A/N: Finally came around to split this part, too and upload the map. Take notice of the changes on the update schedule: Because I am publishing this story on fanfiction.net and AO3 as well, I will publish the first part here a short time before the chapters appear on those platforms. The second part will follow after this. I'll post a new chapter every two weeks. (Over a week has passed since chapter "3". So next chapter is coming soon.^^)
"Alright we're almost there," the driver yelled from up the front.
The hours had quickly passed by on their trip thanks to Jinya-sama's company. He had told her more about the Crystal and about his religion. He even told her, how to evoke the Crystal's power in oneself with the help of meditation.
Jinya-sama seemed to be a kind monk in his thirties, who had seen a lot of the world and honored the power of the Crystal in each of his words.
She had sucked up every word and was eager to learn more about the Crystal and the legend, in hope to find a way to end the war with another symbol of peace than an arranged marriage. If she found another strategy to bring final peace to the lands, the lord of Tsuchimikado would have to listen to her.
And so the time flew by and they had reached the coastline with the ride being over sooner than she had expected. The day had already driveled by, as she noticed, when she looked at the position of the sun hanging low on the sky. From their position she could already see the town spreading along the coastline. Once it had been a soldier camp but over the years fishers and farmers had settled down together with the soldiers managing the supply to Crystal Island.
Now Gaja was a big town, filled with life. From a few hundreds of meters away, you could still hear the sound of life breathed out by the town, secured by a wooden palisade. She could hear the repeated clangs of the forge covering the lower mix of other sounds.
Soon she would reach the next step on her quest. But the most difficult thing was yet to come. And that was to find someone, who would bring her over the sea to Tsuchimikado.
They entered the town with the driver steering the cart to the stable's at its entrance.
Since no one reached out a hand to help her like she was used to, Mayura hopped off the cart. She was happy to stretch out her limps. Her backside hurt, from sitting on wood, that wasn't padded and had shaken vigorously beneath her backside all the way here.
"What may I call you?" Jinya-sama had approached her again.
She looked for the other nasty looking man, but he seemed to have disappeared rather quickly after the silent ride.
She smiled at the monk, "Mayura."
"Oh, like our Hime-sama," Jinya-sama said with amazement in his voice.
She felt sweat forming on her forehead. Maybe she should have thought about another name. But it was to late for that. She covered her embarrassment with a giggle. "Exactly."
He bowed his head. "Well then, Mayura-sama, it was nice meeting you."
"Eh? Just drop the sama, please." She waved her hand, feeling all the more embarrassed now.
"Since you are honored with the same name like our princess, I will call you like her." He smiled openly at her and said, "Now where do you want to go from here?"
She looked at him. He was a nice man, who helped her once. Maybe she could trust him. Maybe he knew, how she could cross the sea. Leaning forward, she responded in a low voice, "I am heading for Tsuchimikado."
Surprised he blinked his eyes at her. "Why?"
"I can't tell you," she looked down feeling regret at not being able to tell him, "I'm sorry."
He watched her for a while and sighed after a while. "Everyone has their secrets."
Grateful she nodded at him and asked, "Do you know someone, who sails over to there?"
Jinya-sama raised an hand to his chin, thinking about the question. He shook his head and said, "No, but I know of a man, who sells information. I can take you to him, if you'd like."
Bowing her head she thanked him yet again and he motioned her to follow him. They went through the town. Unlike Narukami this place didn't have a main street but a rather large and round market place with houses in all forms and sizes planted around.
They soon crossed the harbor, a long promenade was spread out over the coast, with three footbridges next to each other.
She could see a lot small fisher boats romping about the sea. The sun stood low over them, calling out a soon end of their day's work.
Never before had she seen the sea and she couldn't hold in her amazement, as she looked over the rippling water spreading as far as her eyes could reach.
The sound of someone clearing their throat made her stumble out of her stupor and she turned around to see Jinya-sama looking at her with a gaze of puzzlement.
She smiled at him and continued to walk.
Letting her gaze slide over the town, a lone, huge hut struck her eyes, placed uphill and away from the rest down here.
Intrigued she pointed a finger at it and asked, "What's up there?"
Jinya-sama turned around and looked at the spot she was pointing at. "Ah, that's the prisoner camp."
The words rang in her ear and she felt struck by them as she looked over to the building. The question ringing in her head, released itself in a mumble, "Prisoner camp?"
Jinya-sama continued his explanation, "It's where the hostages of the war are brought to."
This couldn't be true. There was no way her father, her strict but kind father, would allow such a thing.
Hostages of war?
For what purpose were they held as prisoners?
Mayura felt a pang of hurt and disappointment in her chest. How could her father overlook such cruelty? Words formed on their own, leaving her in a whisper. "How could the lord accept such a thing?"
"He probably doesn't know, it is still existing," Jinya-sama replied.
With a flutter of hope, she turned towards the monk. "What do you mean?"
He looked more serious than ever before, as he stared at the prisoner camp sitting on the hill, having planted his staff firmly onto the ground. "He sentenced an edict to stop taking prisoners. But the soldiers, the people here, have been taking prisoners forever. You could say, it's their form of payback for the losses, they've endured. Revenge for the sons, who never returned."
Relief poured through her at her father's lack of participation on this. Still she couldn't accept the circumstances. Locking up people to get back at them? That was the worst thing, she'd ever heard of. She drawled, "That sounds cowardly."
"Sssshhhh!", the monk hissed at her, skipping a scared gaze from one side to another, obviously afraid, someone might have listened to their conversation. When it was clear, nobody heard them, he said, "Fighting in a war, taking prisoners, that's what these people have done for a century. These are soldiers and their families. They work to feed the ones fighting, to bring them armor, clothing and salves to tend their wounds. They practically live for the battle front. You can't simply change their way."
Mayura couldn't understand those people. They might have been living like this for years. They might have lived in this war, since they were born. They might have inherited the hate for the people of Tsuchimikado from the ancestors. But it was different to hold someone prisoner than facing them with honor.
She couldn't accept this condition. She couldn't accept the prisoners held in cages. She would give them an alternative.
Determination filled her heart and soul. With thoughts of freedom on her mind, she turned her face towards the hill and exclaimed, "You don't know this, if you don't try."
"What are you going to do?"
A small smile broke on her face. "I'm going to free them."
"Wait, you can't-"
Not listening to the monks words, she headed towards the big hut imprisoning victims of war. As quickly as she could, bound by the small room the yukata gave her, she followed the path leading uphill.
There was nothing else uphill with the other buildings standing all in the valley surrounded by the palisade. The only thing here was the prisoner camp with a forest in its back and holders for torches stuck in the ground at the side of the path.
When she reached the peak of the hill, she felt a bit wary. Could she really do this?
No, this was not a question. She had to do this.
Raising her gaze, she came face to face with a guard.
Shocked, her feet were rooted to the ground.
She should have thought of that but her sudden plan to free these hostages had blinded her.
Said guard turned towards her. "You there, what are you doing here?"
Swallowing down the upcoming anxiety, she searched for an excuse. "I-I am new to this town. I thought, maybe the bath house would be here." When she finished talking, she noticed, that she had started fidgeting and tried to control her fingers, holding them still in front of her. It was a bad habit that her father told her to overcome, because she was expected to reign one day over Narukami and nobody would believe a leader, that wore his nervousness like a piece of clothing.
"It's not," the guard answered dryly.
"Forgive me my mistake." After bowing down a bit to enthusiastically, Mayura quickly turned on her feet and walked away. She tried to keep herself from looking back at the guard for she could feel his gaze following her.
It seemed like she would need a plan. Letting her gaze slide over the area, she saw the outside of the palisade and the bushes in front of it. She quickly jogged over to them and crouched down. Carefully she looked around. There was nobody in her range of her view.
Slowly she breathed in and out, trying to subdue the anxiety. What was she doing? She was no soldier. She was a princess.
Looking around she noticed the only way was to round the palisade and hide in the shelter of the woods.
Swallowing down the upcoming nervousness, she walked around the back of the palisade and then turned to the side, slowly climbing up the hill through bushes. Trying not to make to much sound she walked further into the forest.
The sun stood low, spending enough light to see a way across the bushes. Approaching the hut from its back, she walked towards it in a crouching posture. Of course there was no door in the back. This was to be accepted. Yet, it made her falter on her resolve once more. Was she really able to do this? Would she succeed and free them? But what if she was caught? They might kill her in an instant. And if not and if she had an opportunity to reveal her identity, she would be sent back and all would have been for nothing.
Breathing in and out, she tried to calm down her nerves. If she wouldn't take action now, when would she? Someday she would be a leader and a leader, who wasn't able to take actions was no leader at all.
Biting on her lips, she continued to walk towards the camp, crossing the trees and bushes behind it. This time she would try to make it from the other side, sneaking around the building.
Suddenly she felt a pull at her coat and heard bushes rustling. Looking down, she saw the clothing of her disguise being caught up in the small branches of a bush. Her heart beat loudly in her ears, as she waited for a reaction outside of the woods.
When nothing came, she freed the clothing from its restrain and headed again for the hut, which held the prisoners captive. This time she was more careful to round the bushes.
Finally reaching the corner of the building, she slowly leaned forward. Of course the guard was still standing in front of the building.
What now?
Scanning the area with her eyes, she saw nothing that could distract the guard.
And then she remembered, one of the stories Arata-san had told her about. A story about a lone samurai getting revenge for his family and home town and infiltrating the enemy's ground. Picking up a stone, she prayed this would work in reality as it did in fiction.
She watched the guard again. He was stoically looking ahead. And so she continued to watch him.
He did not move for a while.
With a lot of patience Mayura cowered on the ground next to the hut, the stone in one hand, the other grabbing tightly onto the strap of her pack.
It felt like an eternity passed by until he yawned and stretched his head.
Now.
Throwing the stone as far as she could to the opposite side of her, she watched it clatter to the slope of the hill and rolling down.
And like in the fiction the guard got alarmed and walked towards the source of the noise.
It had worked. It truly worked. She was truly lucky. Who would have guessed that the fiction Arata-san once told her about would come in handy?
She smiled satisfied and hastily sneaked around the building inside.
The stench of human waste hit her nostrils like a wall. Holding a hand to her mouth, she tried to fight down the queasiness filling her and walked further inside and around a corner.
Into her sight came a lot of square cages, reaching as high as her hip. In them the prisoners were held, resting on hay like animals in crouched postures.
Judging by the smell, she figured, they sat on their own excreta.
Tears ran to her eyes. It was worse than she had imagined. These people were granted no life and no dignity at all.
And yet they didn't look like the monsters, they were generally described as. Like Iorio-san they did not have two colored eyes. But most of them did not have a darker skin either.
One of them looked at her in wonder. When he opened his mouth to say something, she rose a finger to her lips.
"Hush, not a word," she whispered.
All of a sudden she heard them. Steps. Behind her.
The guard was likely returning to his position. But he didn't stop at the front. She heard the sound of footfalls against wood. Quickly she looked around. There was nothing here but the cages containing the prisoners.
And then she saw one that was empty. The blood strain on the hay, told her, what had likely happened.
In great haste she squeezed herself into the cage, hid her pack beneath her coat and pulled the door after her.
Just in time, when the guard entered. Turning her head away, she counted the in and outtakes of her low breath.
The suspense was getting on her nerves, when the guard wouldn't move.
Her fingers beneath the coat clutched onto the door.
She prayed, he would leave.
Then after a while she heard his steps, leaving the hut again.
She breathed a sigh of relief and exited the small room of the wooden cage, feeling her back hurt only after a small amount of time sitting in the cage.
The prisoners looked at her again. Some eyes were filled with hope, but most of them seemed dull and dead.
Nearing one of the cages, she looked at the lock. The door was locked thanks to hoes clasped with each other and bound by a pin. She tried to pull it out but it wouldn't move. She hit her hand against it to hammer it out of the hooks. A short while later and with a lot of splints in her hand, she was able to open the door.
The prisoner turned around for the first time. And he did look different. His skin was dark, not the copper taint Iorio-san had, just dark. His hair was long and white and his eyes did have two colors. He reminded her awfully well of the descriptions of Tsuchimikado people by Narukami. But she didn't believe his eyes would suck out her soul.
She watched him leave his cage and stand up. Without a word, he turned to leave.
Surprised she whispered at him, "Don't you want to save the others?"
In an even tone he told her, "I don't care about the others." His voice lacked any form of emotion. He turned his head to the side and asked her, "What are they to you? Are they more important than your own life?"
Did he not care about his fellow people?
What was this cold demeanor of his?
Angry about his behavior she whispered, "Why is that-"
"Decide, either leave them behind or loose your life," he said
"I can't-," she started but he interrupted her.
"Ten, nine-"
"What?"
"Eight."
"What are you-"
"Seven."
"- doing?"
"Six."
"Fine," she hissed, "if you won't help me, I have no choice."
Leaning his head to the side, he looked at her. The lack of life in his differently colored eyes, bore into her like knifes. "Did you decide?"
She turned away from him and opened the next cage. This time the pin moved more easily. Without a further thought she opened one cage after another.
The people were running out. She heard yells coming from outside. The freed prisoners fled one by one out of the hut.
Suddenly she was pushed aside and hit the floor, scratching her face on the solid, rough wooden floor. Rising her gaze she saw the prisoners walking over her, as they were pushing against each other.
Shielding her head with her arms, she waited for the commotion to end. Then she felt an enormous pain piercing her stomach. One prisoner stepped on her, stomping his foot right into her belly.
A shocked gasp left her at the pain that exploded in her stomach and spread through her limbs. She squeezed her eyes shut and huddled up on the floor, holding onto the spot the blinding pain emitted from.
All of a sudden she felt something hit her head hard.
A new form of pain exploded within her. Pulses of blinding lightening pierced through the darkness in her head.
She whimpered.
She felt someone grabbing onto her yukata.
Faintly she heard her name being yelled.
It was getting louder and louder, while she lay huddled up on the floor, fighting against the agony radiating from her stomach and head.
"Mayura-sama." Someone tagged on her sleeve. Then she was lifted off the ground and carried away.
She felt like flying while the pain still tormented her nerves.
Nausea joined the pain in a storm.
She opened one of her eyes and saw the face of the monk Jinya-sama framed by the crowns of trees above. Then she lost her consciousness, sinking into an all embracing darkness.
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A/N: When Mayura was hurt, I seriously had a parallel sketch within my head, looking like this:
Me: NOOO, Mayura! Quick Shimon, heal her!
Shimon: How?
Me: I DON'T KNOOOW! *gasp* HOW ABOUT A KISS?!
Shimon *stern gaze*
Me: Hurry!
Shimon *stern gaze*
Me: For crying out loud! You're a hard nutshell to crack.
Shimon *stern gaze*
Me: Forget it... *leaves*
(If you're asking yourself now, if I am mad, it is totally understandable. And I can only say, I haven't had myself tested, yet. :P)
How did you like it? Was it a surprising turn of events? Somebody told me, Mayura had it seemingly easy. Would you agree to that?
If you like to vote for this story, you'll have my sincere gratitude in advance.^^