible to recognize it before getting out of sight.

She quickly calculated how long it would take her to get to the stables. She knew her horse hadn't sustained an injury and by now Yin would be well-rested and well-fed. All she needed was to find the perfect decoy and she would be free. With a torch in hand, she took a deep breath and looked around to make sure nobody would see her, before approaching the lined bodies.

Floundering, she gritted her teeth and shook her head, trying to dissipate the daze from her mind.

'Crap,' she let out, blinking away the blurriness from her eyes that prevented her from finding a good substitute. Keeping the pressure on the wound, she kept looking at the corpses. The rancid, cloying odour that made her nauseous, wasn't helping any. She could honestly say that she had seen enough dead bodies to last her a lifetime. Not that it was the worst thing she'd ever seen in the army but she was exhausted, injured, hungry and just wanted to get away from all that.

Briefly covering her eyes, she realised the man at the temple was right. She did have a fever.

'There you are!' Xiao Lang's voice startled her. 'Where have you been?' He demanded. The adamant note in his voice made her goggle at him as the General stalked his way toward her. 'I've been searching for you for hours! I even thought something serious had happened and you ended up here with the dead! Are you insane? Why did you… Where did you go?'

'I… I was at the temple,' she answered, frowning at his reaction.

An annoyed snort escaped him as he cut the air with his hand. 'And couldn't you have let me know?'

'You were debriefing General Xue and…' She started explaining, but he was having none of that.

'That's no excuse for your disregard! I gave you an order and you disobeyed me,' he snapped at her. 'I told you to stay close to me and not to take any risks. But at the first chance you've got what did you do? Disappeared on me!'

Despite all the anger in his voice and countenance, there was a troubled sense of relief in his attitude, as well. She knew... she'd always known that her General was terrible at showing how he felt at any circumstance and often chose to act tough, instead. Of course, knowing that he cared enough about Touya to get that concerned only made things even more difficult on her end. She had wondered whether just vanishing like that wouldn't be a cowardly move but deep down she knew it was the only way to give Xiao Lang some kind of closure. He would never accept her decision to leave, otherwise.

'I won't be going back there,' she started feebly, her mouth running off against her better judgement. 'I'm not going back to the Capital. I'm not fit to serve anymore.'

'What are you talking about? You were hardly injured,' Xiao Lang looked at her as if she had lost her mind. 'It's not like if you had lost an arm or a leg. Your injury won't even leave you with a limp. Why would you be unfit?'

It was probably not her brightest idea but she wasn't really in a place to think things through. She was feverish, her mind was foggy and all she could think about was the fact that Captain Kinomoto couldn't return to The Forbidden City. Touya should've died in that battle and once that hadn't happened, then he had to quit the military.

'Because I don't want to fight anymore,' she simply said.

'You may not have been critically hurt, but you obviously aren't thinking clearly,' Xiao Lang made fun of her decision, staring straight at her.

'I am serious, Sir,' she replied, jutting her chin up in a challenge. 'I've actually been thinking about that for a while now.'

'Are you kidding me?' He inquired, all traces of humour gone from his voice and eyes.

'No, Sir,' She kept her gaze locked on his with an unblinking kind of focus. 'I'm quitting the army. When you return to The Forbidden City, I'll follow my own way.'

'You can't quit, Kinomoto!' He insisted, taking a step closer to her and grabbing her arm.

'I'm not strong enough, General,' she claimed, clenching her fists and trying not to shudder at the way he was manhandling her. With all their familiarity, she'd almost forgotten how that man could be intimidating.

'That's no reason! You're still a boy! Give it a year and you'll feel differently, I'm sure of it,' despite his frustration, Xiao Lang was trying not to shake her too hard, obviously keeping her injury in mind.

Sakura bit on her inner cheek and shook her head. 'I've already decided and won't change my mind.'

'I taught you everything you know, Kinomoto. And if I say that you have a gift, then you better believe it.' The infuriated glint in his eyes made Sakura shiver out of fear. 'I've never met anyone with a more logical war-oriented mind. Don't throw it all away because you got a little scared by the last fight.'

'That's your problem, General,' She huffed, pulling her arm out of his grasp and taking a step back. 'But I don't care what you think!'

Without waiting for him to reply, Sakura turned around and started walking to the stables. There was no need to hide now that the General had already seen her. She briefly wondered whether or not she should have stayed hidden in the temple but there was no point dwelling on "what-ifs" now. It was what it was.

Objectively she knew the General wasn't buying that story about her wanting to abandon the army. If she had a say in the matter, she'd be a soldier till her dying day. It was what she was good at, after all. However, with the choice out of her hands, she'd rather be branded as a cowardly soldier than a brave dead woman.

'You'll only leave over my dead body,' Xiao Lang hissed at his pupil. He hadn't spent all that time teaching the kid only to have his work wasted in a fit.

'Don't be so overdramatic, Sir.' Sakura heaved a sigh, looking around to see if they had attracted any attention and turned to look at the General who had followed her. 'I can't stay in the army, General. Please, don't make me explain my reasons.'

'You'll have to do better than that to convince me, Kinomoto,' he sneered at his pupil with a raised eyebrow. 'I know you. I know you're not a coward and that you enjoy being a Captain. So what's this really about, huh?'

That's what Sakura had feared all along. She knew she wouldn't be able to run from the truth for much longer. If there was something she had learned a long time ago, while still living with the Yangs was that "lies don't travel far". Her lie had taken her further than she could ever imagine, had enabled her to see and do things she'd never be allowed otherwise. She didn't want to keep lying but there was no way to come clean with the General and admit that she'd been deceiving him all that time. He wouldn't understand. It was best if Xiao Lang got disappointed with his protegè than if he found out that the person he'd esteemed so much was a woman.

'I'm tired of all this death,' she said, shaking her head. 'I want a peaceful life - to work the land somewhere and constitute a family.'

The General crossed his arms over his chest with a deep frown. 'And just whose idea was that?' He ran his hand through his hair and started pacing like a caged beast. He suddenly stopped as if hit by a realisation. 'This was Daidouji's suggestion, wasn't it? You're in love with that whore.'

'Don't talk about her like that!' Sakura snapped at him, knowing that it would only confirm his supposition, but she wouldn't allow him to insult her friend. Tomoyo was so much more than just a concubine. She was smart and driven and a survivor, just like Sakura herself.

'Are you really willing to give up a bright future, a brilliant career for a woman like that?' Xiao Lang said with a contemptuous smile and with a cruel gleam in his eyes. 'I won't allow you to make such a mistake.'

Now Sakura was just getting annoyed at him. She always hated that self-important side of him. It never failed to anger her and now he was trying to tell her how she should live her own life? As if her opinion didn't matter. To hell with that! She was her own master. She was a Captain. Her only unquestionable duty was with the Emperor and no one else. Not even her General had the right to decide her fate. 'You're not entitled to stop me from leaving, General.'

'You think it's this easy to abandon your duties, Kinomoto?' He challenged her out of spite. He hated it when people disregarded his authority and Touya knew that. 'How would you like to be demoted and spend some time on the Palace's dungeon charged with desertion?'

'You forget that I know my duties and I know my rights, General. It won't be desertion because the battle is already over. You can't order me around anymore.'

With those words, she turned to leave, but the General was having none of that. Her arm was held in a vicelike grip.

'Let go of me!' She demanded, trying to get away from his grasp. The General was not only stronger than her but had fewer injuries hindering his movements as he pulled her with him.

She couldn't remain there. Especially not with the threat of going to prison over her head. Watching his profile as he tried to drag her out of the stables, she deliberately punched his arm, making him jerk away and release her.

'Do you really think you can fight me and win?' He mocked her, crossing his arms over his chest. 'Don't be foolish, Kinomoto. You're hurt.'

'I said I don't want to be a soldier anymore,' she grunted, taking a defensive stance in front of him. 'Why can't you just abide by my decision?'

'Because that's not what I want,' he replied with an insufferable smugness designed to ruffle her feathers. He smirked at seeing her bare her teeth and growl. 'You can make your own decisions when you grow a beard. Now come on,' he attempted to seize her again, but Sakura wasn't about to let that happen.

Diving away from his reach, she fended him off and swiped at his legs. Caught off guard, he fell on his bottom and she took the opportunity to try and escape.

'You'll regret that, Kinomoto,' The General sprang back up, hard on her heels.

It took him only a few steps to reach for her once more, since her wound didn't allow her to be as swift as usual, and he held tightly to her uniform. Still not giving up, Sakura turned around and kicked him on his nether parts, making him go cross-eyed and yelp out of pain. Even with the throbbing ache, he refused to let go of his pupil, only tightening the grip on Sakura's clothes.

'Dammit, General! Let me go!' Sakura bellowed, thrashing around and no longer caring about who would hear them.

Xiao Lang tossed Touya against a stall, easily lifting the Captain up by the collar.

Sakura held his wrists, jerking around and trying to get rid of his grip.

Xiao Lang opened a cruel smile. Just a good squeeze. It was all he needed to teach Touya a lesson he would never forget. Partly recovered from his pupil's low blow, he took his free hand to the top of the boy's thighs, expecting to hear him scream in agony.

'W-what?' He stammered in confusion when his hand came up empty.

Sakura stopped thrashing and turned pale, her mouth agape and eyes wide at the feeling of the General's hand in her most private parts. 'Oops…' It was all Sakura was able to say as Xiao Lang lost his grip on her and watched her collapse on the ground, taking a step back.

To be continued.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Thank you all for your support!

May 2018 be a year full of realisations!

January 26th, 2018: made some editing on the chapter, added a couple sentences, changed a bit a few others. Nothing too life or plot-changing, though.