Ninja Love: Saizo Kirigakure

Chapter 43

Everything is on fire. An all-consuming inferno has taken over this village, leaving few survivors and even fewer uninjured. Fathers cry out against their attackers, trying everything in their power to stop the mindless slaughter of their families.

They fail.

Children scream into the fiery night, crying out in fear and terror. They call out to the flames, looking for their mothers. Others kneel sobbing over the bodies of their slain parents, begging them to just get up.

They don't.

Lovers are torn apart, screaming and kicking. They strike out with boundless rage at the armored men that pull them apart, hailing curses and swears that would make their mothers wretch, but to no avail. They are forced to watch their beloved die, all the while begging for mercy.

They are given none.

In all of this repulsive and indiscriminate bloodshed, a young girl stands at the edge of the burning village, clutching the hand of her best friend. In her childish innocence, she hopes upon hope that her parents are still alive, and they will come for her to take her away from this awful place.

They will not.

The boy knows better, but he hopes that the closest people he has to family are still alive anyways. Though only a child himself, he pulls away from his friend against her agonizing protests, promising that he will come back for her. He runs into the mayhem, away from the sobbing girl, calling back that he will find her when all this is over.

He doesn't.

-

My eyes flew open and I jerked forward, my wrists pulling painfully against restraints that had shackled them around a small wooden pillar behind me. Sweat beaded on my forehead as my chest heaved in silent sobs, and the memories of the nightmare I just had cleared away like a fleeting fog, leaving me with only a horrible, sinking feeling in my gut, as if I had just lost my only friend.

My head was throbbing with unbearable pain, but I forced to myself to keep my eyes open ans let them adjust to the dim room I was in. From what I could see, the room was fairly large and unnervingly dark throughout, giving off a grim atmosphere. The walls were lined with numerous shelves and racks of chains, weapons, and other unidentifiable but formidable-looking equipment. Shivers ran down my spine as I remembered how I was beaten down on the outer wall, and I could only hope that those materials were not meant for use on me. Large cage-like cells were lined up against the wall to my left, but the ones in front of me and to my left were completely covered in torture devices. The wall in front of me also had a heavy-looking door that probably led to the rest of the compound.

As I examined the room, my heart sank lower and lower as I thought of what had become of Saizo. My heart told me to keep believing that he was alive, but my brain told me to prepare myself for the worst. The thought of losing him brought an indescribable pain to my chest, and a choking lump to my throat. Tears threatened to spill as I imagined terrible scenarios, but I pushed them out of my head as much as possible, determined to deal with things one step at a time, starting with my state as a captive. I found that, if I braced myself against the smooth beam and ignored the striking pain it caused my head, that I could hold myself up enough to bring my bound feet underneath me and push myself into a standing position. Once standing, I also found that the ropes securing my hands and torso to the pillar were not anchored to the it; they merely kept me snug against it.

Slowly, I worked enough give into the rope to allow myself to slide sideways around the circular pillar. I had to suck in my stomach and pretend to not notice the chafing around my wrists, but I finally managed to get myself turned around in hopes of finding another exit. Instead, I was met with a gruesome and heart-wrenching sight.