〄Hᴀʟғ-Bʟᴏᴏᴅs' Lᴇɢᴀᴄʏ〄 [Ch. 4 Up!]

[pouty]

I've only read 2 chapters so far, but i have fallen in love with your writing style <3.
consider me a stalker ^^.

[scmarshtacky]

Haha, stalkers are great people to have reading. My writing in the beginning chapters is a little rough because I wrote it about 3 years ago. XD It does get a little more polished as you go through. I'm thankful to have you reading. ^^

[scmarshtacky]

bump
I should have a little free time this weekend so I'm going to do my best to finish Chapter 66. Lately all of my writing time has been spent on essays, but I finally found a little bit of a break.

[Asherwy]

Heeeey scmar, not sure if you know me or not but I just finished marathoning your book so far. Can't. Stop. Reading. It's really great, and I look forward to seeing more of it ;3

[scmarshtacky]

I don't know if we've spoken directly, but I've seen you around the anime/manga club plenty of times. I'm so glad that you like it. It's funny, I've actually looked at your avatar before and thought, 'hm... if it was guy instead of a girl, it would look just like Kaito.' I hope that you continue to follow this. I've been really slow because of school, but I'm hoping I'll finish the chapter this weekend.

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 66 – Arriving Battle

The next day dawned gray and cloudy, with the promise of rain. All of the previous day, Kaito remained in his tent drifting in and out of consciousness. At some point in the night he’d risen to lay out his bedroll, but he couldn’t even remember doing it.

He now rose, slowly and cautiously waiting for the strike of pain to hit him. It never did, just a dull throbbing filled his side. “Man, whatever Kana put on me sure did the trick,” he muttered softly, standing up and changing before he exited the tent. He hadn’t gotten a good look around the place yesterday, and now that he felt refreshed, it was time to discover what their plans were.

Kaito took a stroll around the camp first, judging the best spots for the enemy to launch an attack from. The way they were positioned put everyone in plain sight. The Fire clan warriors had to know they were here, but if they launched an attack, it would be easy to see them coming no matter what direction they chose. The Wind clan would have a better chance sneaking up on them, but even so, if they attacked aerially, they would still be easy to spot.

“Good morning young Lord.”

Kaito turned at the sound of Grinwald’s voice and found the husky warrior standing just outside of what must’ve been his tent. “Morning Grinwald,” he greeted with a dip of his head. “When did you arrive?”

Grinwald tilted his head back and stared at the sky as he did some sort of mental calculation. “Late morning yesterday. A short while before the rest of you.”

Kaito nodded briefly. “And everything went well?”

“It did my Lord.”

The two stood in silence for a moment longer, but as a soft drizzle began to fall, Grinwald gave a hasty goodbye before retreating into his tent once more. Kaito continued onward as the rain grew harder. By the time he had made a full circle around the area, it was pouring, and he was drenched. So much for a good day of scouting.

Once back in the tent, Kaito set down his sword and rung out his hair as best he could. Having it long really was such a pain. He couldn’t wait to get it cut once back in Japan. He shuffled through his bag and drug out a mostly clean pair of clothes.

Kaito had just finished changing when the silhouettes of the girls appeared in front of the tent. Before they could get the chance to rap on the fabric of the tent, he invited them in. Ayako led her small troupe into the space that was much too small for four people.

“Kaito I’m bored,” Ayako announced giving him an expecting look.

“And?” he prompted raising an eyebrow. “What would you like me to do about it?”

“Entertain me!”

“But that’s not why we’re here,” Kana commented casting her friend a quick glance. She returned her attention to Kaito and asked, “How are you holding up?”

“Well enough,” Kaito responded, sitting down cross-legged and setting his sword beside him. “Is that all you came here for?”

“Mostly –”

“No!” Ayako jumped in. “I already told you I’m bored.”

“I am your leader, not your babysitter,” Kaito responded with a sigh. She really was the neediest human he’d ever met. “Entertain yourself.”

“I brought cards,” Ayako said persuasively holding up a deck. “You remember the card games we played going to Okinawa right?”

“Ayako, I don’t have time to be playing cards,” Kaito retorted. There were so many things that needed to be prepared before the Fire clan got the idea of invading the field. There were lives at stake, he didn’t have time to waste on human pastimes.

“What else could you do?” Ayako said, mimicking his tone of mild irritation. “It’s raining outside. If the enemy forces attacked now, you’d massacre them in this rain. Fire doesn’t work in water you know. It’s not like you could keep watch or anything either. The rain is too hard for you to see more than a couple of meters!” Ayako broke off from her rant, panting.

“Is it such a bad thing to spend a little time enjoying yourself before things really get intense?” Mika asked hesitantly. Thus far she’d been quiet, unsure of what really to say.

Ayako and Kana had been demanding to know what had happened to Kaito since yesterday, but she’d been silent about the matter. Though she was trying hard not to think about it, she was sure that the concern was plain on her face. The last thing she wanted was for Kaito to overexert himself, but she figured it would be impossible to keep him still for long.

“Alright fine,” he relented with a sigh. “One quick game.”

The four settled down, and the game of spoons – except played with sticks rather than spoons – began. ‘One quick game’ turned into four group matches, and several solo duels between Kaito and Ayako in speed.

It felt so strange, Kaito thought, to be laughing at and taunting Ayako over something as trivial as a card game. How long had it been since he'd forgotten about the present predicament? Two weeks? A month? It was hard to believe that they had only been out on the battlefield about two weeks, and had only been in Akukai for roughly a month. To Kaito, it seemed that a year had already passed since Okita had come to his school.

Kaito gazed off into the distance as he thought about his goof of a brother. He was certain that Okita had already joined the battle somewhere, probably in the north. If the theories were correct, the Wind Clan should be moving south to converge on this one point. Okita was never much of a fighter, he was much too soft-hearted, but at this point, every region needed as much man power as they could get.

“Hey, are you even paying attention?”

Kaito’s mind snapped back to the card game, and to the frustrated Ayako in front of him.

“I’ve been waiting to flip the cards for a while now, but you were so out of it, I thought you’d fallen asleep sitting up or something.”

“Only you could do something so ridiculous,” Kaito replied, smoothly playing off his lack of attention. “Go on and flip them already,” he encouraged before Ayako could start on another angry rant.

The game progressed quickly, and Kaito called it quits afterward. The early morning rain had already stopped, leaving low gray clouds hovering in the sky. It was a perfect day to sleep, but things had to be done, and he couldn’t waste any more time.

Kaito raised his head as an unfamiliar scent drew closer to the entrance of his tent. “My Lord, the commander wishes to see you.”

“Alright,” Kaito replied, quickly standing up. The swift movement jarred the tender spot in his side, but the wound had closed up enough that it, thankfully, did not reopen.

“I’ll see you later,” Kaito said as he moved out of the tent. “Do try not to get into too much trouble.” With that, he left the girls to their own devices and headed out across the grass field.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Well, what are we supposed to do now?” Ayako mused aloud as she wandered around the field. There was nothing entertaining here, only grass and the occasional briers that she hated. It was too far of a walk to head off into the woods, and not to mention, probably a bad idea. There was no telling what was out there. Oddly enough, the safest place was out in the open.

“Ayako you have to learn to be still,” Kana said with a bit of a sigh. “You’ll be busy soon enough, why can’t you just rest like a normal teenager?”

“Demons could be coming any second!” Ayako protested. “How could you even suggest the idea of sleeping?”

“You just said that it would be disadvantageous for the Fire Clan to attack now,” she pointed out.

Ayako opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the right words to make an argument, so instead she rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Well, maybe we could practice then or something,” she suggested. “It’s been a couple of days.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad idea,” Mika mused softly. Even though she had become significantly better over the last couple of weeks, she was still by far the weakest of the three, and she was horribly self-conscious of that fact.

“Yay!” Ayako bounced around in a little happy dance, and then readied Kanrir. She carried the spear around with her everywhere these days. It kept her from feeling exposed and vulnerable. With several different ropes, she’d even rigged a way to fasten it to her back while on the move.

Mika slid her daggers out of their sheath and gripped them hard as her heartbeat began to increase. She knew that nervousness would do her no good, but no matter how many times she faced someone, even if it wasn’t an enemy, she still felt it.

Without warning, Ayako charged, and Mika ducked to the left narrowly missing the butt end of the spear. Ayako whirled and Mika shot forward into her range. She slid the dull edge of her left dagger over Ayako’s thigh, indicating the fact she could have made a fairly lethal blow, and darted out of range again, though she felt the touch of the spear against her right side.

Mika spun around to face Ayako, now panting slightly for breath. Ayako didn’t give her long to wait though, she was already on the move toward her again. Mika deflected the jabbing spear with her right dagger, and swung forward with her left, but Ayako tilted Kanrir and blocked the attack.

The two continued sparing until Mika was completely out of breath. Ayako was panting as well, but not as heavily. With her athletic nature, she was in far better shape than Mika was.

A low whistle sounded, and both girls turned abruptly. Grinwald sat on the ground facing their little area, eyes alight with interest. “You girls sure put on a good show,” he said, slowly standing up.

“Well I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Ayako said, with an ever-growing smile. “I’ve gotten lots better since that first battle.” She puffed out her chest, proud of what she’d accomplished in such a short amount of time.

“Why don't ya’ give me a go?” Grinwald suggested. “I could use a little mornin’ workout.”

“I’d love to!” Ayako was practically beaming as she got into position. For a moment, both stood stock still, waiting for the other to move. Ayako’s impatience one out, and she darted forward with all of the speed she could muster. She moved straight for Grinwald, spear lowered as if she were preparing to jab him straight through.

If this was anyone else, Ayako would’ve assumed the fact that the giant axe would take too long to swing and could strike a blow before the enemy even got it moving, but she’d seen Grinwald fight. Despite the one hundred pound axe, he was quick to move.

Just as Ayako did with Kaito, as soon as she got within striking distance, she darted to the right, and planned to strike at his left side. One moment the big guy was open, and the next, the tip of Kanrir was colliding with the broad metal of the axe. Ayako jumped back, shocked. Where did he draw that from? The axe had been strapped to his back, just a millisecond before, and in that moment, he’d drawn the thing and blocked. Perhaps this was the real speed of a demon.

Ayako didn’t have long to think about the block, as Grinwald moved in. He started for her slowly at first, and then increased in speed as he came nearer. Ayako tensed, unsure where exactly he would come from. She knew he was fast, but she didn’t know his attack patterns.

Grinwald was heading straight for her, so Ayako made a logical move, and darted left. Almost instantaneously, Grinwald switched directions, blocking off her escape route. He didn’t run particularly fast, but Ayako realized that she wouldn’t get out of the way quickly enough.

She drew back a step, and jumped right. Again, he switched directions. If the situation hadn’t been so tense, Ayako might have laughed. Grinwald looked just like he was cutting cattle, and she was the rowdy calf that had to be driven.

It was at this point, she realized that escape wasn’t an option, and that if she wanted to even have a chance, she had to stay still and block what he threw at her. The only problem was that it seemed that axe would cut through just about anything. She didn’t have a chance blocking with Kanrir.

Grinwald was upon her before she had figured out what to do about the situation. He swung downward, and with no other choice, Ayako made a mad leap backwards. Grinwald took a step forward, closing the gap, and in the same movement swung back up.

How crazy strong is this guy?! Ayako couldn’t help wondering. To stop that axe in the midst of a downward swing and send it upwards again, was beyond what she had imagined. He made it seem like the weapon was made of Styrofoam rather than folded metal and wood. If she were an enemy, she’d be long dead by now.

How long could she keep dodging for? Grinwald was already closing in on her once again, and she still hadn’t come up with a solution to her predicament. Ayako wasn’t even sure if she could get close to him without being hacked in half. For a farmer, Grinwald was an amazing fighter.

Ayako took a deep breath, and lowered herself slightly ready to charge when she saw a good opportunity. Perhaps close quarters would be a better option. The only drawback was actually breaking through the barrier he made with his weapon.

He was drawing closer, and Ayako tensed her muscles in preparation. A moment before she planned to spring forward, Grinwald stopped dead, and turned toward the west.

Puzzled, Ayako straightened and cocked her head. “Hey, Grinwald, what’s wrong?” His attention was completely diverted from the match, and a moment later, Ayako saw what must have distracted him. A blur of black moved through the fields, and as it got closer, Ayako realized that it must have been the wolf form of someone in the legion.

“What’s going on?” Mika asked as she and Kana moved over to her friend. One moment, they were in the heat of battle, the next both were staring off in the distance.

“That’s Konin,” Grinwald said quietly, eyes still trained on the wolf, as he flew through the camp. “They sent him out the other day to sniff around for any traces of the Fire or Wind clan. From the way he’s runnin’, it seems like he found ‘em.”

Ayako turned toward the old man, to find his brow creased in concentration, and his eyes alight with concern. Slowly he turned to meet her gaze. “Looks like ‘ya won’t be needed to fight with me anymore.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The rest of the afternoon, the camp was full of activity. Through hearing others talk, the girls had gathered that the Fire clan would arrive at the site in roughly two days’ time which meant a massive amount of preparation had to be done before then.

Warriors ran about going to and from the woods, scouting out the area and laying out traps. They had multiple guards stationed in the woods just in case the enemy arrived before expected. Those that had a bit of down time were either sparing amongst themselves or tuning up their weapons.

The anxiety in the camp was almost tangible, and it had Ayako exploding with a nervous energy. Mika and Kana weren’t fairing much better. Kana was quiet, but even she had a constant unsettled look on her face.

Mika couldn’t decide if she wanted more time to prepare or less. On the one hand, she was ready for this battle to be over with, but no matter how hard she practiced, she just couldn’t put up much of a fight.

By the time the sun finally set, and the moon began to rise, she was exhausted, but at the same time, she didn’t think she’d be able to sleep. More than anything, she wanted to talk to Kaito. As selfish as it was, she wanted him to calm her in the way that he always did. That seemed impossible at the moment though.

After Konin had arrived earlier that afternoon, she’d seen him once, standing outside of the main tent and speaking to the other generals. Since then, he’d been in the main tent. Mika could only wonder what they were discussing. As much as she wished she could help, she knew it would be of no use. Strategy had never been much of her forte.

It was late, when her troubled mind finally calmed enough to allow her to sleep, but even then, her dreams were plagued with fighting and death. The day simply could not come quickly enough.

The next morning, Mika was awoken by a noise from outside. At first she couldn’t remember exactly what it was that woke her, but as she glanced toward the front of the tent, she could see the silhouette of a figure. Kaito... Mika opened her mouth to respond when she heard a shuffling to her left.

Kana was rummaging through her bag, dragging out clothes until she reached the small pouch she was looking for. Pocketing the package, she stood and began toward the entrance.

“Hey Kana, what’s going on?” Mika questioned, her voice wavering slightly with drowsiness.

“Apparently I’m needed with these at the Commander’s tent.” She held up the package slightly for Mika to get a better glance.

“The bombs that you made?” Mika questioned. “Oh,” she exclaimed softly as her tired mind began to put the pieces into place. They were going to arrange the fighting strategies based on what Kana had to offer.

“I’ll see you later,” Kana said with a brief nod toward her friend. She turned in the direction of Ayako’s bedroll, but she was still sound asleep.

Kana sucked in her breath as she met the cool morning air. It was still fairly early, the sun hadn’t risen over the trees yet, and the grass was wet with dew. She didn’t speak as she let Kaito lead her along toward the main tent. She was still rather tired, and it was obvious that Kaito wasn’t doing much better. There was no telling how long it had been since he had had a truly restful day.

They reached the main tent within a couple of minutes, and Kaito entered without hesitation leaving Kana to follow him into the narrow space filled with generals. She immediately recognized the fifth and sixth, and the general of the water clan. It took her a moment to recognize Maverick, and the other two generals were foreign to her.

The military commander sat at the head of the group at a small desk. The desk itself was crudely made with logs cut in half and tied together with ropes, and it was just large enough to spread a map across. The commander himself was shorter in stature, and instead of being buff like most of the other generals, he was lean. Kana immediately got the impression that he was extremely quick on his feet, and the years of experience were shown in the faint scars across his arms, and one down his jawbone.

“You are the human who has something of interest to us?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” Kana responded, bowing her head in respect. She got the feeling that this man was understanding, and not quick to jump to conclusions; however, one certainly did not want to be on his bad side.

“Well then, come here and show us what you have.” The commander waved his hand across the desk, indicating Kana should place her bombs there.

She moved slowly past the generals while Kaito took a seat amongst them. One by one, she placed the packages on the desk, arranging them by type. She only had two of the smoke and explosion bombs left, along with the one flash, and three stink bombs. Once again, she explained the uses of each one, and pointed to them in turn.

“I see,” the commander said once she had finished. “You made these on your own?”

“Yes sir,” Kana said politely. “I have taken an interest in Chemistry, which has proven rather useful in recent times.”

The commander raised his gray eyes to meet hers. “Chemistry?”

Of course... He wouldn’t know anything of modern sciences. Kana launched in a brief explanation of science and Chemistry, and though the commander listened intently, she got the feeling that he wasn’t pleased about something.

“Kaito, you also have knowledge of these ‘sciences’?”

Kaito’s head shot up, surprised by the sudden question. “A bit,” he answered quickly. Then added, “Though I must admit that science classes were never really my forte.”

The commander only nodded once before he began launching into the strategies of the little bombs. Kana was allowed to stand at the back of the tent and listen, considering most of the plan involved shooting a certain bomb off at a particular time. She was also to distribute the bombs between herself, Konin, and another skilled archer of the elite unit directly under the military commander.

The day dragged on inside the little tent, and though Kana found herself rather entertained, she couldn’t help wishing that this war meeting would conclude soon. No one else seemed to be concerned with missing breakfast or lunch, and none of them seemed to suffer from boredom either. She knew how important such a meeting was, but after several hours, it was increasingly difficult to concentrate. Even so, she had learned more about the plans that she ever believed she would.

The Lightning and Water clan forces would be in position at dawn tomorrow on the crest of the largest hill, overlooking the woods to the south, waiting for the soldiers of the other two clans to show themselves. They would be assaulted first with the stink bombs fired by the elite and Konin. The hope was that the distance would be far enough to avoid the smell affecting their armies, though Kana made the point that it depended on the direction of the wind that day.

After the initial onslaught, the opposing armies would hopefully be in disorder, allowing the first wave of warriors to attack them. The second wave would be sent in several moments later, after she and Konin fired the smoke bombs. Then the rest of the army including the generals, commander, Kaito, and the fifth and sixth legion, would charge. She, along with Mika and Ayako, would be in the last group.

The fighting would progress from that point onward until one side had won out over the other. There were smaller, and more detailed plans of attack throughout the main battle, but because Kana was not a part of them, she didn’t commit them to memory.

Her main role in the battle was to provide back up to anyone that needed it, and to shoot down the flying Wind clan warriors that came into her range. She also had control of one explosion bomb to be used if an opportunity presented itself. Konin would be given the other explosion, while the last archer had the flash and last stink bomb.

Finally, a couple hours before sunset, those in the tent were dismissed.

“I see why you dislike meetings,” Kana commented casually as she and Kaito walked back in the direction of their tents.

Kaito chuckled softly, “Yes well, that was by far one of the more interesting ones. Tax and finance meetings are by far the worst.”

Kana also allowed herself a soft laugh. As they moved, she couldn’t help looking back at the larger hill that stood a kilometer or so away from where the tents were situated. By tomorrow at this time, this green field would be dyed red, and one army will have lost the battle. As she retired to her tent for the night, she couldn’t help praying to every Kami(God) she knew of in hopes they would stand on the victorious side.


A/N~ I have no excuses... I'm really sorry guys. This chapter in particular was hard to get through anyway because it is a lead in. I'm hoping that from now on, I'll be writing a little faster. In an ideal situation, I will have completed this by the end of my Christmas break (Jan. 12). Not too much more is left, but I hope that the remaining chapters will be exciting and satisfying.

<==Chapter 65

Chapter 67==>

[Muse.]

I send you lots of love and luck. Writing when you feel tired or are just not in the mood is really hard. u.u

<3 I wish you luck as well, since I believe you will need it for classes as per usual. I know I need luck getting through the week sometimes. x3

[scmarshtacky]

Thank you. ^^ One week until finals, and two weeks until break. I can do this! lol

Also I have to ask, what's the picture in your siggy from? (If it is from anything) It looks remarkably like Naru and Mai from Ghost Hunt,

[Muse.]

It is! xD I thought it was way too cute, and I've been more into GH lately after rewatching it for the 3rd time and rereading through the manga. ^^;

My finals happen to be the end of January so I have some time. Although I seriously can't wait until break. n.n

[scmarshtacky]

It pretty much demonstrates Mai and Naru's relationship perfectly. XD Ghost Hunt is awesome. I've watched the anime 3 or 4 times and read the original manga twice. The sequel just isn't coming out fast enough. Sadly, I don't really see that many people into it.

I can't wait until break either. I can finally sit down and not have to worry about anything academic.