Oooooh! I'm so excited! I hope y'all are ready for this! Enjoy!
I stood there, panting, my grip on the sword hilt shaking.
The sun was just beginning to peak over the tops of the distant trees.
The whole village was cluttered in cat bodies from the war that'd ensued last night.
I had those first two cats fighting for their lives.
I'd have saved the village so much trouble if I'd managed to kill them before they called for reinforcements.
But, no. I was too slow... The whole village joined the battle, and, somehow, we won.
I raised my head, and looked around at the remains of the horrific battle.
I spotted movement amongst the cat bodies.
My grip on the sword tightened, and my legs stiffened. All of my senses grew sharper.
"Ojou... -chan..." came a hoarse whisper.
A certain relief washed over me.
"Keisuke!" I said.
Without a second thought, I released the sword, and ran to see him.
Just as I got there, I tripped over one of the bodies, and fell down on top of him.
He groaned in pain.
I fought my own pain to sit up, and looked down at Keisuke's face.
Tears streamed from his eyes. Was he in this much pain?
"Ojou-chan... thank you..." He whispered.
I felt strange. Keisuke had thanked me a few times... but, this one felt so sincere.
"I knew... you were strong..." Keisuke said. "Maybe... no one else can see... but, I can... you're just like her... my daughter..."
A feeling of butterflies grew in my stomach, and I cast my eyes away.
"B-Baka." I said. "I only meant... I didn't mean... I was just fighting..."
All of those would've ended in 'to protect you'.
However... I couldn't finish a single one of those sentences.
Keisuke grimaced in pain, and his whole body stiffened.
I put my hands out toward him. Not sure what to do, though, I couldn't bring myself to touch him.
Keisuke settled back down, and slowly raised his hand, wrapping it around mine.
"I never did ask your name..." Keisuke said.
That was true. Never once had I told anyone here my name.
"Might you honor me... with the name of the woman who saved my village?" Keisuke asked.
I watched him for a moment.
His eyes... he was so... proud... of me.
I cast my eyes down at his calloused hand. All these scars and burns... this man had done so much, some of it had to be worth his pride... and he was proud of me.
"My name... is Mori." I said.
Keisuke's face became surprised, briefly. Then, a bright smile spread across his face, as he turned to look at the sky.
"Mori... sou ka?" Keisuke asked.
His eyes slowly slid closed, and more tears streamed down the side of his face.
His hand fell limp.
Keisuke had fought... valiantly. He deserved this rest.
Very slowly, I leaned forward, and rested my head on his chest.
With the battle won, and the village safe, I closed my eyes, and slowly drifted to sleep...
Bankotsu's POV:
"Are we almost there?" I groaned. "And don't say you were sure she disappeared here!"
"Well, I was!" Jakotsu whined back.
That brat is proving to be truly difficult.
Jakotsu was sure she disappeared at fifteen different points in this forest, and not one of them shows signs of her actually having been there.
The sun is working its way up, now. We've been looking all night.
She doesn't really matter that much, but, it would be nice to go ahead and find her, before her body begins to decompose.
"Oh! That's right!" Jakotsu said suddenly. "I think I know where she went!"
Mori-hime's POV:
I blinked my eyes open.
Though the room was dark, the light from the door was bright, and hurt my still sleepy eyes.
My body was almost numb with exhaustion. I didn't want to move. I probably had to, though. Keisuke was sure to come dump water over me if I didn't.
Very slowly, I rose from the floor, and found that my injuries had been wrapped while I was asleep.
No one had bothered to put my kimono back on, though.
I grabbed it, and slid it on.
Exiting that house felt like somebody was stabbing me right in the eyes.
For a moment, I couldn't really see.
"Ojou-san." came a voice. A woman's voice.
I blinked, clearing my vision, and saw one of the women in charge of clothing the village.
"Are you well enough to be up and about like this?" She asked.
I gave her a funny look.
"Since when do you care?" I asked.
She lowered her head, slightly.
"Last night... you saved my oldest son." The woman said. "He's the only child of mine that remembers his father's face."
For a moment, I thought I might point out how silly it was that she thought her son's memory was that important. But, I was too tired to make any comments of the like.
"I'll be alright." I said. "Where's Keisuke? Has he decided my chores yet?"
The woman gave me a look of surprise.
"You... You don't know?" She asked. "Keisuke-san... he died in that battle. We all assumed you knew... since you were the last to speak with him."
To say I felt different would've been an understatement.
My skin grew cold, and my chest ached.
I began having trouble breathing, and my face got warmer.
Was I... going to cry? Whatever for?
"Sou... ka..." I said. "... Has someone else decided my chores, then?"
The woman shook her head.
"We were sure you'd be resting all day..." She said.
I lowered my head.
"I see." I said. "Well... as you were."
I turned, and started away.
As I walked through the village, I saw everyone there working to clear the corpses from the village.
All these people... they were exhausted from last night... yet, they continued working hard...
My father had told me of village people before... when I was little... He would say they were supposed to do all these chores for people of high titles.
I see now, that he forgot to say... they needed to do this for themselves as well. Every day.
They had no time to rest. They had no one to do this for them. They had to work every day for the rest of their lives just to make sure they made enough for the high titles, and themselves.
And now they had to clear all these bodies out of here before they could work...
One man slipped, trying to lift a fat cat into a cart, and landed in a position where he couldn't lift it.
I stopped, and turned to face him, and the other men now trying to lift it.
My foot inched toward them.
Some of the bodies in the high pile began falling, increasing the weight that they were trying to lift.
For a moment, I stood there, watching them struggle.
How sad was it... these grown men couldn't lift such a load...
But, then... it was my fault that they had a load to lift...
Very slowly, I began moving toward them, preparing my aching body for some heavy-lifting...
Ojou-chan/-san - Young woman.
Sou (desu) ka - Is that so? / I see.
Too fast, maybe? Oh, well. This is only practice for my real novels. Please, review!