Tears of a Dove

XII: North vs. South (Part 1)

South Division, at dawn
November 4, 1884

"Today is the day, men," Kazu shouted over his large army. "There will be no turning back after we march forth into the Northern Territory. Don't hesitate to keep going. Don't stop for your friend. Don't stop for your family. If you get shot, keep going. If your fellow soldier is killed, you keep going. Make us known. Push the North until they give up. With all the power we have, there will be no stopping us. In sixty seconds, we will begin our push. Be ready, men!"

The large crowd of soldiers looked either anxious, terrified, or confident. This attack could perhaps lead to the North being forced to surrender, or it could be worse. The North could very well be prepared for this attack, and it could wipe out the entire South Division. Not thinking if the outcome would be negative or positive, Kazu was not going to turn away from the idea at any given moment in time.

Arwel was standing in the very back of the crowd. He looked down at the rifle he was carrying with great confidence. He did not feel worried anymore. He was ready to head into this war with fervor.

Kazu began the countdown. "Three... Two... One... CHARGE!"

Like that, the entire South Division army turned around and began running into the North. Arwel matched his pace with a group that split up a little ways away from other groups who had split up. They ran for miles and miles, while Kazu stood still from where he started.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kobe woke up uneasily with Ingrid in his arms. Ingrid woke up with him and brushed her black hair out of her face.

"What's wrong, Kobe?" Ingrid asked quietly.

"Nothing," Kobe replied.

"Bad dream?"

Kobe hesitated. "Yeah."

Ingrid sighed. "Me too."

"I really miss them, you know. Arwel and Miku."

"I do too," she said, yawning as she stood up. "I really do hope they're doing just fine."

"What if they don't ever come back?"

"What do you mean? I'm sure they will."

"How do you have so much hope? I've had nothing but bad thoughts this past year."

Ingrid sat back down next to Kobe. "It's because you're not seeing the good in this situation. In Kinji, I feared for my life every day. I worried that only bad things would happen to me. When I worried about the negative aspects, nothing but bad things happened to me. The moment I regained hope, I acted upon it. And now here I am, a year later."

"So, you're saying we should act upon this situation?"

"What?"

"Shouldn't we do something about it? Go find them, maybe?"

"Kobe, but--"

"It shouldn't be hard to find them, right? We can take them back home, we can... We can--"

"Kobe..." Ingrid put her arms around Kobe. "Calm down. It's okay. They're fine."