Disclaimer: I do not own the anime, characters, maybe settings and a lot of other stuff that may be mentioned.
The second chapter is here~ This chapter I think will be intense. I'm only making this up as I go though so don't expect too much. Also I can't do accents even if I tried so I won't be doing them.
"So what you're telling me is that we are going to wait until nightfall and then we attack? Honestly Berswald, that sounds boring. Can't we just do it right after we landed?" asked the Dane in boredom. His legs were on top of each other on the table and his hands behind his head.
"We have to be careful. They know that we're coming so we have to be stealthy about this," replied the Swedish man. He sat on his chair that he made himself which turns out to be one of his favorites. He stared at his companion with serious eyes that would usually seem to stare into the person's soul but Matthias was too oblivious to actually fear his friend.
Tino saw the situation where the two might fight so he tried to find a way to make a compromise between the two. The Finnish had little effect on the two men though and they began to argue on their viewpoints on how to invade their enemy. Emil, the blood-related brother who was born in Iceland sighed at the sight before him while Lukas stared off into space, not listening to the conversation that was starting to become a long quarrel.
Emil noticed his brother inattentive behavior. He then asked his brother, "What are you thinking of Lukas? You seem to be in the clouds today." His brother turned his head, facing Emil with an expressionless look upon his face that was more expressionless than the usual.
"I don't really understand the point of this war. Why are we fighting these Asians besides that they had insulted us Westerners over two hundred years ago and then after throwing insults at each other, we went and started violence? I don't think that would be a reason to have a war in the first place. If they had started attacking us first before insulting us, that would make a lot of sense but with the history that we learned, I think that this is pointless. Or at least to the extent of why the war started." Lukas than placed his left hand under his chin and stared at the table. "The reason why I'm fighting this war and why this war has continued for so long is because so many people had lost their loved ones who we know as ruthless savages. They killed our parents and the parents or families of other individuals of Europe. I want to get revenge for them… for all of us."
"And that is why we are going to attack one of the villages that hold one of the most dangerous groups in Asia that has the ability to take on almost everyone. That is until today." The sudden voice of Matthias surprised the brothers. Lukas then saw that Berswald and Tino were also looking at them with interest in the discussion. Looking back at Matthias, Emil and Lukas saw the seriousness in their leader's eyes. They had all faced similar situations which gave them the determination to be where they were now.
"That's right. If anything, we're all in this together and we'll all bring justice to our people, to Europe," added Tino. Lukas stared at his companions not as the business kind of relationship many leaders had but as his friends that would stick by his side until they died. He closed his eyes, nodded his head and gave a faint smile gaining back his reason to why he fought.
Back in Seoul…
Viet walked from the conference room to her sleeping quarters to start working on maps and strategies when the Nordics cam to their land. She opened her door and entered a room where paper with written work and drawings covered the walls making it look messy yet colorful (some drawings included color and sometimes Viet wrote in color ink). Textbooks and journals jammed the bookshelves she kept at one side of her room and her bed and desk was on the opposite side. She sat on her chair that matched the designs of her pine desk and pulled out several sheets of paper and the world map. The Vietnamese girl started writing and drawing tactics that the warriors of Seoul could use to fight off their enemy. After several minutes, she stopped writing and began to think of nostalgic memories and thoughts of her personality.
Ever since she was young, Viet loved reading and learning. Yao adapted her as his little sister and he provided her with books and scrolls of literature and almost anything that you could think of. As she grew older, she started to do her own research on topics that interested her like religion, myths, politics, cooking, drawing, history and many more topics that are too many to list. She was intelligent but also strong mentally and physically. While she studied, Yao trained her to be able to do martial arts and many other fighting styles so that she could protect herself if something were to happen to her during the war. She went beyond that though. Viet became a part of the army and was proven to be one of the best soldiers in Eastern Asia. There were many other commanders such as Yao who are stronger than her but she was one of the best.
At one point though, Viet started to wonder why she fought in the war. "I don't understand Yao. The Europeans started to insult us and then we kept on arguing back and forth to the point that war broke out. Couldn't they have thought of a compromise? This war seems pointless to fight," asked the younger version of Viet.
"Maybe we could have but that is all in the past. I do not believe that they will stop holding a grudge on us anytime soon. After small acts of violence occurred, bigger events started to happen and more offenses happened between the two continents making it harder for us to be allies like we once had. It would be nice to have peace but what can we do with all the major battles and events that had happened from the beginning of the war until now? Like plants, we were once related to each other but over time, starting to breed with other plants started to make us different in many ways to the point that the two plants can no longer become one." The memory of Yao sitting next to Viet on her bed made her feel stronger, holding on to the reason why she fought in this war. Now, Viet was a commander and a representative of Vietnam like her older brother who represented China. She was stronger and surer of her belief about the world.
A knock came from Viet's door that led to the hallway. "Come in," said Viet as she finished up her paper work.
"It's me Hong. Like Viet, Yao wants to like talk to you. I think that Kiku and Hyung Soo are with him. Mei and Yong Soo are going to meet me at the market place so that we can get some stuff for dinner. Thai just went to visit the cavalry and check up on the elephants."
"You don't have to tell me everything everyone is doing Hong. Well, at least I know where the general location of where you guys will be. Lead me the way to where Yao and the rest are then."
"Gotcha jie jie." Hong then led Viet outside to the inner courtyard of the military facility. A large pond took place in the center of the courtyard and flowers surrounded the perimeter. Three men sat at a table under a pagoda near the pong eating cookies and drinking tea. "I'll see you later then Viet," Hong said as he walked away from the garden.
"See you to Hong," Viet returned the good-bye. She then walked up to her brothers who noticed her arrival. Kiku and Hyung Soo stood up and greeted their older sister by bowing their heads down then sat in their chairs once again. Viet nodded her head in return as her sign of greeting.
"It's beautiful out here today, isn't it Viet?" asked the Korean.
"It is but I do not believe that we are meeting out here to speak about the weather Hyung."
"That is correct nee-chan. What we were wondering was if you knew when our enemies will come and what we should prepare for. So far, we know that they had left several weeks ago; more specifically, four weeks. The average time of arrival would be about five weeks. The only problem is that we are going against probably the best sailors in the world who know more about marine warfare than we do," explained the Japanese man who sat across from Viet.
"We can't underestimate them but we have never fought against them either so who knows what they have up their sleeves," added Yao.
"If we were to really think about their experience with the sea and land, then we would have to expect them to arrive sometime this week. As of what to prepare for… well, we might have to evacuate the citizens of seaports and place soldiers along the coast of Korea. Weapons that we can be sure of are canons, bombs (though we don't know what kind), swords, spears, and many of the classics."
"It will be hard to make any traps or surprise attacks if they are on the sea and we are on land. We can set something up but it will take too long. If they will come in less than a few days as Unni says, then we won't have time to create anything affective," worried Hyung Soo.
"Then we might just have too im-". Yao was cut off by the shouting of men in the distance. Thai ran up to the four under the pagoda, panting.
"What's wrong Thai?" asked Yao to the man leaning down, holding to his knees and panting.
"The Europeans…*huff*… are here!" exclaimed Thai.
"What?!" yelled Hyung Soo. Disbelief filled Viet's and Kiku's eyes by the news. Yao quickly stood up and walked down the steps of the Pagoda to the trail that led to the military facility.
"Let's get moving! We have no time to lose. Evacuate all the citizens and get the men ready! Have our troops prepare the cannons at the wall and our archers ready. Hyung Soo, get Mei, Hong and Yong Soo out of here to bring the citizens to safety. They can come back later to help but we must first worry about the lives of the citizens. Viet! Kiku! Get ready for attack!" Yao walked off and back into the building. Hyung ran to the market place to search for the youngest of the siblings and Thai went back to the cavalry to get them ready. Viet and Kiku went to the armory and prepared themselves for war.
Matthias saw the military like pace of the city sensing that they were seen earlier than what they had planned. "Shoot it all. They saw us coming, even with Berswald's plan that seemed so full-proof."
"We underestimated our enemies. I guess we should expect this from one of the best armies of Asia," Tino explained to his companions.
Hours passed before the ships could arrive on land. All the troops were where they were supposed to be at the walls guarding the city. The men from the ships came in orderly lines with guns and swords in hand. The cannons on both the ships and the walls guarding the village were set for aiming at each other. The sound of booming footsteps came from the shores of the beach and a dreadful excitement filled Viet's body.
Lukas also felt a chill going down his spine from the excitement of battle even though he was unsure of the result of the battle. Silence then spread throughout the forest that separated the village from the beach.
The first sounds of the battle that were heard were the commands of Yao and Matthias as the yelled, "Fire!" The sound of cannons boomed and then the crashing of stone walls and multiple pieces of wood breaking was heard. Archers started firing their arrows up into the sky. The sun was starting to go below the horizon but it did not stop the soldiers from both armies to stop the shooting. Blood covered the walls and the dirt of the land making it difficult for those who were alive to walk on. When the men of the Europeans were about 100 meters away, the Asians sent out their cavalry to fight them off.
The citizens had left the village but were still on their way to the next closest village that was secure and had decent protection. Mei, Hong and Yong Soo saw the lights dancing in the village and hoped that their older siblings were safe. They did not want to lose their family again.
Men pulled out their sword and spears, slicing and cutting the each other in the dark of the night with the only light coming from the lanterns that surrounded the city. The moon and stars were covered by clouds making the night more ominous than any other night both armies had seen. Screams of the men who died filled the night but very few could care about the screaming as they were fighting for their lives.
Viet's weapon was a staff/spear that was specially built for her so that she could gracefully and easily maneuvered herself as she fought. Person after person did she killed as they tried to run up to her and carelessly fight her experienced skills. Blood soaked her blouse and jacket causing her body to feel heavier. She did not notice though, as she fought one European after another. This continued for hours until dawn started to appear. For some people, fighting all throughout the night was longer than when they fought during the day.
Lukas was in a similar state as Viet as he fought one Asian after another. His sword had sliced the heads of many Asian warriors or was pierced into the heart of a man. When the sun began to rise up from the ocean, he became more self-conscious of how he looked and what he had done. That was also when he saw a young girl, about his age (of 23) standing on top of the roof of a small house wearing a white blouse and a red, unbuttoned jacket. Her pants were slightly baggy and were tucked into her knee-high boots. She held a staff with an end that made it more like a spear. Her ebony hair was tied back into a ponytail and her golden eyes glittered from the rising sun. Lukas and Viet had met eye to eye and saw each other as an enemy.
The wall behind Lukas was completely turned to rubble over the night. He ran into the forest, hoping that he would catch the attention of the female warrior and fighting her one on one. He hated her but at the same time intrigued by her features. Lukas admired her strength as a woman who could fight. He turned his head to look back as he ran. Like he wanted, the Asian woman was following him.
From Viet's point of view as she saw the blonde haired man looking at her, she thought he was quite attractive. Yes, his clothes were covered in blood but what was there to expect when you went into battle. His hair was a dull blonde and his eyes were somewhat dull. Even so, they were the color of a midnight blue that was a rare color for her to see. His blue coat had a golden trimming to it and he seemed to have worn a white vest and white gloves. His hat which Viet still found odd and interesting in shape was also blue and had a golden rose on his left side. When their eyes met, it was as if there was some sort of connection between them. She strongly disliked him for he was European but couldn't help but wonder what he was like. As he turned and ran away, he looked as if he wanted her to follow him. Maybe it is to fight one on one, thought Viet and she took after him.
The Vietnamese woman and Norwegian man found themselves at a cliff over the ocean. They were silent for a moment and were still. They faced each other and stared into each other's eyes bewildered by each their hatred for each other and intrigued by each other's physical features. Suddenly, their feet carried them to each other and sparring between the staff and sword. How long they fought, they never knew. The sun was above their heads when their final blow on each other had officially tired them out. Their bodies ached from fighting since the night to that afternoon and hunger clouded their minds since they also haven't eaten. The clouds covered the skies again making the world gray and harsh. The waves of the ocean crashed against the cliff and the wind howled, blowing the jacket and coat of Viet and Lukas.
Rustling came from the bushes and two men popped out from two different places from the forest.
"Yao!" exclaimed Viet as she saw her older brother standing there in front of her with tattered clothing and armor, his sword in hand. He panted and stood where he was, trying to regain his breath.
"Matthias!" exclaimed Lukas as he saw his best friend with cuts and torn clothing. The Dane was smirking as if saying 'Who else could it be?'
Both men move a step forward then stopped. A screech came from the sky terrifying the men on the ground. Viet, Yao, Lukas, and Matthias stared at the sky paralyzed by the loud screech that no one has heard before. A bird, larger than the size of a mountain top, sliced through the clouds dressed in flames flew over the city. The sight had put Viet and Lukas in a daze that they forgot where they were, who were around them, and what they were doing. Everything escaped their minds as they watched the flaming bird soar in the sky above them. It wasn't until the bird swooped down towards the two did they gain back their senses and reality.
The force from the wind and heat that the bird made as it rushed passed Viet and Lukas knocked them over the cliff and into the crashing sea. Yao and Matthias screamed and ran toward their loved ones in hope of saving them but it was too late.
Viet and Lukas fell into the water and were never seen to surface above it. The fire bird went back up above the clouds and disappeared from the sight of all who had seen it. Devastation filled the hearts of Yao and Matthias as they saw the one person who they trusted most fall to their deaths…
Or so that was what they thought.
