Tatakai

Chapter 1

The ground seems meek towards us, still I don't feel that the war has come to an end. The enemy is completely exhausted, half their troops are incapacitated and the other half are on the battle ground fiddled by the guls, but why don't I see it in their eyes and why aren't they retreating? What are they thinking? Something is going on, I could feel it in the wind scarring my face. I have to find out.
That's it. I called my vice and screamed 'Se-joh, take the command, I am going for a run. ' Se-joh is the best gul there is, I can trust him to protect the Sa-myite. Good, now I have to isolate myself and visualize. Kyosa is not so far away, I could dress up and move in as a villager once I am sure.
I took off my armour and dressed up, looking at myself in the mirror I thought, 'Beauty, what's so enchanting about it, a dark life could be covered in the ashes of beauty just like the winter that blankets every thing in the white snow. Not divorcing itself from the cold, how does a man associate beauty with something that withers as the time passes by.' As long as it gets me inside of Kyosa without harming anyone, I'll endure this. At least my mother would be happy to see me dressed up as a doll. I stepped out of the camp, hiding behind the shields of my army, towards the front line, the ground became more mucky. Why should blood and life be spilled to let people live in harmony an peace? Why can't the ones who are incapable to rule realize this and concede to form an alliance. Is it the thirst of evil seed that makes fools wage lives for no reason.
I grew up in Sa-myite with my father, who was the general of the Sa-myite army under the rule of Ke-Chyung. He was born to a physician, he fought with my grandpa to join the army as a soldier though he received education in medicine. He told me that since he was born to a upper class family, he had the option to choose a profession not inherited by the family name. But after looking at his fellow citizens suffering due to such crude classification, he decided to switch to make this place safe and equal. He studied medicine so that he would able to treat those with ailments and trained himself to the edge to protect those who could not fight for themselves. He was even locked up for 7 months during Ke-Byung's reign for siding with the rebel groups against the king. He told me that he realized what life is and what it could be in that period of darkness and that it's upto him to choose between justice and ignorance. My father has always been a source of strength for me. They say that I take off after my father, maybe that's why he accepted my choices in life. Being a girl was never easy. Especially when there are a lot of people expecting to gain control over her. My parents were over protective of me. My mother wanted me to be calm and love things a girl should and be things a princess could, calm, collected and beautiful. Though my habit of dressing up put her at ease to some extent, my stunts have always given her a heart attack. So, she ended up raising two kids, my father and I until I was 4. A plague hit Sa-myite during the war and my mother, being a physian herself attended to several sick patients, eventually becoming a prey to the same plague. Upon my father's return from the war, he sat with me and cried until we felt there's no more tears left. It was the first lesson he taught me, 'Cry, shout, laugh, do whatever you feel, but never hide it from me. I swear to be with you always and let you be yourself. I know I can neither bring your mother back nor be one, but I will be there when you are happy, when you are sad, because that is the best I could do, to give away my life if need be for you to live your life without regrets.' I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me back then, but I knew he would never leave me again. The next day, he met the king and has resigned from his position as vice in command of the army. He provided education to every child that wanted to have one regardless of their societal status. He trained me in medicine and martial arts and told me that it is my duty as a Sa-myiten to protect the vulnerable and give them space to breathe the same air as everyone. He was my only friend.
I planned to place myself in a pile of the dead so that the Kyosa soldiers would take me inside their kingdom. I thought, and even if they found out I am alive, it would be easier to convince them that I was the wife of a soldier, afraid for his life, I sneaked in. This would be a perfect excuse. As I wasn't noticed, I moved into Kyosa market without any trouble. Now it is time to see that hidden truth that has put my mind in a knotted storm.