As Kimi and Yasuke trek up the southern route to the plaza, they are led to a marketplace on the Southern end. Stalls suspend at either side of them, creating one long aisle of a shopping center.

"Two guards on our path. Three stores down," Yasuke whispers to Kimi as they creep their way through the walkway teeming with shoppers.

"One behind us too," She responds.

"So, what's the plan?"

"We need to steal something,"

Kimi glances at a bookstore just ahead of them. She taps Yasuko on the shoulder and nods her head at the store. "They'll follow us to the square."

Making their way inside, the dimly lit room reveals the peaking shelves of books propped across the height of the tree. Not all the way up, but about four floors taller than Yasuke. The stories also extend a few floors down with the walkway looping around each story to give access to the shelves.

"You must be travelers," Says an old man seated at a till that's suspended in the center of the tree. His bushy eyebrows raise as he takes a good look at the two of them.

"Something like that," Kimi responds, analyzing the busy library.

"What might you be seeking?."

"We're here for a book,"

"Ways of battle, by Sutzu?" He chuckles.

"War isn't my preference,"

"I'm sure it isn't," He says as he hops off his seat, vanishing behind in the depths of the countertop.

The stubby man waddles his way over to Kimi. His deep green robes drag along the floor before glistening with accents of reflective knitting as he passes through the sunlight. "There are three more guards beyond the market,"

"So?" Yasuke interrupts.

"We don't get many travelers, but it's nice when we do,"

"I don't follow," Kimi utters as the Teller approaches the shelves.

"It would seem war isn't very good for tourism," He giggles.

He rolls up the sleeve to expose a mechanical arm with a set of pincers at the end. Twisting a knob the arm slowly cranks as it elongates up the length of the bookshelf, nearly eight rows high.

"We have seventy-eight million three hundred and ninety-one books in our store," Each pincer gracefully slides between either side of a book slowly disappearing as he finds a grip.

"It's not quite like seven hundred billion or so in the hall of The A'shic records, but I am proud to admit that we have a few original copies here which they drew copies of,"

The book slowly peels out of place, gently gliding down in the firm grip of the arm as it retracts into his sleeve.

"This is one of them," He adds, as he hands the book over to Kimi who then peers at the title.

SIEGE

By: COMMANDER NAPPAL

Kimi laughs, showing the cover to Yasuke who bellows with her. "This is the original copy you say? How much?"

"I, for one, received good business from travelers," He responds, softly making his way to the entrance. "Their interests always seemed to align with my own."

"Thr interests?" Yasuke queries.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"The book is free of charge," The Teller flutters an eyebrow, presumably winking at the pair.

"I'll be sure to return and hear more about your collection," Kimi waves to the Teller as she paces out of the store, shoving the book into her backpack.

Yasuke passes a friendly salute to the man as he exits behind her.

They both start hauling their way down the walkway, crashing over anyone that's in their way. They pass by the two guards who they spotted who are staring at the pair in suspicion.

"Thieves!" Yells the old man from the distance, his voice cutting through the ambiance of the marketplace. "Thieves! They're running to the Plaza!"

The guards chase after the two, hesitant to raise their weapons amongst the pool of civilians.

"Stop!" Yells one of the guards.

But Kimi and Yasuke keep plowing, charging through the crowd until Kimi crashes into a third guard amongst the pool of citizens. Everyone within the vicinity clears room for the guard to confront her, leaving space for him to raise his weapon. Kimi slowly raises her hands as she sees the other two guards approaching in the distance.

She needs to keep moving.

Kimi slowly reaches for the weapon on her back, but the guard is savvy - "Ah Ah! don't move."

She freezes, looking over her shoulder to notice Yasuke still chugging along the route to the square when a sudden buzz of chatter sparks amongst the viewers. She back at the guard to see an arrowhead protruding from the front of his throat. The guard's weapon slides out of his hand as he falls flat on his face.

Kimi turns tail again, squeezing her way back into the audience as they all peer at the trees in an attempt to locate the shooter. She races after Yasuke who is now exiting the market and on the path to the square, where there is a lack of civilian cover. Before she can reach the path, the crack of gunfire surges through the air as she notices all the civilians drop to their knees. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes widened at the sight of two guards aiming down their scopes amongst the crouching civilians.

She's exposed.

Still running.

Another echo whips through the air as blood douses the pavement in red.

She doesn't feel it. Not yet. So she keeps running, Bracing herself for the pain and hoping adrenaline will carry her further. Ahead is the sight of Yasuke aiming down the scope of his revolving sniper rifle. The wide, thick barrel tunneling at Kimi's face as she dives out of the way. At that same moment, a thud escapes Yasuke's weapon, and a grenade-like round releases from the barrel. Kimi doesn't look back, thinking that Yasuke has just tossed a grenade into a crowd of civilians, it's the last thing she wants to see.

The moment she crashes beside Yasuke, she realizes the grenade still hasn't detonated and whips around to the sound of sickly coughs as a plume of smoke covers the entire walkway.

Kimi wails in agony, as she stumbles down to one knee. She notices the wound only grazed her leg, but still pains as if a dozen blades have slashed at a single point.

"You're losing blood," Says Yasuke as he hands her a bandage that she quickly snatches to wrap around the wound. She screams again as she tightens the wrap to reduce the blood escaping her body. She gets back up but feels the weakness in her right side. Each step repeats the abuse of a dozen blades as she loses all sensation in one half of her body.

Despite this, she keeps running alongside Yasuke. A limp wouldn't suffice in these circumstances and so she applies full force to each stride as they make their escape.

With the Plaza in sight further along the path, they spot three more guards walking down in their direction. Bracing herself and gripping the Katana underneath her cloak, Yasuke turns into an alternate bridgeway to the plaza. Turning ahead of the guards who pay them no attention, dashing to provide backup in the marketplace.

Her arm eases at her side as a deep sigh escapes her body and she returns all of her efforts to keeping up with Yasuke. The path brings them beside the plaza, where they hear more gunshots echoing from the south side of the town. They pace straight through the plaza to reach the west end where they dive behind the counter of a stall that overlooks the entire square.

"Fuck!" Kimi yells, clutching her leg in both hands as she falls to her side. The adrenaline starts to fade from her body as she brings her bag around to her chest and removes a small box. Unwrapping the drenched makeshift bandage, she removes a small, cylindrical container from the box that holds a paste which she smears all over the wound- Biting her lip to silently squirm in pain, her hands tremble as her finger slides into the wound. She steadily wraps the bandage around the wound again, noticing the ruby paint coating her hands. She snaps her hand shut, closes her eyes, and attempts to focus on her shuddering breath.

"You surviving?" Yasuke inquires, raising an eyebrow as his lip quivers.

"Yeah," Kimi stutters, her graying face glittering in beads of sweat. Droplets of blood dripping from her lip.

Yasuke reaches into her box, takes out a little packet of pills, and opens it. "Take one of these," He drops a pill into her hand and she strenuously raises it to her mouth, swallowing it with all her strength.

"Chaung an-" Kimi mumbles, her strength fading as the frame of her eyelids slowly reduce her vision.

"They'll arrive soon. Let the medication put you to sleep."

Her vision fades to darkness as her head nods over. Unable to concentrate she lets herself go. It's better this way. Yasuke can focus on the rest of the mission without worrying about her.

"I've got it from here," His last words echo as her mind dims.

"The steps to rebellion are simple, it is the execution that is challenging."

- Prophet Nappal