Shizu struck down a pair of gengiri, their purple blood stained her umbrella as what remained of their insect bodies fell away. “Alright onto the next one.” She was getting into a good pace and there were only 2 more remaining. She made to leap forward to catch the two from above but suddenly stopped.
“RAHHHHHHH!” Shizu heard a scream go up and found that it was Azi. He had his arms spread out as the gengiri approached him. The sheer weight of his voice made the lunging attackers flinch.
Seeing the opportunity present itself, Azi charged at the 3 gengiri.
No, don’t! Shizu attempted to call out to calm him. He was too inexperienced to fight his enemies head on and had clearly been overcome with battle hysteria. But her voice didn’t come out in time.
“Get out of my way!” Shouted Azi.
With a speed, power, and presence unlike before, he swung and pressed a shield bash into one of the gengiri. It splattered against the flat of his shield, and while he was at it, his right leg went up at another gengiri with a forward kick.
The heel of his leather boot pierced through its underbelly, covering it in purple gore. He stabbed down with his sword, delivering a killing blow to the still alive insect that had its guts kicked in.
Azi pulled his sword out to let the gengiri finally go limp. He then started to stomp on the corpses, crushing them to a bloody pulp.
"RAHHH!! DIE! GRAH! HAH! AHHHHHHH!” Screaming with every stomp, guts were splattering, pooling the ground in viscera.
The remaining gengiri looked on in horror. Once a group of three, only one remained, forced to witness as it saw its kin's insides splay out on the snowy white ground. Azi, satisfied by his own handy work, turned and approached the remaining gengiri with a bestial grin. It backed away in reactive fear to its animalistic senses telling it to run.
The once weak child that had a presence no bigger than a small animal, was now radiating an intent that the gengiri had never faced before. Noticing the opening, as if he could smell the fear in the monster, Azi gave it an evil smile and shouted another war cry as he charged to strike with his sword.
Too late to run, the gengiri acted to protect itself by curling up with its hardened carapace. Azi’s sword clanged and cut through the hardened layers of chitin armor. From Shizu’s fleeting glance as she fought on with her own battle, Azi’s strike was unskilled and more like a fist being brought down rather than a slice. The sound of shattering metal and rending flesh rang around, amazing Shizu with how strong of a strike that was.
Azi looked at the now broken short sword in his right hand and the gore on his shield. He huffed and puffed, his mind coming down from his sudden battle high.
Huh? What? What is this?
Again, familiar to the previous times he battled smaller monsters to practice, he felt a strange tingling in his arms.
He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down, but the tingling sensation in his body did not stop, it wasn’t hesitation or fear or even anger that was causing this strange sensation of power. He still felt an energy coursing through him, fueled by a fire in his heart, yet the rage was funneling itself somewhere inside him.
Ignoring the sensation, as he had more important things to concern himself with, Azi turned to the ongoing battle behind him and ran to join in the fight. He saw that Shizu had killed the last 2 gengiri at the front, but Kajima was injured as he clutched a wound he had received on his side.
A trickle of red blood dripped to the white and snowy ground. On the bright side, the wound seemed superficial since Kajima could still move. The kengiri roared as the smell of blood, the blood of its fellow kin, made its insect eyes train on Shizu.
Noticing the smashed and purple pooled body parts, the kengiri was rocked into a frenzy. With far faster speed than before, the kengiri charged at Shizu who had her back turned to it. She was looking at Azi, amazed.
"Nooooooo!" Screaming, Azi pulled all the power he could muster into his legs to rush forward to get between them. His speed was unusually fast, but he paid it no mind and focused his attention on the fight.
Shizu had finally noticed what had made Azi scream and she flinched. The kengiri was right in front of her, this was it, she’d get hit, yet suddenly, Azi’s back appeared before her.
While Azi didn’t think he could take the full force of the attack, he felt like doing nothing was worse. He chose to at least try, try to help them, to help Shizu, to help the person who actually let him cry, vent, and share the anguish he didn’t know he had.
He would never admit it, but he owed her.
Azi reached his shield out and braced it with his freed right hand. He had released the broken short sword to lighten himself to move even a second faster. In the next moment as the eyes of the kengiri penetrated Azi, inches from his own, a loud clang rang in his head.
Time had slowed from his perspective again. The long sleeves on his shirt fluttered to reveal his forearms underneath. Catching a glimpse, the veins on his right and left wrists were glowing a very bright blue-white light in the form of tree root-like lines.
The tingling sensation in his body flared in stark clarity as the blue-white glow of his veins branched out and extended from his skin to spread to his hands and then across the back of his shield's surface.
The scene went by so slowly and then sped up as it all occurred in a few brief moments. He took the kengiri’s hit on his shield, the full brunt of its 3 meter tall frame broke and halted for a moment on Azi.
Azi was blown back, crashed into Shizu, and was pushed back against a nearby tree.
Shizu shook the shock from her head and looked down. Azi was unconscious. He was limp, his head leaning against her stomach. More apparent was the warm and wet sensation that touched her skin. She blinked in realization.
The familiar sensation then dropped to her left hand. She looked down and was now sure it was blood, Azi’s blood. He had injuries and bruises all over his arms and legs. A sudden cough from him had blood dripping from his mouth.
While unsure since she wasn’t an apothecary, Azi had possibly taken a mortal wound. The impact she felt through him seemed strong enough to do so, especially for a weak guy like him. She panicked, Shizu had no idea how to heal him or how to stabilize him in such a compromised state.
"Azi! No!" Kajima wanted to run over, but the monster was approaching them. It looked ready to finish the job. “Get Back!!”
Kajima would not allow it. He wouldn’t let it touch either of them. "You damn monster, DIE!!!"
Kajima’s face honed itself down into a demonic visage. Fire billowed over in his long cooled furnace of heart as the names of fallen comrades fed the flame within. He had already lost his wife and children, and many more friends. He would be damned if he let another person die on his watch, he’d die first if need be.
Kajima charged the kengiri. The pain in his back and side be damned, he jumped up, and struck down with his halberd.
In an arching chop, he lopped off one of the kengiri's large claws with a downward slash, catching its attention to get it to swing at him. Kajima exchanged blows with the accused cur who so daringly tried to take the lives of his comrades away.
Shizu was like a daughter to him and Azi was becoming more and more like a buddy, though he would admit that he would’ve been glad to have him as a son.
“You will not take them!” Shouted Kajima. “Not today you cur! Take me instead! But only if you can!”
He pushed out multiple jabs with his halberd's spear point and combined his rapid attacks with the rotation of his hips as he moved to consecutively slash at the beast. Utilizing the spinning of his long halberd to build up the weapon’s momentum, each strike quaked the air.
Claw and steel clashed against each other, and the reverberations of their battle sounded out through the nearby forest for all to hear.
As Kajima heavily slashed with his halberd once more, he kept the attention of the kengiri away from anyone else. Shizu used the chance to tend to Azi’s injury. She tore strips of her dress attire to use as bandages. She was able to stop the bleeding from one of his head injuries.
But, both she and Azi were not out of the woods yet. Most of all, she was concerned with how Azi wasn’t crying out in pain which should’ve meant that he was still alive, but his silence was foreboding.
After taking such a heavy strike, Azi should be wailing, instead, he looked.. dead. Kengiri’s were brutal and for Azi, with his frail body, it was a small miracle that he wasn’t splattered by it.
But that was no comfort to the current issue. She had no way to help or heal him. Azi’s time was running short and it was disconcerting that he was going cold.
He just laid there in her arms, not even a twitch from his brow. Shizu shook him, hoping to get some kind of response.
"Azi! Wake up, Wake up, WAKE.. UP!"
Nothing, she couldn’t help but pale. No! Not like this, Not like. I was supposed to keep you safe, Kajima and I, we were supposed to. I knew I could, but.. Dammit why.. Why did you have to go and do something so reckless!
Tears began to form in her eyes. It should’ve been me, she thought, if it was, then Azi may have yet lived. As a knight, it was her duty to give her life for the people, for Kujyuri. This dereliction of duty hit her hard. But before guilt and sadness could overtake her, a familiar voice called out.
"APOTHECARY! THAUMATURGE! STABILIZE THE WOUNDED! ARCHERS! AIM FOR THE LEGs! SPEARMEN! AIM FOR ITS UNDER BELLY! ON MY MARK! "
Dashing from the nearby treeline, figures adorned in black armor embossed with Kujyuri emblem rushed forward. Not far behind them a man in commanding attire thrusted his sword forward. It was Yashimu, and Shizu saw as the other 5 parties converged and join the fight.
They had all rushed to Shizu’s position in response to Azi’s flare. Thanks to the sounds of battle Kajima had made, it was easier to find them.
With deft and quick legs that carried them into position, the archers began to fire their volley of arrows at the soft legs of the kengiri. The spearmen surrounded the kengiri from behind while Kajima continued to hold its attention from its front.
"READY!!! AND!!!! CHARGE!!!!"
Upon Yashimu’s command, he waved his sword forward and the spearman leapt into the fray. Jabbing their spears into the small gaps of the kengiri's carapace, 7 spear heads struck out as the soldiers began to repeatedly rip into purple squelching flesh.
The creature maw screamed out a high pitch screeching death cry.
“This is where you die! Monster!” Kajima bellowed as he swung wide, purple blood sprayed as the Kengiri writhed for what dear life it had. Every strike from the soldiers subdued. Every smashing hit from Kajima’s halberd had it twitching less and less.
The kengiri fell, and the last of its strength to move escaped to its limp limbs and cut open maw that dripped purple blood.
Meanwhile, the apothecary approached Shizu and began examining Azi. The practitioner deduced that Azi had suffered a concussion and poured a medicinal potion down his throat. The medicine would act as a temporary painkiller and antidote to help with the festering wound on his shoulder. It seemed to her that he was slightly poisoned by the discoloration of his skin.
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The thaumaturge besides the apothecary then began to cast a spell with her staff. Motes of green light began to form around Azi's chest. Shizu recognized the magic she was casting.
All across Yamato, thaumaturgy was a rare but commonly practiced mystic art that had been handed down by the emperor. The motes created by the Thaumaturge were absorbed by Azi’s body and had the purpose of boosting his body's ability to heal itself.
The three were surprised by what happened next. They witnessed Azi’s bruises and injuries begin to heal much quicker than expected.
The blood from Azi's mouth had stopped dripping out and enabled him to take an unconscious breath. He coughed violently, the blood in his throat made it hard for him to breathe, so it was a relief to Azi's unconscious mind to be able to fill his lungs.
But, even with a clear airway and his injuries healed, Azi wasn’t waking up, he was growing cold.
“Azi? Azi! Wake up, come on. Hang in there!” Shizu turned to the apothecary. “Why isn’t he waking up?”
“I don’t know, hold on.” Putting a hand on Azi’s chest, the apothecary tried to feel for a pulse. Azi looked as if he was still unconscious, which concerned Shizu since a spell like the thaumaturge’s should’ve been effective enough to recover his stamina for him to regain his ability to wake up.
Azi’s quick recovery gave them all hope that he would pull through but he wasn’t responding.
"Will he be ok?" Shizu asked the apothecary, urging from an answer. “Can you feel anything?”
"I do not know." The Apothecary then checked Azi’s over with her eyes. "His internal and external wounds are healing but he hasn't regained consciousness due to a reason that I can’t diagnose. I don’t feel a pulse but I do feel some kind of circulation within him.” Taking her hands off, the apothecary rummaged through her bag and tried to wake him up through fragrant herbs that invigorated the mind.
It had no effect. “It’s not working, why? He had a slight concussion but it shouldn’t have knocked him this unconscious. There wasn’t much swelling.”
The Apothecary then looked to the Thaumaturge, who took a step forward.
"What do you sense?" The apothecary asked and the thaumaturge began casting another spell.
Prompted by her compatriot, the thaumaturge inspected Azi's body with her now slightly glowing eyes. A tense few seconds passed and she frowned. Her discovery was evidently displeasing.
"I do not sense or see a spirit within his body, it is as if we are looking at a living corpse which befuddles me. A body should have its vital energy dissipated should it be devoid of a spirit, but in this case, his body still retains its vital energy, it’s why he responded to my spell. How strange.."
"Is he dead or alive! Stop with the fancy explanation and answer me."
Grimacing, the Thaumaturge could only offer a sigh to Shizu worries and gave her the truth.
"His body is alive, but I sense that his mind is gone. I do not think he will wake up anytime soon and it's very unlikely that he ever will.” The Thaumaturge paused as she pondered if she should say this but gripped her staff with resolve. “He is dead, he’s utterly dead."
Those words set what Shizu saw in stone.
“But, But..” She stuttered, grasping for what hope there was left. “The apothecary said he has some kind of circulation, that has to mean something. Right?”
The two practitioners shook their heads. It was hard to admit, but they both understood they had missed the time they could’ve saved Azi. The looks they gave to Shizu was enough for her to understand. Azi was gone.
Yet, when she looked at him, he seemed only asleep, albeit without the dumb smile and drool, and his chest slightly rose up and down.
That had to mean something.
Shizu began to hug Azi's head into her chest and brought him close. She was mourning. Regretful small tears began to fall from her eyes.
In a soft tone that she could only hear, she whispered. "Dammit, don't die yet, you can’t be. I was actually getting along with you. I know I keep telling myself I hate you, but, but I know I was just kidding myself. I didn’t want you to die. At least stay so I can tease you some more, dammit.”
She had enjoyed her time with Azi. While she wasn’t willing to admit it, she liked how laxed and semi friendly he talked with her. It was like how her Uncle did, or how Manu did, or how her close comrades treated her.
It was different because as a noble, being segregated from the common folk meant you had little opportunity to be yourself. It was always the people’s opinion she had to keep in mind and while yes, Shizu considered herself more relaxed than other high strung nobles of the court, she was still pressured to keep her image in mind.
It was exhausting, so she treasured the time with those she got along with. When she lost them, like her own trusted comrades, a hole formed in her heart that she’d have to fill. Either with time or with scars. This wasn’t her first time she lost someone.
She had seen death before, but it was always hard to experience a person you know die in front of you. But this, this event, Azi’s death, it was tragic. It had only been a short time since they met and Shizu wanted more time with him.
They had a chemistry that was hard to come by and even if they clashed heads, they at least laughed and had their moments.
For his life to come to an end without remembering who he was and have it turn out this way was just unacceptable to Shizu.
As the tears ran down her face the Apothecary and Thaumaturge looked on with sadness and guilt in their hearts. As practitioners with the ability to heal the weak, and defend the sick and wounded, knowing that they were unable to help in time was a blow to their honor.
Yashimu looked on with regret from a distance, he too felt downtrodden by these events.
In his mind he thought about what he could’ve done differently.
I should have informed her about the details concerning the investigation. If I had only taken the time to do more, Shizu could have made proper preparations or I would have been more cautious.
"Dammit All."
Kajima, overhearing Yashimu's cursing, turned to what was happening. As he was walking away from the now dead corpse of the kengiri, a look of shock overtook his victorious expression. He saw little Shizu crying over Azi's body. He rushed over, thinking he could help.
Only, he found that it was too late. What had happened was set in stone. Hearing about the thaumaturge’s findings, his thoughts dwelled on the brutality of life.
"No! No! Dammit!” In his anger as he knelt to the ground, Kajima punched the earth which audibly cracked under his strength. It sent a shiver down every soldiers’ spine.
“Kajima.” Shizu turned her head up to him, who knelt beside Azi’s lifeless body. Her voice croaked. “He saved my life. He put others ahead of himself. He truly thought of us as comrades and he.. He gave so much..” She sniffled. “He is a warrior. Azi.. that was his name, the most stupid idiot that I know.”
Kajima smiled wearily. “Yeah, I bet he was. I will miss our lessons, as well as the long and dumb chats we had. Stupid boy.”
The comments were hurtful, but no one wanted to correct them. The soldiers knew nothing of Azi and could tell by their tones that the two didn’t mean it. A moment of silence passed as everyone gave their respects to Azi.
Yashimu, trying to keep a level head in this situation, motioned the remaining soldiers to quickly disassemble the kengiri corpse to break them out of their sombrous mood. He then sent a team to deliver a short-written report to Ozen back in the village.
It wouldn’t be good. This discovery of a kengiri meant more work ahead for them, and the loss of Azi meant that a potential talent was gone. While only a single person, Yashimu was not heartless enough to think of people as simple tools or numbers. These concerns would weigh on Yashimu and knew it would with his father Ozen.
After checking over his short-written report, Yashimu handed it to a party of 3 soldiers who then saluted and began making their way to the village.
“Pack the beast into a hole, we’ll come back for it later.” Pointing to a pair of men, Yashimu tossed his bag over to them. “You two take this and get to setting up camp here, it’s best we stay nearby to investigate.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Kajima, with his sore back, got up wearily and put a hand on Yashimu’s shoulder. “Me and.. Well..” He paused, looking hurt, but continued through the pain. “There is a camp set up nearby, the area should be enough and easier for our means here.”
“I see.” Yashimu nodded and deferred to his opinion. Kajima was maintaining his soldier-like posture, but his sullenness didn’t escape Yashimu’s notice. Yashimu hesitated to ask him to lead the way. Before he could get a word in, Kajima, through gritted teeth, started directing everyone in the direction of their camp.
“Come with me, I’ll lead the way. Yashimu, please tend to your sister.”
“I will, and thank you. Alright, you heard him men, the rest of you, get moving, I’ll join you in a second.”
Noticing Yashimu coming to her side, Shizu brought her head up to look to him. She thought it was pathetic for her to be seen in such a way and tried to recompose herself. Her cheeks were still wet from tears, nevertheless she looked into Yashimu's eyes with that bold attitude of her’s.
He understood Shizu’s pain, they had both lost friends and of the two of them, Shizu always took it the hardest. Combat and warfare were her bread and butter, yet it had its moments where she’d rather retire from that lifestyle.
"Let's bring him with us sister, we should give him a proper burial." Yashimu reached a hand out to take Azi's body away from her, but with a glare Shizu rebuffed him.
"No!” She slapped Yashimu's hands away and then stood up with Azi in her arms. “I’ll do it. He.. he defended me for my sake, so at least let me handle his passing.” She walked over and joined in trailing behind Kajima and the others.
Shizu noticed that Azi still looked as if he were just asleep in her arms, but most peculiar of all was that his body had no heartbeat and was oddly warm. In her heart, she prayed to the furuhitokami, the emperor, to ask for a miracle to bring Azi back, to at least let this soul who was already lost have a chance to search his life over again.
No one deserved to die the way he did. To end up losing their life after defending another when not even asked to do so. Even more dreadful was that he died without even knowing who he was before or ever knowing what he’d become in the future. Azi had such talent and heart, two points Shizu found oddly attractive yet contrastingly annoying.
Left watching Shizu go, Yashimu stood around and surveyed his surroundings. He grimaced, finding many shortcomings in his own ability to command in the wake of this battle all around. He brought up the rear of the group as he reflected on his actions up to this point.
When everyone arrived at the campsite, Yashimu aided the troops in setting up additional tents and starting extra campfires. Shizu, on the other hand, brought Azi into her tent to lay him down on a small mat.
She covered him in the fur blankets they had stored away and looked on as Azi seemingly slept. The occasional rise and fall of his chest gave her the idea that he was alive, yet he still looked more corpse than asleep with how his eyes were shut tight with an unnerving stillness.
This time, unlike how she saw him sleep before, Azi made not a sound and didn't even twitch when she touched him. Feeling that she was about to cry again, she gritted her teeth as she held back another wave of tears the best she could.
"Don't tempt me, you said.” Her voice became low and sad. “I suppose you would have indulged yourself in hugging me if I did tempt you, but I guess I won't be able to find out now and fight with you on that. I didn’t even get to know who you really are. You, you really are.. A mysterious.. But annoying.. Guy.. little idiot."
Shizu's eyelids began to falter, mental and emotional fatigue was setting in. She soon slipped into sleep next to where Azi slept, there was only one mat and Shizu was too weary to move. In her last moments of fleeting consciousness she began to hug him. The persisting warmth that came from Azi was comforting, it was better than a fur blanket on a winter night.
"Please, wake up." Her tone, like a little girl’s wish on a shooting star, truly hoped that maybe, maybe Azi and her could’ve been friends or even be close.
I really am such a kid. What a childish and naive thought I’m having, and too late to admit now. She thought.
In the entrance of the tent, Kajima witnessed Shizu grieve. It broke his heart to see the tears coming from his little niece’s eyes and he felt that it was partially his fault for this outcome.
It was his role to keep the kengiri's attention, but in a moment his attention was drawn away from the fight, he faltered to act. He saw the kengiri move to attack Shizu and wasn’t fast enough to make a difference.
"If only I was as skilled as I was before.. But I’ve.. I’ve left that life.. And now here I am.. Still unable to keep my friends safe.. and my.. my family.. safe.”
Regret tinged his words, he did his best in keeping his feelings from showing. Azi’s death shouldn’t have hit him this hard, but it did. And that was because of the short and meaningful time he had with Azi, the times they worked together, the lessons, and all the mundane days they had.
It was only a few, but Azi had brought some color back into Kajima’s life. They were like the times he gave these lessons to his own son, the son that was now gone.
Thanks to Azi, Kajima was able to relive those moments. He was grateful ever since he met Azi and hoped it would have lasted longer. He turned away and went to contemplate. Had he done something wrong? If he had not suggested the outing, then maybe Azi would have survived?
Pulling the opening of his tent aside, a familiar item fell into view. A brown notebook was left on Azi's mat in the tent they shared. During Kajima's lessons, Azi would always take notes in this brown notebook. Wanting to see what the boy had written, Kajima held onto what was likely the closest memento and last belonging to Azi.
As he flipped the cover, there, at the first page of the light brown parchment was a simple phrase. It was one that Kajima could read, understand, and feel that Azi had put his devotion and heart into writing as a note to himself. A reminder, a promise. Such devotion. It brought a smile to Kajima.
The old and misaligned strokes showed only a rudimentary level of penmanship.
Figures, Azi only learned part of the language and he hasn’t gotten used to the Yamaton alphabet yet. Maybe I should’ve taught him that first. But, he sure knows how to write meaningfully.
Written there was the phrase-
-I swear to do my best-
Azi Montagne.
“Oh Azi..” Kajima closed the book as he covered his mouth with a hand. He choked up, wishing that this world was less violent and cruel, that maybe, they didn’t have to lose people in war to live, to fight so much, to fall victim to monsters.
No, there will always be violence and there will always be misfortune for everyone. That was a delusion. Kajima wouldn’t delude himself, not after living the long life he had lived he couldn’t be ignorant and blind.
Still, venting helped to unburden himself and Shizu was probably doing the same.
As much as Shizu and Azi got on each other's nerves, Kajima could remember seeing the small smiles in their frowns and playfulness in their tones. Perhaps young love? Or a growing friendship? He wasn’t sure, but he had at least wanted to see either come to pass.