kawaii beam: Lol, I laughed at the army of panicked smiles
Hope you feel better soon!
darkacex99: OMG double comment! Don't you get bored after reading it so many times?
And yeah, there was a reason why she told Ai not to do that~ But I think it's obvious to everyone now why
rndmnwierd: Yes, I know I'm terrible
And guess what? The drama goes on~
maikeatoot: I knew there was someone who wanted to kill me after the last chapter
And I'm sorry for that, really...
alwaysYou: Terrible things~ And... Yeah, I wont say a thing. You just go read about what's going to happen next
And once again thank you everyone for your interest~ I really appreciate it!
Thanks to my vacation I can happily be married with my laptop, xbox, television and such, so that's why fast update~ Lets hope I'll be able to send the next one before my school starts...
So the next chapter!
Here we go~
Chapter 37 – If the rain just could wash all this pain awayThe pain was tearing and Ai was sure she was going to die. She had been wounded many times, but this was something new. It was a miracle that she hadn't already fainted from the pain. Ju's hit hadn't changed the feelings she already had at all and the leader wondered if she had reached a limit where all the pain was the same, no matter what happened. She hadn't even felt the hit at all.
Or maybe she had just died and entered hell, where all her sins were now paid and she would suffer like this forever. Ai didn't know, for she was still keeping her eyes tightly shut. And to tell the truth, she wasn't very sure, if she even wanted to open them.
Finally deciding to face her destiny, the young leader forced her eyes open. Her vision was blurry, but she could still tell apart things in front of her. Trying to move her arm, Ai tried to reach out, but another shock of pain traveled through her. Cursing, the squad leader bit her lip and closed her eyes as tried to stay awake. Wait, she tried to stay awake. Then that meant...
Forcing her eyes open again, Ai tried to scan her surroundings. Slowly, she could see the arrow which was still pointing out from her shoulder and someone above her. Was it Ju? Why hand't she killed her already?
No, that wasn't Ju. It was someone else. Summoning all her willpower, Ai forced her eyes to stay open as she tried to focus on the person in front of her. Luckily, her vision finally cleared and she could see who was standing in front of her. But she had no idea, how that was possible.
“General...”
Ai whispered, but talking wasn't very good idea, since it sent another shock of pain through her body and causing the young leader to fall back down to the ground. And indeed, the general of Yoshizawa's samurais was standing above Ai, blocking Ju's attack with her own sword. She had appeared out of nowhere just when Ju had been about to kill the young leader.
Goto was glaring ju under her helmet, her eyes having scary glisten in them and if one look could kill, Ju would have been a ghost for a long time now. Ju couldn't just believe that she had missed her chance to kill Takahashi. She had been so close and then Goto suddenly appeared out of nowhere! This wasn't true anymore!
Ju was so angry now that she really just wanted to kill Goto too. But as she tried to push forwards, the other general didn't move an inch. And when Ju finally caught Goto's eyes properly, she could only gasp. Somehow she just froze in front of the death glare and when Goto spoke, Ju froze even more.
“You even dare to fight like that....”
Goto growled and suddenly, with one smooth movement, she took another sword from her waist and slashed Ju in her stomach. The Heng's general howled in pain and packed away. The armor hadn't slowed the attack down at all and blood was now running through her fingers as she tried to hold her wound. Ju had never been hit this bad and it made her panic. She had been wounded and it was something unfamiliar to her. Ju turned her fearful eyes to Goto, who was approaching her now. The panic only grew as she raised her shaking arm and looked the other general in the eyes. They were like a pray and a hunter and the pray had no way to escape now.
“WAIT!! Goto! We can talk about this....” Ju tried to yell, but she was soon silenced as Goto attacked again, this time slashing Ju's throat open.
“The only way we will talk about this is by swords.”
As the Heng general's lifeless body felt to the ground a deadly silence fell on the field. Everyone was staring at the furious Goto, who was staring straight forwards, the dark look only getting deeper on her face. Suddenly, she raised her two swords up, let out a bloodcurdling roar and dashed towards the enemy group. No one having any bows and the two who had being too slow to reload, panic rose in the enemy's troops. They had superior, but right now, Goto was amazingly scary. No one raised a sword, no one escaped, no one moved. They just stood frozen and watched as Goto reached them bit by bit.
As the general reached the group, she started wildly slash around with her two swords, killing anyone who got on her way. Some finally snapped out of their trance and tried to fight back, but most of them escaped. The general was furious and had totally snapped when she had seen what was going on the battlefield and now, she was letting all the bad energy inside of her free. Also, the fact that what would have happened, if she had came few seconds later, oppressed her mind.
Meanwhile, Eri and Reina were watching the scene with wide eyes. Or more likely Reina was, for Eri was still crying over Sayu. The general had just appeared out of nowhere, like she had teleported in front of Ju's attack. Just when the kitten was about to do something, she heard more footsteps behind her. As she turned to look, she found their captain running towards them with some men behind her. Miki ran past the two, only focusing on the battlefield in front of her.
”Two archers with me! The rest of you, stay here!!”
Miki yelled some orders as she kept on running with the two warriors she had just ordered with her. The rest stayed beside Reina and Eri, getting their bows and swords ready and scanning their surroundings.
The captain ran as fast as she could with her tired legs to the small body on the field. When she reached it she immediately crouched down and checked the situation. She then took a hold of Ai's arms, lifted the younger girl up in her arms and started to carry her away in bridal style. As she started to run, the young warrior groaned in pain. The pouncing hurt like hell, making the weapons still in her flesh twitch nastily. But Miki didn't care about that. She had to treat Ai and no matter how careful she would be, everything was going to hurt.
When the captain reached a small knoll a few meters away, she ran behind it and put Ai down. The two archers crouched beside the knoll, making sure that no one would disturb them. The other one gave few hand signals and soon about five more warriors ran to them, taking their positions around the captain and Ai.
“Sayu....” Ai said suddenly as she tried to get up.
“Hold still...” Miki commanded as she examined the wounds the younger one had gained. This was going to hurt like hell, and the captain wasn't sure if Ai could take this...
“Sayu, I got to... save her.” Ai continued, not caring about Miki's commands at all.
”Takahashi HOLD STILL!!” The captain commanded again, but she only made Ai more desperate. The young leader's upper body shot suddenly up as she tried to get on her feet.
”I HAVE TO GET TO SAYU- AARGH!” Ai roared, but her words soon turned into a loud yell. In no time, Miki knocked the young squad leader back to the ground and pressed her body against hers. She had to keep Ai down, or this wouldn't end well.
“THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO HER NOW!!” The captain roared back. As she felt that Ai was not going to give up, Miki realized that this would only be done by the hardest way. Cursing in her mind, she suddenly took a hold of the arrow in Ai's shoulder and pulled the weapon away. The younger leader roared in pain and tried to move away, but she just couldn't. The pain was so intense that she couldn't move an inc, thanks to Miki's body which was pressing her down.
As the captain kept on pulling the weapon away she noticed that it wouldn't be as easy task as it had seemed. She had taken hundreds, maybe even thousands of arrows away from warrior's flesh and once even from her own, but this was something new. And the answer for the difficulty was soon revealed to her. Suddenly, the arrow slit out from Ai's shoulder, causing the captain to almost fall down on her butt. Miki moved the weapon in front of her eyes in order to examine it. She had the arrow, but the metal head of it was missing.
”Fuck... MEDIC!!”
The captain yelled as she threw the now broken arrow away. The head of it could have been poisoned and now it was inside Ai's shoulder. It would take a long time before the young leader would get to be treated and poisoned or not, that metal head of arrow would infect her shoulder. There was just no doubt about that. These kind of weapons were banned, but of course, Heng circled the rules and used all the nasty weapons she could imagine.
Soon a warrior with a white bandage in her arm came over and started to treat the young squad leader. While Miki pressed the wound in Ai's shoulder, the medic took care of the arrow in her thigh. But no matter how carefully and professionally she took the arrow away, it did the same as the former one. Ai had now two unknown objects in her body and both of them might have been poisoned.
The leader howled in pain as she tried to struggle away, the fact that her friend might have been death by now still eating her mind. No, she was dead. Ai knew it, but she refused to believe it. She couldn't accept the fact that Sayu was dead and that she hadn't been able to save her.
The captain watched the squad leader with sad eyes as the medic tried to make her feel better. But though the pain in her wounds would have been eased by the painkillers, Miki knew that something would still hurt the younger females soul. And that pain, would probably last the rest of her life.
The captain looked at the field, where she could already see two persons beside the another fallen warrior. They had so many warriors in here now and Goto was taking care of the main thread, so there was no reason to panic, that someone was under an attack right now.
Miki had known and seen that Sayu had been wounded too, but she also knew by experience that she wouldn't make it. Even from this distance, she had been able to calculate the situation. That's why, she had made her way to Ai, not to Sayu. They were still able to save her, but the tactician was a whole different story.
'There's just nothing we can do to her now...'“Sayu....”
Ai sobbed in the middle of the pain she was feeling right now. This couldn't be true... This just couldn't be...
--------------------
Eri had never ran as fast in her life as she was doing now. It was only her luck that Goto was taking care of the enemy, cause she would have been a way too easy target as she dashed forwards her fallen lover. Reina had noticed how Eri had snapped and gone after her, but there was just no way she could catch her. In the end, the turtle was the fastest in the team and right now, Reina was sure she was the fastest person in the world. But she just had to go after her, because she knew exactly what Eri was thinking right now.
'This is not good...'When they reached Sayu, Eri collapsed immediately on her knees and took her lover in her arms, shaking her in order to get her attention.
“SAYU! SAYU, LOOK AT ME!!”
Eri cried hysterically and calmed down only when the wounded warrior coughed a bit blood. Reina got soon beside the couple and examined the sword that was still in Sayu's stomach. Just when she was about to reach it, realization hit the kitten. As she looked how deep in Sayu's stomach the weapon was, she could already say that her friend wouldn't survive this.
“Oh my gosh....”
Reina whispered, her eyes widening as she slowly started to understand the situation. The sword in Sayu's stomach was probably the only thing keeping the tactician alive now. It had pierced through Sayu's body and by the way it's head was pointing a bit out from her middle back, it had pierced through the spine. It was a miracle Sayu was even alive anymore.
“Reina, pull that sword away.”
Eri said as she tried to keep Sayu awake. But before Reina could do or say anything, she was interrupted by Sayu.
“Shh... Eri, look... look at me.”
Her hoarse voice said as she raised her trembling and bloody hand against Eri's cheek, leaving a bloody mark there. The older girl took hold of the hand as she supported her lover with her other arm. Coughing a bit more blood, Sayu continued.
“I got to go now, my love... And I know... I know, that you know that too..”
”No.”
Eri said firmly, but her voice was soon drown in sobs as tears started to run down her cheeks. She couldn't accept this, she just couldn't.
“It will be okay, Eri. Everything will be okay...”
This time, Eri's voice cracked totally as she hung her head low, pressing her forehead against Sayu's shoulder. The bunny breathed deeply, taking in her lover's scent one last time. But before she would go to the other side were living creatures couldn't go, she looked beside her another friend, who was helplessly kneeling beside her and watching the couple. Sayu gave a tired smile at her friend as she spoke her mind out.
“Take care of her...”
She said quietly, but so that Reina could hear her. Tears formed in the kitten's eyes as she realized that she was saying goodbye to her good friend. Though she couldn't accept this, she knew that there was nothing to do.
“Can't we just... I can call medic Sayu...”
Reina tried one more time, her voice weak and barely audible. But she knew that there was just nothing they could do now. No matter what. The tactician only smiled again and shook her head slowly. When they would remove the sword from Sayu's stomach, her life would end immediately. And even if a medic would come over, it would be too late.
“Promise me Reina... You will take care of Eri...”
Sayu whispered again. The kitten couldn't do anything else than to accept the fact, that this indeed was the last good bye to her friend. But she would at least make her go in peace, know that her loved one would be looked after.
“I will....”
Reina nodded and whispered, which caused Sayu to smile more. That made her mind ease a lot as she turned back to her girlfriend, who was still sobbing against her shoulder. Using her last strength, Sayu wrapped one of her arms around the older girl. She pressed her head against Eri's and placed her lips softly on her neck. Though the turtle's body was hot from all the exercise she had done, the tactician could already feel how her body wouldn't anymore accept the heat so much. Her limbs started to turn numb and all around her just blurred.
“I love you... Eri....”
Sayu whispered. In her last seconds, she could hear her lover saying the exactly same words and her name. That was all she needed to hear and know as Sayu took her one last breath, before the world around her went totally black. She could feel Eri's arms around her and the warm she radiated for a while, before all her senses blacked out and there was only darkness.
---------------------
There was a loud crashing sound in the nurse's place as Risa was visiting Lin Lin and helping her out. A deep sigh escaped the bean's lips as she walked to the direction where the sound had come. It was just probably some patient again who had dropped something in hallucination or something. But what happened next, totally surprised the bean.
“NIIGAKI-SAN!”
Risa could hear Mittsui's panicked voice, which caused alarm clocks in her head to ring. The bean ran as fast as she could to the next room, where she found Lin Lin on the floor, breathing heavily while Aika tried to help her to stand up.
“Lin Lin? Hey, what's wrong?!”
Risa asked alarmed as she came beside the two, helping Lin Lin to stand up too. The nurse was still breathing heavily and Risa could even see some sweat formed on her forehead. She had a deep frown and it seemed like she was in pain too.
“What is it?”
Risa asked again, but Lin Lin only stayed quiet and shook her head. She couldn't just blurt out what she had seen in her mind a while ago, but she couldn't lie either.
“The battlefront... Something... Something terrible has happened..”
Risa's eyes widened in horror and immediately pictures started to race in her head. What? When? Who?
'Ai...'“Oh gosh... Tell me what has happened!”
Risa demanded, but now Lin Lin's nurse's senses kicked in as she heard her friend's panicked voice. Taking a hold of the bean's shoulder, the nurse calmed her down as she looked in her eyes with a stern face.
“I saw only a small picture, I can't tell for sure who is it and what has happened. All I know is that something bad happened...”
This calmed Risa down a bit, but it didn't remove all the worry she had for her friends and for her lover. Lin Lin noticed this too and with a deep sigh she pried herself gently away from Aika's hold. The younger girl let go, but stood beside the nurse, in case she would collapse again.
“Now, go back to your duties.” She said calmly. ”I know this bothers you and I understand it, but there's just nothing we can do now...”
The calm voice and being made the two girls relax somehow. Even Risa cooled down, though she was still sick of worry and anxious of what she had just heard. Soon, the nurse ordered the two to continue their chores, for they had a lot to do. It was a bad time to stop treating the patients now and if they just stood there crying after something they could do nothing about, more lives would be lost.
As Risa made her way to the room she had been earlier and went to the patients to check them she couldn't help but let the thing bother her. Though she did everything Lin Lin had advised to do when stressed, she just couldn't help it.
'Please... Be all right, everyone...'Feeling how tears started to form in her eyes, Risa put all her focus in her task. She would do this, she would help the others in here since she couldn't do anything about what had happened on the battle field. But as soon as she turned back to the patient in front of her, the bean could see how the pure white blankets got few dark and moist spots on them.
'Ai...'------------------------------------
The battlefield had quieted down and only one person was standing in the middle of it, surrounded by hundreds of death warriors. The last standing warrior was panting heavily, her right arm hanging loosely on her side while the left one had hit her sword to the ground, so the warrior could lean on it.
Collapsing on her knees, Goto tried somehow to keep her awareness and stay awake, but she was just so damn tired. She had lost a lot of blood and after a good 20 minutes rage attack, she was downright exhausted. She had wounds here and there, but worst was her right arm. She couldn't feel or move it.
“Shimatta....”
Goto cursed as she tried to get up. She succeeded and for a moment she stood still, looking up to the sky where the evening sun was starting to set down.
Though many had escaped her a while ago, there had been just too many enemies to a one lone warrior to take care of. Goto might have been a great warrior and swordsman, but even she couldn't take too multiple enemy without getting wounded.
Letting her eyes to close and one last deep sigh escape her lips, the general collapsed to the ground in the middle of corpses. Her body was lifeless and she could keep her eyes open only for a moment. And then, everything turned pitch black.
----------------------------
It took one week before the troops got back to the Castle. The battlefront had been left guarded, but there hadn't been any kind of information about enemy following them or such. The atmosphere was very dark as the group entered the village's gates. Everyone was searching for the survivors, Risa being one of them.
She watched as the soldiers passed by, everyone walking on like it had been the world end. Finally, she saw someone she recognized. Reina was riding alone in the middle of the group and Risa dashed immediately to her. Noticing the bean, Reina took her horse to side and made her way to Risa. She jumped down and took the bean in her arms, hugging her tightly.
“Thank god you're okay...”
Risa whispered. It was so good to see their friends after a long while. For a moment, Reina just hugged the bean when she suddenly remembered the others. Like reading her mind, Risa soon pulled away and looked the kitten in the eyes with a worried expression.
“Where are the rest?”
Reina tensed and even shivered, which immediately caused Risa to get worried. Her expression turned to a shocked one and it was like the kitten had seen a ghost. The earlier events still fresh in her mind, Reina wasn't sure how to tell this to Risa. She didn't even know, how she had done it to here without going crazy.
After a long silence, which the bean hadn't dared to interrupt, Reina slowly hung her head and tried to control her emotions. It took a lot of willpower, but her training and warrior senses finally kicked in and allowed her to hide her deepest emotions.
“Eri and Ai are at the nurse's place... Both are under special treatment and...”
“What happened to Ai?”
Risa asked suddenly, causing Reina to confuse. But soon, the kitten was back to her warrior mode as she finally raised her head up and looked deeply in Risa's eyes, not showing any kind of emotions.
“She was wounded. It was an ambush...”
“No...”
That was all Risa could say. She had known something had happened to Ai, but judging by the way Reina was acting, it was something serious.
“She's under treatment now and that's all I know... Now, if you will excuse me, I have some duties to do.”
Bowing a bit, Reina turned around and left the bean behind her. She had suddenly gotten so uneasy as she watched Risa's worried expression, that the kitten wasn't sure if she could take it any longer. She had to get away from this situation now and besides, she didn't want to make the bean anymore worried than she already was.
Reina didn't however get to take many steps, when the question she had feared, was asked.
“Where's Sayu?”
It took all her willpower not to break down as she heard the name. The name, whose carrier wasn't here anymore. Reina was silent for a long while, biting her lower lip so she wouldn't lose control of her own emotions again. She still didn't want to accept that this was reality, but just a freaking nightmare and she would wake up soon from it.
Finally, the kitten gathered herself somehow and opened her mouth. But at the end of her words, her voice cracked.
“Sayu is out there... In the last carriage. Now if you excuse me I really have to go.”
And with that Reina started to run away from her friend, leaving the stunned bean alone. What on earth had happened on the field since she was acting like that? Usually Reina was the one who would survive all the horrors and such with no difficulties, but now she wasn't herself at all.
Risa tried to call after her friend, but suddenly Reina's words sunk in. Wait, did she say that Sayu was in the last carriage?
Counting one plus one in her head and adding Lin Lin's vision to it, the bean turned around to look at the warrior cavalcade. And just then, the last carriage came in, the villages gates closing after it. The bean could see the conifer branches all around the carriage which told only one thing: Everyone riding that vehicle were dead.
The shock that washed over her was so intense, that Risa couldn't even utter a word. She just stared after the carriage which was carrying one of her friends. But Risa didn't get much time to think about her fallen friend, when she suddenly heard someone call her.
“Niigaki-san!!”
Snapping out of her thoughts, Risa spun around only to find a young girl in front of her. Soon she recognized Mittsui running towards her and the alarmed face of hers made the bean get even more anxious. What now?
“What's wrong?”
”Lin Lin needs your help at the nurses place! You have to hurry!”
Aika panted. Still being very confused of the news she had hear a while ago, Risa didn't move an inch at first while Aika was trying to get her to the nurse's place. Then, she remembered Reina's words:
'Eri and Ai are at the nurse's place... Both are under special treatment and...'”No...”
Fearing the worst Risa started suddenly to ran towards the nurse's place, leaving a stunned Aika behind her. The younger one however followed soon after her, trying to keep up with the furiously running bean.
They reached the nurse's place quite soon, but the sight in there wasn't something Risa was expecting. Only yesterday, everything had been quite well under the control, but now she didn't even have to enter the building to see that something was wrong.
There were a lot of wounded ones even outside the building and Risa could hear wailing from inside. No, not just inside. It was everywhere. There were few Lin Lin's assistants running around and trying to help as many as possible, but there were just too few of them.
”Niigaki-san, Lin Lin needs your hep in the surgery room. Please, hurry to there...”
Aika said panting a bit as she went past the bean in order to help the assistants. Risa didn't waste much time as she rushed inside and to the surgery room. But as she opened the front door, she was greeted with a horrible sight:
There were wounded ones everywhere around the place. Some where unconscious, unaware of all the pain, but some were howling in pain. There were a lot of blood around and the sterile smell of the nurse's place was long gone and replaced by rotten meat and blood. There were about six person's running frantically around and treating all the patients they could.
Because of the big losses and injuries, Lin Lin had had to require few assistants for her help. There was just no way she could survive this all alone. Trying to erase all the bad images from her mind and all the crying from her ears, Risa continued her way to the surgery room. She was already anxious, since the surgery room always meant that someones life was in danger and the bean didn't even want to know what would wait her there.
She hadn't yet seen Ai or Eri anywhere, but truth to be told, she really didn't want to see them right now. Not in here, but somewhere else where she knew they would be okay and uninjured.
When she reached the surgery room's door, the bean hurried inside, but her speed died down very quickly when she was suddenly standing face to face with her captain. Miki had heard that someone was entering the room and she had come outside to make sure that it was someone who had something to do in here. They didn't need any extra audience.
Noticing who was about to enter the room, the captain only took a hold of the stunned bean's hand and pulled her inside, closing the door behind her.
“Good you're here, we need your help....”
The captain's voice was stern, and even blunt and Risa could already feel that she wasn't going to like what she was about to see soon. There was a smaller room before the main surgery room where Miki took the younger girl. They went to the door at the end of the room, but before opening it, the captain stopped and looked at Risa with a serious face.
“We really need your help here, so I am asking you to try and concentrate on this task, no matter what you will see in there. Can you promise me that?”
This was no good. There just had to be something horrible behind that door, for the captain had asked Risa such a question. But the bean gathered herself and tried to calm down. It somehow eased her mind that Miki was here, for the older one's calm being calmed Risa down too. She had to help others and her own panicking and such wouldn't help at all now. She had to push aside the facts that her friend was dead and another one wounded. Plus, also her lover was wounded in somewhere. Steeling her nerves, Risa nodded her head to the captain who nodded as well and pushed the door open.
They entered a medium size room, which had only one table in the middle of it and some smaller ones around it. The whole room was white and there was only one window in the ceiling, allowing a lot of light to enter the room and making it quite bright. As the bean's eyes got used to the bright light, she could finally see clearly what was in front of her. And she didn't like at all what she saw.
There were two persons on the surgery table, both having some kind of a mask on their face. There was a lot of blood around and it seemed to be everywhere, even in the ceiling. Then, Risa took a double take of who these person's were.
“Oh my....”
The first one was no one else than the general of Yoshizawa's army. She was laying lifelessly on the table, her other arm stretched to the side where it was resting on a small table. But as Risa came closer to examine the two patients better, she noticed, that Goto's arm was loose. There were only few tendons keeping the arm attached to her shoulder. There were a lot of blood stained towels around, but the bleeding had already ceased.
Risa recognized the medicine which even she had used few times when she had treated someone. There were also something else which she didn't recognize, but judging by Goto's wound, they had to be some stronger medicines. Moving a bit aside, the bean looked at the other patient. The air mask covered her face so much, that Risa could hardly identify the person, but as she moved around the table, she got a better view of the patients face.
“No...”
Risa gasped. as she realized who was laying on the surgery table next to the general. It was no one else than her lover, who had her clothes stained in blood. Her armor had been removed and she was only having her clothes she kept on underneath her warrior suit. The white shirt had been ripped out of the way so it would reveal the nasty wound in her shoulder. The wound looked very deep and it was still bleeding slowly. Ai's lower body was the same, though it wasn't bleeding so much as her shoulder.
Soon, Lin Lin appeared out of nowhere with some towels and medicine. She pressed one towel against Ai's wound which caused the squad leader to flinch and groan. She was awake but the nurse had pumped so much medicine in her veins, that the young leader was barely aware of her surroundings.
While Ai would react to pain, Goto was totally blackout. The only thing that told them that the general was alive, was the small movement of her chest as she breathed.
“Risa, press this please....”
Lin Lin said and the bean did immediately as asked. While she and the nurse were treating Ai, Miki was looking after Goto. She was holding something against the wound in her shoulder, so it wouldn't start bleed again.
It took about ten minutes before Lin Lin asked Risa to remove the towel. The bleeding had ceased now, thanks to the nurse's magic and skills. Lin Lin rubbed her hands together and after a while, placed them above the wound in Ai's shoulder.
“Get ready to press that towel against the wound when I say so.”
Lin Lin guided, while Risa nodded her head to show that she had understood what she should do. The nurse took a deep breath and placed her palms on top of the wound. She started to move her hands slowly away and at the same time, Ai started to howl in pain.
But the leader could only squirm around and not to get up. Only now did Risa notice that her lover had been trapped on the table by some kind of magic, for she had shining rings around her wrists, ankles and stomach. Judging by the way the older woman was squirming and screaming, it was the only option to bind her down in order to treat her.
As Lin Lin pulled her hands further away from the wound, Ai's screams got louder and louder. Her eyes had shot wide open and when seeing her lover's gaze, Risa wanted to look away. Those beautiful doe eyes were looking up, the pupils wide and from time to time, the bean was sure she couldn't see them at all. It was like she was looking a zombie or something, not a living creature.
It took only few more seconds, when something dark got out from the wound. It was the arrow's head which had stayed in the leader's flesh after it had hit it's target.
'Bastards, using weapons like that...'Risa growled in her mind as she watched her lover in pain. Finally, the metal object got away from the shoulder, but immediately after that, the wound started to bleed massively.
Wasting no time, Risa pressed the towel in her hands hard against the wound, while Lin Lin took something from the table beside her. It was some kind of a powder and when she turned back to the bean, she motioned her to move the towel away. Nodding her head, Risa did as asked and immediately the towel was moved away, the nurse threw the powder in Ai's wound.
There was a a loud whiz, like someone had thrown water in fire. At the same time, the leader's eyes shot open once again and a bloodcurdling scream was heard as she howled in pain.
In no time, Lin Lin took a small wooden stick and put it between Ai's teeth. Pressing her jaw gently, the nurse made the leader bite in the object. Ai calmed down a bit, but she was still seemly in pain as Lin Lin kept on treating her wound.
Risa in turn, looked at her lover with wide eyes. She had never seen her in this kind of state and it made her feel very bad. She wanted to dash out from here and not to look at this scene at all.
Suddenly, a hand laid on her shoulder and as Risa turned to watch, she found Miki beside her. The captain had a stern but at the same time very gentle look on her face and that calmed the bean down a bit. She knew what the younger girl was feeling right now, for the captain had been in her shoes years ago. By now, she had gotten so used to see death and such that it almost scared herself how calm she could be now.
“Try to calm her down. Be there for her.”
Miki told and guided Risa beside Ai. After that she made sure that the towel against Goto's wound was okay and went to help Lin Lin. By now, the nurse had started to sew the leader's wound and had almost finished it. Risa watched her lover for a little while, before she slowly moved one hand against Ai's cheek, the other one finding it's way in the leader's hand. Ai was still squirming but somehow she calmed down when she felt the bean's touch.
Lin Lin and Miki started to treat her leg now, making exactly the same operation as a while ago. Ai howled in pain again, but this time, she was somehow calmer. When Risa spoke gently to her, the leader seemed to listen and fight back the pain she was feeling. She was still biting hard in the wooden stick in her mouth, but her squirming had ceased. During the operation, Risa ran all kind of things through her head; What would happen to general and Ai after this? Would they be okay? What had happened on the battlefield? How would life go on after Sayu's dead? How about Eri and Reina? What was going to happen now?
“Risa.”
Lin Lin's gentle voice brought the bean back on earth. The operation was now over and there were bindings on Ai's leg and chest. The wounds were sewed, but the nurse just wanted to make sure that they would not open again, so she had but some bindings over them. By now, Ai had also calmed down and she was only breathing quite heavily.
“Lets take them to the rest room. We might need this space again soon, so we need it to be empty.”
Miki said and tapped Ai's table once. In no time, the bindings around the leader disappeared and the table started to move out of the room on the wheels under it. The bean was about to follow the captain, but she suddenly remembered that there was another patient too and Lin Lin might have appreciated help with her too.
Risa returned to the general, whom the nurse was treating right now. Something terrible must have happened out there, since Goto's arm was in this condition. Or well, what was left of it.
Luckily, there was not much to do anymore, for Lin Lin had already treated the wound so well that only thing Risa had to do was to hand the nurse some medicine and objects when she needed more than two hands. In no time, the general was moved to the next room as well with Ai and the next patients were taken inside. Risa offered her help to the nurse, though she really wanted to look after Ai and her other friends. But right now, her mind was in so bad mess, that she just needed something else to think about and helping the victims made her to concentrate on something with all her power. It was a long and rough day and it stretched into the next morning till the last patient was treated. Everyone didn't survive and some of the patients died in their hands.
Finally, when the last patient was taken care of, successfully this time, Risa slouched in a nearby chair just outside of the surgery room. She just stared ahead, like she was in trance, not saying a word and it almost seemed like she wasn't even breathing. There were just too many thoughts in her head right now. Her friends, her lover, the general and all this madness. She had thought that the war had already showed it's horrible side to her, but she had been terribly wrong in that. Risa just felt like she had felt when she had lost her family; unable to go on and freaking tired of this all. She just wanted to everything stop and wake up in her own bed, surrounded by everyone she loved. But no. She was still in this room, which walls were stained in blood and were death was staying.
Had she stayed in this state any longer, Risa would have probably snapped, but luckily Lin Lin was there for her. The nurse knelt in front of the other girl and placed her hands gently on her legs. When the bean looked up, the younger girl smiled at her sadly, but at the same time, she radiated some kind of a warmth as she did so. Risa looked deep in the nurse's eyes, not moving an inch. Suddenly, Lin Lin opened her arms and it didn't take long when the bean was in her arms, crying against her shoulder. The nurse just held her friend tightly, trying to comfort her the best she could.
Risa cried and cried, till she was too tired to cry anymore. She was held by Lin Lin for a long while, before the nurse decided that it was enough and that the bean should go to check her friends.
“Ai's in the next room. She's resting and her wounds have recovered quite well. With good luck, she might be even awake.”
The nurse spoke quietly as she kept on holding the girl. Risa sniffed few times, before she pulled a bit away. Her eyes were red from all the crying and the whole girl was all mess, thanks to the stress and a sleepless night. They stayed still for a while, before Risa slowly nodded her head and got up, leaving the room and nurse after her.
Lin Lin sighed a bit as she watched after her friend. She then looked around her and after seeing all the blood, she swung her arm once through the air. A blue light filled the room and soon, all the blood was gone. Seeing that red liquid right now made even the experienced nurse nauseous and she too needed something else to think about than this damn war and death.
Meanwhile, Risa entered the next room, where some patients were kept. As she got in, she noticed that someone else was already in there. Lifting her head up, the bean came face to face with Reina, who was sitting next to someone's bed. She was in the corner of the room, where one bed was a bit separated from the others. The kitten smiled sadly as she noticed Risa and her state.
The bean closed the door quietly after her and walked beside Reina. At the same time, it was revealed who the kitten was watching after at. Eri was laying in the bed, her face pale and a deep frown on her face. It was like she was having a nightmare or something, for she was tossing around from time to time restlessly.
“Ai's in the next bed.”
Reina whispered quietly. Her voice was hoarse and somehow it didn't fit the usually cheerful warrior at all. The kitten knew who the bean had came to check and though she surely wanted to see Eri too, she was sure that their leader was the person the bean wanted to check first. Risa nodded her head and walked to the next bed, where her lover indeed was sleeping.
Her breathing was steadier now and she looked also a lot more calm than yesterday. Her bindings were still pure white, which told that the wounds hadn't opened again. That was a good thing and it eased Risa's mind a bit. She reached Ai's hand slowly and took it in her own, squeezing it lightly. Almost immediately, the leader responded and stirred a bit. She didn't wake up however. She was still under a heavy painkiller medication so it was no wonder, that Ai wouldn't wake up very easily.
Sighing deeply, the bean kept on holding Ai's hand as she ran things in her head. This all was just so confusing and right now, it seemed like there was no way out of this situation at all. And like her thoughts had summoned something even worse to come out, the bean's pondering was interrupted soon by Eri's voice.
“Sayu...”
The turtle whined as she started to furiously toss around in her bed. Reina was immediately beside her, trying to calm her friend down.
“Eri, it's okay. I am here.”
”No....”
Eri moaned as she pulled her hand away from Reina's, leaving the stunned kitten to stare at her.
“No.... You're not Sayu....”
Though Reina knew Eri was not very aware of what she said now, it still hurt to hear something like that. This was about the third time this happened and every time, it left a deep wound in the kitten's heart. Risa listened this all, not turning around. She was just too confused to register much things around her and besides, her focus was now on her lover's sleeping face, which had started to twitch when she had heard Eri's voice. And soon, the leader opened her eyes. At first, she only looked around aimlessly, till her eyes landed on Risa. Immediately, the bean met her gaze and moved a bit closer.
“Ai.”
She called her lover, who seemed to respond somehow to her. The leader blinked few times before she squeezed the bean's hand.
“Risa...”
She whispered. Just hearing her voice made the bean feel good on top of all the bad feelings she had experienced lately. But quite soon, the realization hit her back. Of course she was happy and all that Ai was alive, but there were just something that kept on haunting her.
This was probably going to be her future if things continued like this. Of course, no one could never anticipate when something bad was about to happen, but with warriors, it was more risky that something like this would occur.
When Risa had seen her lover in the surgery room with her wounds, she had been shocked. No, the word shocked wasn't enough to describe her true feelings back then. It had been something much worse.
Suddenly, the bean remembered the fight they had had before the latest battle had started. The feelings back then suddenly popped up in Risa's mind and she couldn't help but feel angry. This war was taking everything precious away from her and there was just nothing she could do to it now. It didn't help at all that she was tired and stressed out, which made the feel of anger even worse inside her heart.
She had to get out of here right now or something bad would happen. The bean was sure of it.
“Get some rest.”
Risa stated bluntly to her lover, as she got up and went beside Eri's bed.
“Risa....”
Ai tried to whisper, but was soon cut by her lover, who didn't even turn around as she spoke.
“I said get some rest.”
She said a bit louder now. Ai watched at her lover with a frown. Though she was under all kind of painkiller's effects, the leader could think quite clearly already. Risa's behavior stunned her a lot and Ai was lost at words.
Risa in turn just kept on going and soon reached Eri's bed. The turtle had calmed down by now and was only breathing heavily. The bean went beside her and stroked her friend's hair gently, causing the younger girl to turn her head against her touch.
”Sayu...”
Eri mumbled. A sad expression washed over Risa's face as she slowly took her hand away from Eri's hair. She looked at the sleeping turtle for a moment and when the pain in her chest got worse, she decided that it was her time to leave now.
“Take care of her.”
Risa whispered as she started to leave the room. But she paused beside Reina, causing the kitten to glance at her.
“And... Watch after Ai for me, will you?”
Frowning, Reina nodded her head a bit. She wasn't sure what was going on between those two and what was bothering Risa so much, but something had to be wrong, since the bean didn't look after her lover by herself.
“Thank you....”
Risa whispered as she glanced at Eri one last time, before she left the room. As she passed Ai's bed, she could hear her lover whisper her name. But the bean didn't stop. She only slowed down a bit but in the end, she walked non stop out of the room, leaving her lover behind. Ai had raised her better arm up in order to reach out for her lover. When she heard the door click and was not able to see the younger girl anymore, she silently dropped her arm down and sighed deeply.
Reina watched this all with a sad expression. It was hard enough that they had lost their dear friend and the two other were in bad condition. In her heart, the kitten prayed that they all would survive this somehow.
'If there's a God, please let us all get through this. Just... Give us all strength to go on....'Meanwhile, Ai was sulking in her own bed. She didn't know the whole story behind Risa's cold behavior but she knew that it would take a long time before she would calm down. And that was what the leader feared the most. She really wanted the bean beside her, so she could hold her and be sure that they were both alive.
The young squad leader hadn't never been so close to death as she had been one week ago and it had scared her. Right now all she needed was her friends and lover's support, but she knew that it was impossible. One of them was soon to be under the ground, while the other two were too tired to even take care of themselves. And her lover was mad at her and probably as stressed out as she was.
As the leader kept on sulking in her bead and moaning over her sore wounds, her lover was walking outside in the cool morning, trying to put things in order in her head. She didn't know where she was going, but as long as she got to stay alone for a while and away from all the blood, death and that stupid war, everything would be fine. At least on some level.
That day, a dark curtain landed above the village as the four friends had lost their dear friend and one's lover. It was a hard hit and nobody was sure, if they could make it from here. It didn't help the situation at all, that their general was wounded and that two of their best fighters were out as well. Also, the unknown enemy situation was also roasting their minds all the time, piling the stress up and making the situation even harder to handle.
And as if that wasn't enough already, the nature decided to bring rain over the village. It was like the whole world was crying after the big losts the village had faced.
But the cold rain didn't feel on Risa's skin. Instead, it felt warm on her cheeks, as she finally reached an empty alley where no one could see her. She punched the wall in front of her as hard as she could as she cried her heart out once again, hoping it would wash the heavy feeling away from her heart.
As the rain kept on falling harder, the tired warrior finally dropped down on her knees in front of the wall, which now had few red stains of blood. As she held her fists against the moist ground, she didn't care about the pain she felt in her wounded hands for the pain in her heart was much worse now.
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*Runs away once again* Hope you enjoyed...
Topic: Re: The mask of soul//chapter 48/ 10/31 (Read 43498 times)