Chapter eight – End of games

"General", Colonel Hidaka saluted before sitting down in front of the monitor.

"Colonel Hidaka, we are in an emergency situation."

"I'm listening."

"You know that the terms between North and South Korea have been a little unstable as of late. A few days ago we heard that North Korea has invaded South Korea and sent a troop, 'wolf patrol', to safely retrieve our ambassador. Unfortunately a part of the 'wolf patrol' was left behind. Now the use of SAF-troops has been requested in order to retrieve 'Wolf patrol' and safely escort them back. We await you to be ready in an hour."

Sesshoumaru stood up, holding tightly the edges of the table.

"General, I must object. These cadets have not yet completed their training, sir."

"Unfortunately we have no choice in the matter, colonel. We have not enough time to gather up older SAF-officers. Besides your current cadets are nearly finished with the training, it's the twelfth week out of total fifteen. We're counting on you and your troops, colonel Hidaka. Your transport will arrive in an hour."

"Yes sir. Roger", colonel Hidaka spat out and saluted. He marched out of the communication base. He didn't like this one bit.

I saw the grim look on his face and immediately started to worry. Something was wrong.

"I'm sorry to bother you on your rare spare time, cadets. I've just been contacted by the General and it seems we have some work to do. I expect you to be present in the auditorium in 3 minutes sharp where I will fill you in with the details."

A cold feeling of thread suddenly wrapped around my entrails, making me shiver. I felt nervous and a kind of nauseous too.

A heard the fierce murmur around me when all the cadets wondered to each other what was going on.

Sitting down on my seat in the auditorium I watched colonel Hidaka and captain Minakawa who were standing there in front of us all, very serious expressions on their faces. Captain Minakawa walked up to the computer and sat down in front of it, typing in a few commands.

A map appeared to the huge screen before us.

"Here's the border of North and South Korea", colonel Hidaka said, pointing the fine red line on the map.

"North Korea invaded South Korea a few days ago and a troop called 'Wolf patrol' was sent in to retrieve our ambassador safely from South Korea. However, a part of the 'Wolf patrol' was left behind. Now it is up to us to go fetch those puppies home."

I glanced around in the auditorium, reading my fellow cadets' reactions from their faces. Most of them had also grown serious and were staring intently at Hidaka and the map displayed on the screen, holding onto his every word.

I leaned back in my chair and felt a cold hand of fear settling onto my throat making it hard for me to breath.

"It is assumed that the 'Wolf patrol' will be somewhere inside that white circle marked over here. Their exact location can not be confirmed."

His sharp eyes were deep amber of their colour as his stare regarded each of us for awhile, moving on from one to another. Then he crossed his arms across his chest.

"I'm going to be frank with you now, cadets."

His words echoed in the quiet room.

"This will by no means be an easy task. There's a risk of getting caught in crossfire. Out there it will be a real situation for the first time for all of you. And you haven't even yet finished your training. Unfortunately we have no choice but to accept the challenge... 'Cause we will not leave our comrades behind. Everything you have learned this far will be measured out there. Everything. It is very important for all of us to be able to work as a fluid team. I surely hope you can do it. Truth to be told... I'm not sure whether you are ready for this yet."

A dead silence rang in my ears as the cold hand squeezed my throat tighter.

"But my opinion does not matter if you feel yourselves that you're ready. In the end… it's all up to you."

I meekly raised my hand to the level of my eyes. It was trembling.

"Ah. There's one last thing I want to say."

Once again his steady gaze regarded us all.

"Even if we die… As long as we die with honour… Our deaths will not be in vain."

I startled and looked up from my hand to his golden amber eyes. Somehow... His words...

The calmed my panicking soul.

A firm determination was born within me. He was right. We could not leave our comrades behind. They had no one else to count on but us.

There was really no other choice.

It was odd, really. Such a gloomy words... and coming from him... yet they made the fear to fall down. Because of those words, uncertainness became a resolve.

"Get dressed and grab your toys. This is the end of games. You have twenty minutes. Dismissed."

The legs of the chairs screeched against the floor as we got up one by one.

"Shut the fuck up, damnit!"

"Lay still, Inuyasha!"
"You should listen to her."

The two froze and turned to look at me.

"Kagome…"

"She's right, Inuyasha. You are in no condition to go."

"Damnit! I'm just fine! Look, you need all the men you can have, so just let it drop…"

I shook my head.

"You're not going, Inuyasha", I said on much firmer tone. "Besides... I'm sure colonel Hidaka won't let you go."

"Fuck it all!"

"Swearing does not help it", Kikyo said dryly.

For a brief moment my eyes met with my cousin's.

"You're leaving", she said quietly, raising an eyebrow at my attire.

I nodded.

"WHAT?!"

I turned to look at Inuyasha who had got up in his bed and was staring at me.

"Oh no you won't."

"Inuyasha…"

"Kagome, you're not going. It's too dangerous."

"I made up my mind already."

"Damnit, wench! You'll get yourself killed!"

I bit my lip as I turned to fully face him.

"Don't treat me like a kid, Inuyasha. We're both too old for that nonsense. I said that I have made up my mind. Don't mistake me for someone who can not take care of herself! And if I do get myself killed… Then the only one of that to blame is me."

He fell silent before my resolve. I felt Kikyo's brown eyes on me, studying, searching for something...

I felt that she found what she was looking for.

"Good luck, cousin dear", she said softly.

I acknowledged her wish by a nod of my head before I turned around.

"I'll see ya later."

That was the last thing I told them before I left.

I tied the last straps of my rucksack and heaved it up on my shoulder.

"Kagome…"

I turned around to see Shippo, Miroku and Bankotsu, all dressed up and ready to go.

"Yes", I asked even though I knew what they were about to say.

"You know… That you don't need to go", Shippo said, watching me intently.

The corner of my lip rose into a lopsided smile.

"No, that's wrong, Ship. I need to go."

"I'd rather see you stay back."

"In that case I'm sorry, Bankotsu, but I'm coming."

"… Is there any way we can persuade you to stay", Miroku said quietly, for once being serious.

"No", I said softly but firmly.

I noticed them sharing a glance.

"And don't even think about knocking me out and tying me up. I already put up with Inuyasha's crap. I know that it's the real thing and not just rehearsal. Seriously… Kami only knows what'll happen if you guys are left to do this on your own."

I saw the faces of my friends slowly, almost reluctantly, melting into accepting smiles.

"You don't stand a chance without me", I said, walking surely and steadily out of the barracks.

I bent down and placed a soft kiss on the girl's forehead.

"Bye Rin", I whispered to the darkness of the room.

"So you've decided."

I turned around to face him.

"Yes."

I recognised the soft shimmer in his eyes; I read his emotions once again.
"I've already been told… By nearly everyone… That I should stay here. That I should not go with you and get myself killed."

He staid silent.

"I'm not sure if I can make it", I whispered softly. "But I know that I will never forgive myself if I don't even give myself a try.

I felt his fingers suddenly brushing the soft skin of my cheek in a caress and my eyes closed automatically. He had walked over to me as I had been talking.

"Although I don't want you to take that risk", he said on that deep velvety voice of his, "As I said earlier, in the end it's up to you."

My fists closed, gripping the garment covering his firm chest.

My head fell to rest on his shoulder and I felt his arms wrapping around my waist.

It was enough… just now… to be in his embrace.

"Whatever happens…" his voice murmured right next to my ear, "don't waste your life."

I tilted my head and his lips brushed against mine in a gentle manner.

"I won't", I quietly promised.

"All clear. Kags, free to follow."

"Roger."

I grabbed my assault rifle and rushed forward through the thick under bush and ducked in the shade of a big tree next to Shippo.

"Has no one sighted the enemy yet", I whispered.

"No, not a clue of either of the armies."

"And what about the 'Wolf patrol'?"

"No sighting of them yet."

"Damn this is frustrating..."

"Not to mention nerve-wracking", Shippo sneered.

"Oy, Ship! Get your ass over here!"

"Roger!"

"It seems that Bankotsu's missing us. Come on!"

I ran after Shippo over the forest terrain.

The luck had been favouring us this far. The terrain had been this thick tropical forest so it was very easy to blend in and go forth unnoticed. Also, it seemed that none of the armies were anywhere near us. Of course we all were a bit jumpy and twitchy, and all the anxiety made us nervous, but, the hopes were also high and the sun was shining.

Okay, I very well knew it was not just an afternoon walk in a nice forest... Even though my describing of it makes it sound a bit like one.

Ugh, on with the story.

A sudden shout coming from behind us stopped us both dead on our tracks.

- not literally, luckily.

We whirled around pretty damn fast and faced a group of seven or eight men, all in uniforms and all holding weapons.

"Little girl lost in the woods", the one who seemingly was the leader sneered at me.

"This girl is not that little, mind you. And she brought her toy with her too." With that said I raised my assault rifle and aimed it back at him.

He grinned and for a moment nothing happened as we fought the mental battle without words.

"Kagome? Who are those guys? What the hell did they say? And since when have you spoken Korean?"

"Japanese, is that? Who the hell are you?"

"Cadet Higurashi Kagome and Cadet Yamamura Shippo from the SAF-troops of Japan."

"SAF?"

"Special attack force."

"You're those guys?"

I raised my eyebrow.

"Kagome? Hey? You can answer me you know in stead of ignoring – "

"Our head commander warned us 'bout you. Your government contacted him informing that they'd sent Special Forces to fetch back some guys who were left behind earlier."

"Yes, that's correct", I replied.

"Shippo? – crackle – Do you copy? – buzzing – What the hell's taking you so long?"

"Wait a second Bankotsu, We have a situation here..."

"Just confused me a bit, seeing you I mean. I didn't realise that Special troops would've brought chicks with them", he said.

"Situation? –buzzing- Are you under attack?"

"Not unless Kagome loses her temper", Shippo replied, watching me warily. I was scowling and glaring at the Korean guy.

"Watch it, pal. Chick or not, I've been trained to fight."

"Aren't we all? Well, unlike you, we're in a little war here."

I snorted.

"Good luck at finding your mates", he wished before the group of South-Korean soldiers vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

"Oy, Kags, what the heck was that all about?"

"You don't really wanna know. Now let's get movin' before Bankotsu decides to get nasty."

I ran forward, leaving Shippo to stand on that little clearing, shaking his head.

"Women", he sighed to himself gloomily.

As the cadets efficiently were putting up a camp on a small clearing a little after nightfall, I walked up to colonel Hidaka.

"Colonel?"

"Yes, cadet Higurashi?"

"Ummm... There's something I need to report..."

"Yes? Don't hesitate to tell me."

"Well, earlier today I and Shippo bumped into a small troop of South Korean soldiers. Seven or eight they were. Once they learned we were from SAF they let us go without further questioning and wished us luck. It seems they have been warned about us moving out in here."

"And why didn't you inform me this earlier, cadet?"

"Pardon me, colonel. It just slipped from my mind... I came to tell you as soon as I remembered", I replied, saluting smartly.

"Which way did the soldiers head?"

"Uhm.. Northeast."

"Alright. Thank you for reporting this, cadet Higurashi. Dismissed."

I saluted him again. My gaze fell momentarily onto his lips and I gulped.

'Bad Kagome', I reprimanded myself and hastily swirled around to help Miroku and the others with the tent.

Thunder stroke with a loud BOOM, making the ground shudder.

I whirled around, seeing thick black smoke hurriedly rising high, covering up the velvet blue night sky. Everything in north had tinted red as the long flames swiftly devoured the forest.

I gasped and started to run towards the campsite, thanking my luck I had been patrolling in the southern side, in stead of the north one, which was quickly becoming a huge sea of flames.

As I reached the little clearing where our tent sat I noted that most of the cadets had already poured out of the tent, alarmed by the noise. Colonel Hidaka was staring on the edge of the clearing; regarding the fire in the same cool manner he seemed to regard everything. He peered at the burning jungle.

"Napalm", he muttered darkly to himself.

"Colonel Hidaka, colonel Hidaka!"
I stopped before him, saluting smartly as I was trying to catch my breath after that little run.

"Jinenji, sir. Jinenji was patrolling over there. What if something's –"

"Calm down, Higurashi", he simply said, eyes flashing a little softer golden colour.

"All cadets, attention. The enemy have released napalm. The fire's too close. Leave the camp. Follow captain Minakawa's lead out of this forest. Try to find a rocky terrain. Make a run for it; it's only a matter of time 'til the fire spreads over here as well."

"And what about you, sir", someone asked.

"I'm going after the cadet who's trapped somewhere out there."

I watched his retreating back as he quickly strode towards north. Worry took over me as I but stood there, thinking what could have happened to Jinenji and whether colonel Hidaka would be all right. As I watched him go it seemed as if he would have walked right into the sea of flames. I shuddered.

"Kags, snap out of it", Bankotsu roared, shaking me.

"We gotta run, the fire'll be here soon", Shippo said, urging us both to move.

"Yeah", I meekly agreed. My feet began to move, they knew how to function even in a situation like this. As we fled from the fire under captain Minakawa's lead, I couldn't help but to think that every step I took away from the fire were steps that brought me further and further away from colonel Hidaka.

The smell of smoke hung heavily around us, like a curtain. The fire raged on, burning on our heels. We ran forward, panting slightly. Funny, I had never thought that our track-running training would be of any use. Now I realised that the running exercises had been very useful indeed. It felt as if the forest would never end, that we would run here on and on, endlessly trying to find our way out to the safety. And then, before we knew it, it ended. The green darkness faded away and we were under the sky, partly covered by the thick dark clouds of smoke. We were still running as we crossed the plain of grass. Minakawa didn't let us stop until the grass under our feet had turned into rocks and dry land. As we found a rocky clearing, protected by large boulders all around, captain Minakawa halted.

"We will stay here and wait for colonel Hidaka", he said.

So we settled ourselves there and waited… And finally we saw shadows emerging from the burning forest. But –

They couldn't possibly be Jinenji and Hidaka. There were at least five of them.

"They're coming this way. Be prepared", Minakawa cautioned.

A few cadets moved up, leaning against the boulders and aiming at the strangers, ready to shoot at command.

As they neared, I screw up my eyes to see better and spotted that one of them was leaning heavily against another.

"They have a wounded one", I said aloud.

When the little group of five had got yet closer I noted that one of them had red hair – and that she was, in fact, a woman.

What the - ?

My eyes widened.

"Captain Miyagi!"

The little group stopped on their tracks.

Captain Minakawa chuckled.

"Situation clear, cadets", he said gleefully. The few cadets lowered their weapons.

I stepped out of the protection of the big boulders and rushed over to them.

"Captain Miyagi!"

"Higurashi? Is that you? What on Earth are you doing here of all places?"

"Believe it or not, looking for you guys."

"We requested help and they send us noobs? That's just terrific", a gruff voice barked out.

Ayame rolled her eyes.

"Nice seeing you too, sergeant", I replied dryly.

"Really, Kouga", Ayame said with a scolding tone, "you could be nicer."
"Nicer? Hell, Ayame, we're in the middle of a mission here! You can have a tea-party with the Koreans if you want to be nice."

"Just ignore him", she muttered softly to me.

During our chat we had reached the place where the other cadets were waiting.

"The famous Wolf-patrol, I assume. Hello. I'm captain Minakawa, one of the trainers of SAF-troops as well as the second-in-command."

"Second-in-command", captain Miyagi wondered. "Where is colonel Hidaka?"

"Somewhere out there", Minakawa replied gravely, pointing at the flaming forest. "He went after one cadet and we were waiting for him when you showed up. Nice of you, really. Now we don't have to go and look for you all over the place."

Soon Ayame and Kouga were engaged in a deep conversation with captain Minakawa, trying to figure out a good strategy of how to proceed from now on. Hakkaku placed the wounded Ginta down and soon some cadets walked over to them, asking all kinds of questions.

"He's taking quite long", Shippo was telling Miroku as I walked back over to them.

"I'm a bit worried", I admitted as I sat down.

"He should be here by now", Miroku agreed. "I wonder if something happened."

And as we sat there, worry taking over more or less slowly, two figures finally came out of the forest. They were walking rather slowly, the other actually limping.

"Ito, Yamamura go help them", Minakawa ordered. Shippo and Jakotsu got up and rushed to the pair.

A moment later they all entered the circle of boulders.

I shrieked at the sight and ran over to them immediately, completely forgetting everything else, everyone else save for Hidaka.

"Sesshoumaru, your arm!" I used his first name for the first time, and I really shouldn't have done that in the first place, considering that there were all the other cadets listening as well. But I was in a state of a shock.

Colonel Hidaka groaned and fell heavily to the ground; I barely caught him before he hit the rocky surface.

"Your arm…! Your arm…!"

Tears spilled from my eyes.

And then Shippo was prying my fingers away, trying to get me away from the colonel.

"Kags, let go. He's fine. Everything'll be okay. Now come on."

I trembled and sobbed, submissively allowed Shippo to take me into his arms and carry me away.

Colonel Hidaka opened his eyes with some effort.

"Sesshoumaru! Oh my God what happened?"

"Ayame?" he asked, peering to the woman kneeling by his side.

"We're here. All of us are. We can go back home now."

"A tree had fallen on Jinenji", colonel Hidaka began. "The tree was on fire and some of the napalm got stuck on my arm as I lifted up the tree to help Jinenji to escape."

The arm, his left arm, was a nasty sight. It was scarred and burned completely below the elbow, burned so badly it was all black and useless.

"It's nearly impossible to save your arm", Ayame said, gulping.

"No. It's impossible to save it", Sesshoumaru said steadily.

"What do we do now", captain Minakawa asked.
"Now we rest. We will begin our journey back as everyone has got enough rest."

Minakawa nodded. After such a night, the rest surely was needed.

In the morning my shock had vanished and my hysterics had quieted down. I didn't felt completely rested but enough to continue.

"We'll go through the same way we came", Hidaka decided. His burned, useless hand was bandaged now and it hung limply next to his side.

The forest, once tall, rich and green was now nothing more than grey ash, with the heavy, stinging smell of smoke hanging over it like a mourning veil. Every now and then we passed by a charred skeleton of a mighty tree, that just the day before had had a large trunk and long branches heavy with leaves. Just yesterday all the beautiful trees had met their destiny. Everything here now was dead and hollow.

An odd melancholy settled down on me. I followed Hidaka's form as he steadily walked onward side by side with Minakawa. That arm of his, the fully burned arm must've throbbed and must still blaze with a pain unimaginable. I couldn't help but to wonder how he could endure the sharp pain so well, walking forward as if nothing would be happening, as if his arm weren't –

I let out a shaky breath and covered my mouth with my hand.

"Kagome, are you alright", a soft voice questioned.

I turned my head and saw that captain Miyagi had come to walk next to me. I could not say how long she had been there, quietly by my side.

"I... I don't know", I admitted after seriously thinking about it for a while.

"Is it him who bothers you?"

"No it's... It's this forest... So empty hollow and dead..."

"Is that really all", Ayame asked quietly. "I find it hard to believe that Higurashi Kagome of the SAF-troops would be upset by a mere burned down forest."

"It's the arm", I whispered reluctantly. "It's so sad… so wrong for him to… For everything to… It's so cruel!"

"Life is like that", Ayame said sighing. "In any case, you shouldn't take it on yourself, Kagome. I know that Jinenji guy is blaming himself too much of it already. It was Sesshoumaru's decision and he is fine with it."

I hung down my head but couldn't stop one single tear from rolling down my cheek. Ayame's strong fingers gently wrapped around my small hand.

For awhile we walked on in silence, all until colonel Hidaka suddenly stopped.

Shouts echoing from the distance, followed by the sounds of gunshots. My eyes widened as I watched the cadets in the front taking some hits, trying to avoid and evading the bullets the best they could. Ayame let go of my hand, rushing forward.

"Son of bitches", Bankotsu bellowed somewhere ahead, raising his assault rifle and taking aim. He was quickly stopped by Kouga, who tackled him to the ground.

"Get off me, asshole, are you nuts?"

"It's you who's nuts in here", Kouga roared back, eyes blazing. "We can't open fire! Japan is neutral in this war! Do you want to stay here, eh? Do you want to drag us into this fight between Koreas? If you want to do that, then shoot, please."

"But they're shooting at us…" Jakotsu tried to defend Bankotsu's outburst.

Something clicked in my head. I ran forward, yelling at the top of my lungs.

"STOP!"

Heads turned to stare at me, many pairs of wide eyes, many rows of pale faces but I noticed none of it.

"Stop the fire! We'll drop our weapons", I shouted, tossing my gun to the ground.

Ayame seemed to get the hang of my plan.

"Drop your weapons", she commanded briskly.

I started to walk onward on slow pace, my hands raised in the air as a sign of giving in.

The walk seemed to last hours.

I finally stopped when I stood in front of them. I recognised their uniforms; these were South-Korean soldiers.

"We are not your enemies, please", I pleaded, bowing.

"Then who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Cadet Higurashi from the Special Attack Force of Japan", I saluted and then tossed my dog tags for them to see. "We've merely trying to get back to Japan from the mission we've sent to do and we have injured people with us. Please let us go, we need to get back as soon as possible."

The Officer regarded me for awhile.

"Take me to your commander", he then said simply, giving my dog tags back to me.

I nodded mutely and turned to lead him to colonel Hidaka.

I found him leaning heavily to captain Minakawa's shoulder.

"Colonel Hidaka", I shyly addressed him. He raised his gaze slowly. I gasped as I saw blood oozing from a bullet hole in his stomach. Another bullet had hit his thigh. I swallowed hard. Now wasn't the right time to gawk at his injuries.

"Here is our troop-leader, Colonel Hidaka Sesshoumaru."

The Korean officer looked at him closely, noting the many injuries he had.

"Yes, I believe these your troops are the one we were warned about. I'm dreadfully sorry for opening the fire against you." the officer bowed.

I translated his words for Hidaka, Minakawa and everyone else listening.

"An honest mistake at the times of war", Hidaka simply said, inclining his head. In my mind I wondered would his calm manner ever break, even when having one foot in the grave...

The Korean officer bowed again after I had translated Hidaka's words to him. Then he curtly nodded at me and walked away.

"Quick thinking, Kagome", Ayame praised me.

"Not quick enough", I muttered, worriedly eyeing at Hidaka's grave wounds.

Later on I learned that Hidaka had got the bullet to his stomach when pushing Minakawa out of the way. A true leader, that Hidaka really is. A true leader who sacrifices himself for his underlings.

"I'm fine", Hidaka softly murmured. "Now let's keep up. We have even more injured people now, we gotta hurry!"

On and on, on and on we walked… Hidaka was limping, leaning on Minakawa. His now useless left arm limply swung to and fro.

"I recognise this area", Shippo said excitedly as the road began to rise. "After this hill there's only one valley between us and the shore. We're nearly there Kagome!"

After hearing that our hopes got high again and I even felt I could let out a little laugh! We walked towards the top of the hill, now merrily chatting with each other.

And when we reached the top of the hill, it felt as if everything had frozen on spot. None of us let a sound, none of us dared to move, we all could but stare, stare in terror at the valley between us and the ocean shore, the valley, which had turned into a battlefield.

Chie: Give credit to the Dah, people, and give it now! She has had a very crappy week and STILL beta-ed this chapter in a few hours even without me asking her to do it.

Thank you, darling. -hugs-