Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. As well known, I'm a fan and fictioning. And again, thanks a bunch and lots of love to my beta-reader Gallie-chan :3
AN: I updated previous chapters as well, Gallie-chan edited them for me. Not a major or dramatic change, but better story telling I hope =) Enjoy! ^^
Watchtower - Chapter 3
An Ambush and A Plan
"Ah, it's an enemy ambush." Fai-san's voice stated calmly.
"Don't sound so peaceful bastard! It's a critical situation!" Kurogane yelled, crimson eyes glaring wildly as his pupils narrowed dangerously.
"But I told you so, Kuro-muu… Didn't I?" magician mused as I looked at them with a puzzled frown. "I warned you to expect an enemy attack, considering current state of the watchtower you ought to expect one since first day." He said calmly with a polite smile.
Lieutenant gritted his teeth, frowning deeply with frustration as he reached out for his sword by instincts. But he turned his attention to soon-to-be battle field rather than the man, whom,-I believe-, Lieutenant knew that he was right. I ducked next to Fai-san, who has also kneeled as archers seemed to get better at their aims.
"What are we going to do?" I asked. It seemed I was just voicing everyone's question.
"Fight back of course!" Kurogane-san said almost snarling, "ENEMY AMBUSH! EVERYONE, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!" he roared to men below him. "EVERYONE I SAID YA!" he yelled after a few prisoners who were trying to find shelter.
"YES, SIR!"
"Eeeh? You were prepared for this after all?" Fai-san smiled widely at him, I noticed a curious gaze in his eyes.
"BLOW THE HORN!" he ordered again, ignoring the magician's remark.
The horn was blown; it was like the loud cry of a seagull. A strong sound, only one tone dying off as wind carried it off over the lands, though last half of it was interrupted with a blasting sound came beneath us, watchtower shook dangerously. After some more shaking and blasting, I was almost sure that the whole building would collapse; thankfully it didn't. It only seemed to fire up Kurogane-san's fighting spirit.
"I'll show those bastards why they never should've messed up with me!" He yelled fiercely.
And quickly he jumped down the roof, using scaffold built out of the watchtower like a stair of platforms. He was jumping from plank to plank until he reached a suitable height that he could jump on the ground without breaking anything on him… I watched fearfully as he unsheathed his sword and with a war cry, raised it up above his head. Then he jumped down on a group of enemy soldiers, who suddenly appeared beneath the watchtower. At that moment I saw the large hole on the right wall of the watchtower, it was large enough for a man to pass through. They had bombarded the watchtower.
"They're in?" I remember saying, leaning over the wall, above the hole.
"Oh well, seems like they were prepared as well." Fai-san's voice said behind me, he sounded confident and undisturbed with this assault.
I looked at the enemy soldiers; as expected, they sent troops in first. All of them were wearing blue metallic armors, they looked heavier and more armed then Jinshuu's red-black uniformed soldiers. I wondered for a moment if Kurogane-san was really prepared to this.
"We should help Kurogane-san!" I said, turning to look at the magician, who was sitting leaning his back to the stone wall behind him casually. "Aren't you going to help?"
He looked up with a wide smile, shaking his head, he waved his right hand. I wasn't sure if he noticed the anxiety in my voice through the uproar rising around us. Wild war cries blended with the echoes of blades clashing with each other; over all the noise I could distinguish Kurogane-san's loud laughter.
"I'm here merely as a prisoner!" he said almost cheerfully.
"But you're a magician nonetheless!" I objected.
"I don't plan on using my magic anymore, if possible. Besides, It's not only field I'm best at you know, I-am-the-expeeeert!". His words trailed as if he was singing.
"I see…" I hung my head in defeat.
I felt a deep frown forming on my forehead. I was upset, upset with Fai-san's lack of responsibility and the casual way he was welcoming anything in his life. But this wasn't the right time to judge his actions, leave alone his decisions… Though, I wasn't going to leave Kurogane-san and the others on their own. We were short on soldiers and not all prisoners were skilled in fighting. I looked up back to him; the sincere, serious look on his face was enough for me to understand that he was aware of my disappointment of him.
"I'm not going to stand back though." I said calmly.
"I know." A knowing smile…
"I'll be going then…" I murmured, to myself more than him.
I turned to look down at the battle field; it was beginning of the battle yet it seemed a mess already. Dark veil of night had started to cover battlefield, The enemy soldiers were surpassing us as they seemed well prepared. I clapped my hands together and with a familiar itching feeling, I opened them apart a little, apart enough for handle of jian to pull through the flames. As I grabbed the handle and pulled out the sword, I heard Fai-san's faint whistle imitation.
"Ah, we had another magician among us huh?" he noted, apparently enjoying it too much.
"I'm a mere swordsman; wielding little magic is all I do." I glanced back at him over my shoulder, realizing how bitter my voice sounded. "Probably nothing alike your magic, Fai-san… I'm leaving."
I didn't wait to hear his reply, if he had any to give. I jumped over the long wall and then using the same path over the scaffolds Kurogane-san had used, reached to the ground. Clashing with one of the enemy soldiers and quickly forcing him to step back, I took a defensive stance, raising my sword. He looked dumbfounded; he wasn't expecting to see a boy fighting with him. I heard mumbling of the prisoner, I probably stepped in his way and he sounded upset.
"Boys are fighting for Jinshuu now?" the enemy soldier snorted before charging at me.
I crouched, leapt to my side too fast for him to react. With a smooth swing I disarmed him easily, and then knocked him out with a blow of the sword's hilt behind his neck. He was going to wake up with a terrible headache later, but he was out of the way now. I heard a familiar, scary voice yelling aloud "Hama Ryū-ō Jin!" and a strong wave of blue energy tore through the night, knocking off several soldiers on his path.
"What are you doing here brat?" a man roared from nowhere, probably the Lieutenant himself.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to check the owner of the voice myself; I had to fight back the two soldiers attacking me. Their numbers seemed to be increasing and this wasn't the best time to wait and receive a scolding from any superior in the field. Night was pressing on and moon had yet to rise, we needed to end this as quick as possible. I jumped backwards over a fallen block of wall, which reminded me the hole in the wall; I was worried if they've noticed the crack in watchtower earlier. It was a relief seeing that their aim was to blast off the wall from the beginning. I caught a glimpse of Kurogane-san but he seemed distracted. I pointed jian to the enemies, getting ready to confront my attackers, father's instructive voice echoing in my mind…
Left hand stretched forward as far as possible, palm facing your target. Curl pinky and ring fingers; pull jian backwards while holding it on the same level with your left arm. Feel the energy, the core flowing from your body through the sword. When you believe the tension is right, feel the flow bending at your will, and then charge forward…
I charged jian, just like father always instructed and I've practiced to do. An electrical charge sparkled around the blade and my fingertips as I shouted the incantation.
"Raitei Shōrai!"
A lightening burst through the tip of the blade as I charged it forward, shielding off the darkness around us for a moment, catching the enemy soldiers off guard. After many of their fellow soldiers fell unconscious, they acknowledged me as a possible treat. I saw Kurogane-san looking at me through sea of enemy soldiers in disbelief; he seemed shocked yet we both had to break eye contact due in the heat of the fight. I couldn't see the Lieutenant for a while, fighting at night was helping either, but I tried moving towards him through the enemy soldiers. Soon they surrounded both of us; turning our backs to each other we faced the hostile group.
"They're coming through the hole in the wall!" I said, hoping Kurogane-san would hear me.
"Yeah…" he growled loudly. "Not a bad sword… Where did you get that?" he asked.
"It was my father's." I replied shortly.
"Hmm…" I think he said; I was distracted as a few soldiers started discussing tactics in low voices. "Hey brat… Does that bastard have any intention of helping us?"
"He said he preferred not using magic from now on." I answered, guessing he was talking about Fai-san.
"Then what's the use of being a magician?" Kurogane-san mumbled lifting his sword.
The circle of enemy soldiers were planning to attack altogether, which was a hopeful plan of distracting us. I looked up hearing a whistling sound, several flamed arrows were flying through air; apparently enemy bows were aiming the field behind the watchtower. A wide range of arrow shower was about to hit us, I took the liberty of reacting to that. Stepping away from Kurogane-san, I pointed my sword towards the arrow mass.
"Fuuka Shōrai!"
The strong gush of wind changed course of the arrows, blowing out several of them, only a few could hit the ground within the circle as the rest were either falling down like sticks or hitting on walls, missing their aim dramatically. Even though I had successfully reached my goal, the boss wasn't happy about it, he was about to protest but instead just frowned staring behind me.
"Get down!" he yelled, swinging his sword towards me.
I obeyed, ducked right before the energy of the blow brushed above me and hit the soldiers behind. I looked over my shoulder for a moment to see six men falling down; others at either side of them struggling to stay on their feet. I tore my eyes from them, as instinctively I blocked a sword falling over me. The heat of battle was back again, that arrow shower was all the distraction the enemy soldiers needed to head on. As I was wondering whether this was a tactic to distract us, I was startled by a loud yell, unlike the Lieutenant's.
"KURO-MUU! WATCH OUT!~" called out Fai-san's cheerful voice, it was pretty amazing in itself that his voice could surpass all the noise rising around us.
The loud roar of the rolling and falling pieces echoed before a tremor started to work through underground. A single glance at the sight of rolling logs was enough for me to understand what was happening. I kicked the distracted soldier in my way and jumped over him, pushing him down the ground. He and quite a few of them were soon buried under the logs that rolled almost out of nowhere. After it calmed down a bit, I looked up to Fai-san, frowning. I couldn't see but I could imagine a wide smile plastered on his face, he waved us from the roof of the watchtower, holding a loose rope. He was helping out? Those were the logs he ordered a few prisoners to put up above a platform he instructed to be built. So, it was a booby trap?
"YOU BASTARD-!" was the quite excited roar from Kurogane-san.
"Aww, you hurt me, Kuro-tan! YOU MIGHT WANT TO MOVE FROM THERE SYAORAN-KUN!" he said with the same cheerful voice.
The second trap was a load of small and large pebbles, along with broken bricks the construction site decided to dispose since they were useless. I was just as confused as Kurogane-san, he was frowning while throwing his upset glare to Fai-san, me and back to the magician again. As he was about to shout another tasteful selection of words, the expert held up his hand.
"Hold that a second!" Fai-san exclaimed before disappearing for a moment.
After another round of rolling logs joining the cacophony of cries from the enemy soldiers in the valley, he reappeared with a wide smile. And not wasting any time, Fai-san used the same rope that activated his traps to climb down the watchtower. In two quick jumps he was already at the ground level. He stood on the pile of rocks and picked up a long pole.
"I thought you weren't going to help us?" I asked, unable to hold my curiosity any longer.
"I didn't say I won't fight when my life is on stake here." Fai-san smiled. "I said, I-won't-use-magic!~" he blinked as he swung his staff skillfully, blocking and dodging attacks of two men coming at him with ease.
"You really like being a jerk, don't you magician?" Kurogane-san grinned sarcastically.
Fai-san shrugged as he leaned the staff on his right shoulder, I was relieved. Both because he was fighting along/with us now and he was a stronger and more skilled fighter than the impression he left on us. Now we were standing together, back to back. Enemy soldiers were greatly injured and discouraged, some had even exclaimed in recognition of the expert on our side. The magician was unbothered; he was wearing the same smile, handling his staff casually. Then he half turned to look at me.
"Syaoran-kun, that sword is forged steel, right?"
I casted a quick glance around, the enemy soldiers seemed to be focusing on us now, given the fact that all the prisoners and most of the soldiers were either knocked out or wounded.
"Uuh.. Yes, it is.… why?"
His respond was quick, and mysterious.
"Wait for my sign to thrust it into the ground."
"But-!" I turned at him immediately, alarmed at the meaning of his request.
If I was to thrust it into ground, which leaves me unarmed, without jian I wouldn't be able to do incantations. His request was totally unreasonable, even though he was the expert, asking a soldier to leave his weapon… I was too bewildered to think that he must've have had a good reason to ask me of that. As I said, well, it was quite risky.
"You trust me, don't you?" he said with a confident smile and a serious look in his blue eyes.
"…. Alright." I said in defeat, and then turned my attention back to the enemy forming a half circle around us.
"Kuru-buu?" Fai-san called, making a childishly cute smile, matching his voice I imagine.
"Bastard?" he clenched his teeth, forcing a grin which was looking almost wolfish, his eyes fixated on theenemy as if he was a predator and they were his prey.
"Could you go over the valley and wait for my sign? All you need to do is thrusting your sword in ground before your feet."
Oh, I knew his answer; actually I couldn't help a worried smile as theLieutenant gave his respond.
"And die? Are you insane?" He hissed through his gritted teeth. "I'll cut your head off before I leave Ginryuu!"
"Don't you trust me?" Fai-san asked, apparently trying to use same psychology he used on me.
"NO!"
Fai-san sulked with a loud sigh of disappointment, hanging his head like a big child. Then his eyes shone with mischief. As four courageous men started running at us with a mad cry, the lieutenant swung his large sword. I guess he was trying to prove his point to the blonde man, I preferred focusing on our opponents rather than listening his mumbling about being the boss still.
"Ah! I just remembered!" Fai-san started, gaining the involuntary attention of the lieutenant and mine. "After rolling those rocks over the archers at the valley, they yelled something about a nasty, big in charge of the watchtower."
"WHAT?"
I jerked as Kurogane-san yelled out, turning to look wildly at Fai-san, who was looking way too suspiciously innocent.
"Oh well it could be anyone, but they mentioned a man who's too scared to fight himself, so instead he was sending off prisoners to fight in his place." I tried to interfere, but Fai-san just kept going, apparently building up the lieutenant's rage. "They said I was looking way too suspicious and so out of Jinshuu that pussies like me should be the key of their success in-…" Fai-san stopped as Kurogane-san walked past him, glaring wildly and fuming with fury. "Kuro-tan?" he called out looking after him.
Instead of giving a verbal answer, the Lieutenant literally roared back at us with a weak energy wave swung by his sword. I could make out words of, 'going to kill', 'bastards of…' and 'It's Kurogane!' I didn't notice at first, but the enemies circling us were way too startled to move; he simply walked through the mass of remaining enemy soldiers, leaving every head turned to look after him. Until he was gone out of sight through the hole in the wall, including me, everyone was dumbfounded.
"Ah, brave and big Kuro-mu… What would we do without you?" Fai-san smiled widely after the upset Lieutenant.
"F-fai-san?"
"Hmmm…" he nodded, satisfaction obvious in his voice. His eyes had an eerie shine in the night though, looking almost hollow. "That worked fine! Syaoran-kun, remember, at my mark." With that he charged at the startled enemy soldiers.
At his mark? I looked around with worry and after Fai-san, who easily made through the enemy and headed back to the watchtower. Right before the wild war cry coming from Kurogane-san behind the watchtower, I noticed another wave of arrows; these weren't lit, perhaps a soldier sneaked out to warn archers outside? It was a less crowded one, but still dangerous. I yelled out the incantation, a burst of flames trusted through air, lightening up the battlefield like day and burnt the flying arrows into ashes.
"Kashin Shōrai!"
"Good job Syaoran!" the magician seemed to call from the top of watchtower again. "Everyone! Drive them away from the watchtower! As soon as possible would be the best!" he added a little too politely.
Even though anyone who could stand on their feet obeyed his orders without protesting, I still was not sure what Fai-san's next plan was; I couldn't imagine any kind of booby trap that might be activated with a sword. It must've been magic, but Fai-san said he won't use magic. Was there really a way to activate a hidden magic without casting? Surely there was a way but I couldn't see clearly at the moment, I was too tense and alert. We drove the enemy soldiers away from the tower and the hole in the wall as he said. There were four soldiers with me; we were tired, and after the heat of the desert the freezing chill of the night was wearing us more than the usual. And still Fai-san had yet to give his sign for me to thrust my sword.
I heard Fai-san shouting from the watchtower, but apparently it was to Kurogane-san. As he told me later, he was still trying to convince him to thrust his sword into the ground. Since he was sure I'd do as he says, the tricky part was convincing the Lieutenant. I looked back over my shoulder trying to make out shapes and see Fai-san's figure, after a few moments, he came over to our side and shouted at me.
"Syaoran-kun! Count to five and thrust! Everyone, stay a step back from Syaoran-kun!" he said and quickly disappeared from sight.
I nodded, looking around nervously, I stepped forward and the other four men with me stepped back slowly with confused glances. I started counting to five; meanwhile our magician was struggling with a stubborn, scary soldier to convince him.
"Thrust your sword!" he shouted down to valley.
"Rather die than leave Ginryuu! I told ya bastard!"
"You need to do it, now!" Fai-san exclaimed, sounding serious.
"Come down here and try if you wish!" Kurogane-san laughed, using his sword technique with joy against the enemy troops.
I guess I was at four when Fai-san managed to convince him, I couldn't hear a thing they said to each other. I was concentrated on what I should do. Will it work? Do I need to thrust in hard? The ground was loose thanks to the thin sand of the desert, but how deep was enough? I raised jian and thrust it into the ground, falling on my knees. But, nothing happened.
"But Syaoran is going to!" Fai-san was about to lose his temper when the lieutenant answered with a snort. "He'll die if you don't do as I say! Even a proud soldier like you wouldn't want blood of innocents on his hands!" Finally gaining Kurogane-san's full attention, he repeated his order with an annoyed smile. "Thrust your beloved Ginryuu into the dusty, bloody ground before I hurt you, Kuro-pyan!"
Kurogane-san clenched his teeth, raised his large sword and yelled out loud as he finally thrust his sword to ground.
"IT'S KUROGANE, YOU BASTARD!"
I was about to give up and pull my sword after few moments of silence, but then a strange charge of electricity ran through jian. I fell back on my hands with the release of energy, the enemy soldiers backed as the charge grew to an intimidating level. A bright light stroke from the sword, and along with its charge, started traveling through the ground to left and right, drawing a half circle. I got on my feet and walked backwards; the same charge traveled through the stone walls of the watchtower and surrounded all the damaged sides of the border leaving the enemy soldiers out. We were shocked, looking around unbelieving and not sure if we should relax. At least, I was confused with sudden appearance of a kekkai; to bring up a kekkai one needed strong magic present, even if it was a subtle insert. I looked up questioningly at Fai-san, who was looking down leaning over the a satisfied wide smile. Faint light of the kekkai was lightening up his face, making him look even more pale than usual.
"It's over now, we're safe inside."
Conscious ones started celebrating, I remember smiling sheepishly, but still questions were worming in my mind. I walked lazily and dumbfounded towards Kurogane-san, who came back from the valley with a deep, scary frown, yet an amused grin was forcing it's way on his scary dark face. We both of us were in shock, but he was better at hiding it. As Fai-san got down from the watchtower, he interrupted the early celebrations with a wide, cheerful smile.
"Let's treat the wounded and injured first." He said simply, putting things into motion.
"Don't let your guard down yet bastards! Get ready for a comeback anytime! And get your lazy ass off idiot!" the Lieutenant roared around, just to surpass Fai-san's influence no doubt. "I don't care if you hurt your ass, get your wounded ass off or I'll kick it for ya!" he continued circling around.
"Fai-san?" I started, "How…?"
"First of all, it's not my magic." He said with an assuring nod.
"But this is magic!"
"To use magic you certainly don't need to cast it personally!" he inclined with a meaningful sapphire look.
Realization hit fast, I closed my eyes for a moment before letting the answer out. Of course, it was possible. The way he explained the logic of his methods and the usage of the stone before…
"Fluorite…"I could say before he continued.
"True! Fluorite is actually a useful stone. They don't only emit outer sources and mimic the very nature of it; they alone prove a wide range of effective usage. Various combinations can bring out various availabilities. In this case, two dozens of set not only protect the each inner circle; three inner circles create an unbreakable barrier formation if triggered by the right catalysis."
"And it's steel, our swords… Six stones can form a warded area from spirits; eight can mark a basic shield for all purposes. Twelve… no sixteen will be necessary for a strong kekkai…" I said, mostly to myself thoughtfully. "But two dozens are something I have never heard of."
"It'll stand tall until the ones who trusted those swords pull them out again. Otherwise, that's a very solid one; you can't even affect the fluorites once the kekkai is set." Fai-san winked, as if we were sharing a private secret.
"Obviously that title isn't for your fancy looks; you still have a stupid smile on that idiotic face though…" Kurogane-san said stretching his back as he walked toward us. He flashed a wolfish smile. "You always have something new up in your sleeve, eh bastard?"
Fai-san answered with a cheerful chuckle, planting his staff on ground. Though before we could relax, the irksome cry of a beast echoed in the skies above us.
Dust of the battlefield lifted up with a sudden wind, It was quite hard to make out shapes in the pitch black sky, but as they descended the light of kekkai revealed the shapes. I was startled more than anyone around as I looked up to the sky. On their first sight, anyone would startle at such arrivals! Various hues of greens and blues were shining over the dark green and blue scales of the legendary dragons; as legends say they've vowed to serve the Jinshuu Empire to repay for the deeds of a former king, Ashura-ou. Only suitable, trained soldiers could ride them; they were the legendary dragons of Jinshuu.
AN: With this chapter, Watchtower Arc is finished! It's been quite a while I admit, sorry for the wait ^^; I hope to write most of second arc before publishing here so I won't make you wait for a year and half =_=
Oh well, I have news for you guys! Theme is settled, I decided that we need to see this world more in action!
.net/view/68429
Yep! *smile* That dragon patterned outfits and dragons flying in background artwork… That'll be our story setting, kind of.. I'll of course tweak and bend the borders to my liking, result is a delightful amount of creatures and fun though. Yes I want you to drool and imagine that charming world of dragons. Bwahaha!
Also, I decided to write whole series from Syaoran's eyes, boy has sharp senses and a pretty objective judgment. He's the type who likes to keep quiet, think over things and only let others hear his thoughts when they ask or the need arise. Though I'll probably make it look like each chapter is one of his journal entries. We'll see! ^^
"Syaoran's" incantations and spells from Tsubasa: RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE:
Lightning Based Raitei Shōrai!
Wind Based Fūka Shōrai!
Fire Based Kashin Shōrai!
Water Based Suiryū Shōrai!