MEET ME ON THE BATTLEFIELD

CHAPTER 1 - I'M JUST A WANDERER

  Feng YuLin walked through the quiet town barefoot. Yes, his toes were close to freezing off and he couldn't feel his feet. But he had given his slippers to a homeless old man, at least the old man should have warmer feet than his.

  To a bystander, this was what he looked like. Messy, tousled hair past shoulder length, messy enough to be a bird's nest and covering half his face including his eyes. He wore thin, brown, commoner rags with a sash that exposed his thin physique and trousers that ended just below the knees. It was only just the beginning of the autumn season but one could already feel the chill in the air. Messy, barefooted, covered in dirt, people wouldn't think twice before calling him a homeless beggar. However, the one weird thing about his appearance was the large crow perched on his shoulder, it looked rather comfortable sat there as if sometimes nudged the side of the boys head with its beak.

  YuLin trotted along and said in a sing-song voice to the crow, "Xiao Qin, where should we go now... how about the great waterfalls as our next destination?" He asked as he stroked the bird's glossy feather.

  YuLin received an agreeable caw in reply. YuLin smiled and continued walking, oblivious to the fact that, at the other end of the town, a horde of soldiers had just arrived.

  At the other end of town...

  "From the emperor's edict of our esteemed General Zhao taking over control over all means to secure military provisions, soldiers included. We are here to ask that any young man above the age of fifteen step forward and join our march to the north to prevent the invasion of demons. Reluctance to join or if caught lying about your age, severe punishment shall befall you."

  The second the soldier finished reading from the scroll on the slightly raised podium in the middle of town the people began shouting in outrage. All pointing accusing fingers at the soldier and pushing to get a say in this.

  "That's not fair! The emperor has over a million soldiers! Why must he take us, commoners!?"

  "The emperor has given us... ten thousand soldiers. The rest remain at the palace guarding his royal highness. The fall of the dragon is the fall of its country, the emperor must have ten times more the protection now that demons are invading our land."

  "Fifteen and above? Fifteen is too young! Please, sir, raise the age bar, my son turned fifteen today... what a horrible birthday surprise this would be! Please, I beg you!"

  "We beg you, we beg you!" The mass of crowds went to their knees and kowtowed as they shouted these words over and over again.

  "This... Ay please don't make a fuss, this is the general's orders, you can't go against it." The soldier said, taking off his helmet to scratch at his hair.

  "The general!?" A pregnant woman stood up from the cold ground and began screeching, "General Zhao? Is it that demon? The man who marches from village to village snatching up children, husbands and fathers? What great is he doing this country? He's a demon himself!"

  The crowd reacted with a chorus of yeah's and boos. The soldier looked back to his companions who shrank back and lowered their heads. He sighed and raised his voice. "I will say this one more time, all men above fifteen and below fifty will report here to us immediately, failure to do so will result in severe punishment."

  And with that, he stepped down from the platform as his fellow soldiers pulled out a small table and chair with a stack of papers atop, ink and pen waiting. The crowd shook with barely contained anger and many began to weep but were unable to do anything as their young men began to step forward in order to protect their families. 

  This process took the most part of the morning and noon and the sun now hung low in the sky.  

  "Is that everyone?" 

  "That should be it, no one ever disobeys when General Zhao's name is mentioned. Now let's do a quick sweep through the town and let's get back to camp. It's going to be a cold night and I don't want to be around when the town's people turn aggressive."

  With that, half the soldiers mounted their horses whilst the other continued on their feet and began a quick door to door sweep of the town to make sure they had taken all the liable men.

  YuLin was eating a half eaten steam bun he had found lying on the side of the road and humming when he suddenly heard thumping hooves behind him. He raised an eyebrow and turned his head as Xiao Qin cocked its head.

  "You there! Stop!" The man atop the horse cried as he galloped towards YuLin.

  "Ah? But I already stopped..." He muttered through a mouth full of food.

  The horse came to a rearing stop in front of him and the man clad in armour jumped off. YuLin tapped XiaoQin's beak before the crow flew away. "You, are you trying to run away? Didn't you hear that by refusing the order you'd be punished?"

  YuLin tilted his head, "Order? What order?"

  "Ay, there's no use in pretending to be stupid, we take everyone, cripples, beggars, you'd be considered premium batch now come! At least you'd get a new set of clothing and... a wash. You won't live on the street." The soldier said as he advanced.

  YuLin took a step back. "First of all, I'm not homeless, I'm a wanderer. Second of all, I'm glad you consider me premium but I have a place I need to go. I can't join you on your journey, so thank you and good bye." He bowed and turned to walk away but was grabbed by the soldier.

  "Hey! You can't refuse this order now come before I really report you as running away, then you'd really be punished, listen to me brother ah, this is for your own good." He yanked on YuLin's arm and began walking back to his horse but he paused momentarily and turned to the forest lying just outside the town. "Did you hear that?"

  "No." YuLin answered in a low voice. "Go on then, I'll go with you on this forced adventure. Free food better be included." YuLin glanced back at the forest and shook his head before mounting the horse behind the soldier.

  The soldier nudged his horse into a start and thought about the noises he heard, a loud hiss, a growl and a caw... there must be a lot of nature out here he thought before he answered YuLin, "Ah yes, three meals a day. Not the best kind of food but... better than no food right?"

  "Mnm, better than no food." YuLin replied, brows furrowed wondering what orders exactly had been given in this town.

.....................................................................................................................

A/N- There I go again... writting a new story before my last one has ended...oops... well I'm going back to finish that up now haha... Hope you enjoyed!