Before the Battle

Reckoning 8/20

--Taira--

I would have ranked persuading someone holding a gun to my head to change their mind at the last minute as one of my best tricks.

Marat's mercy, however, was not due to a twinge of conscience, but solely to the fact that the kind captain was a coward and terrified of Shira.

And I was an idiot to fall into their trap, but there was no point in crying over spilt milk.

I fumbled blindly for my discarded jacket, which was lying on the stinking floor of the cabin. At about the fifth attempt, with my hands tied behind my back, I managed to pull a folded piece of paper and a lock of hair out of my pocket. I clasped both things in my hand like a talisman.

I knew Shira would come for me. I knew it as surely as the sun would rise in the morning.

But Isao Satoshi worried me. He was the one who had set this trap for me, and he knew exactly how I would react. His next moves were unpredictable and I could only hope that Shira wouldn't fall for it.

The rocking of the moving ship didn't bother me, I'd never been seasick before, but when it suddenly stopped, I noticed it immediately.

Soon after, the persistent hum of the engines also stopped, and a few minutes later there was the sound of doors opening and footsteps.

Two pairs of hands grabbed me and pushed me out. In an instant I could feel the fresh air on my face, smell the sea, the salt and the cold wind that ruffled my hair and gave me goose bumps.

They moved me roughly and started to tie me up again. This time to a metal pole somewhere on the deck of the ship. My captors were silent and I couldn't hear anything except for the occasional footstep and the sound of the wind, the screaming of seagulls and the crashing of the waves.

My arms were painfully twisted backwards and tied to the pole. My legs and ankles were bound just as tightly.

I couldn't see, I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything.

"You won, General Imara," came the words, and I turned my head towards the voice that unmistakably belonged to Satoshi. "We're going back to your camp and we'll set you free there."

I doubted it very much. For one thing, we certainly weren't going back to camp. Despite the blindfold, I had some sense of direction, and this ship had been heading north from the start, which meant away from our campsite.

"You're not going to take the scarf off so I can check, are you?" I grinned wryly.

"Surely we trust each other," he replied with the same irony as me.

"Sure, and you tied me up here... why exactly?"

"For the fresh air?" Satoshi replied amusedly, not even trying to pretend he wasn't lying.

"Where is Captain Marat?"

"He and I will be departing now, leaving you in the care of our friends. But don't worry, they'll make sure you reach the end of your journey safely."

I felt his sweet-smelling breath on my cheek as he leaned forward and whispered, "When you meet Shira, give him my regards."

Of course, I knew it was a trap. And I was the bait.

"Goodbye, General," Satoshi said, and then all I heard was the sound of footsteps retreating.

Marat hadn't come to say goodbye. I didn't know if that was a good or bad sign.

There was complete silence again.

After a while it was broken by the sound of the ship's engines starting up again.