Before the Battle

Side story: This Night 2/2

The echo of the shot, loud and sharp, still rang in her ears.

Scared to death, she crouched even closer to the ground, hoping the tall grass would give her enough cover. For the first few moments, she had no idea what was happening or why she was suddenly in the middle of a gunfight. Her hands were shaking and her heart was pounding.

Tamiko had never been in a real fight before. Despite what her mother did, battles had always miraculously avoided their home. But that luck ended tonight.

She caught a glimpse of a body slumped to the ground not far from where she lay. The Imperial soldier's face was covered in blood, his dead eyes staring at her expressionlessly. She covered her mouth with her hand to keep from crying out loud and averted her eyes.

The shots and screams still reached her. She could smell the dirt on her face, the evening dew wetting her long hair as she clutched as close to the ground as she could, praying that a stray bullet wouldn't hit her.

A stranger's hand gripped her forearm, pulling the girl unsteadily to her feet. She looked closely into the eyes of an enemy soldier in a black rebel uniform. His face was hairy, but even his long beard and hair could not hide the burns on the right side of his face and his partially disfigured eye. Perhaps it was because of that, but the man looked terrifying.

He grinned unpleasantly. "What's a beauty like that doing here?"

He leaned even closer, almost as if he wanted to kiss her. She shivered slightly at the smell of his foul breath and pulled away as hard as she could.

"Take her," he pushed the girl towards the two other soldiers who had emerged from the surrounding darkness, "we'll talk to her later."

She wanted to scream, but completely paralysed by fear, she could do nothing.

"We're not supposed to attack civilians," objected one of the men who had just arrived. It was his hand that gripped Tamiko's so tightly that she couldn't escape. "Our orders are to head straight for the capital."

"Shut up," the one with the burned face interrupted. "Fuck the orders. I haven't eaten in two days. Besides," he ran a lustful eye over the girl in the thin dress. "I want to have some fun. Who knows what will happen to us after the battle."

Tami shuddered in disgust, her eyes filling with tears as she realised what they were planning for her.

Staring numbly at the burned man's face, the girl listened to them argue. Her gaze was constantly drawn to his crippled eye.

Suddenly, just then, the man's eyes widened, his mouth opened, but no scream came out. Only red blood spurted out. The body slid silently to the ground.

The one who was holding her, managed to scream. The other didn't.

In less than a heartbeat, three dead soldiers lay at the girl's feet, and she watched, uncomprehending, as bright red splashes soaked into the snow-white fabric of her dress. They reminded her of red rose petals.

Numbly, she looked up from her bloody clothes.

He was standing before her. Fear, shock and incredible relief. She felt it all at the sight of her saviour.

His long hair flowed wildly around his face, his blue-grey eyes icy and deadly, as dangerous as the blade of his katana.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yes," she blurted out, proud that she'd managed to get at least that one syllable out of her trembling lips.

No, she wasn't all right. Her stomach heaved at the smell of blood and death, she struggled to stay on her feet, her knees shaking. She wasn't all right at all.