Chapter 12
Late Autumn, 1236 – Toshi Ranbo Guest Author Kakita Harun!
It had been raining for three days when the message came. Three days of raids at the city walls while the mud grew deeper and thicker. Three days, and Isawa Taka said the rain would probably continue.
The day had been bad, losses to Kyoujin Platoon though the Nikutai Utaku Kenji told him not to blame himself.
He sat with a writing tablet in a corner of the tent he shared with the other Nikutai. The letters never got easier, and Harun wasn’t even sure if they would get to the families of the dead. But it was important to write them, it was his responsibility to his men.
“Gunso.” Utaku Kenji poked his head inside the tent. “Messenger for you, from the Champion.”
From his father, this could mean good news...or bad. All the same, he couldn’t keep him waiting. He pulled the hood of his purple wool cloak over his head and headed out into the rain.
Soon he was on his horse, heading towards the Emerald Champion’s tent. He could see the emerald green banner, flying free in the middle of the vast encampment that surrounded Toshi Ranbo. They had been laying siege to the city for three weeks and only had just begun to make an impression on the city’s defenses. Hopefully, that would change and soon, before autumn had turned to winter.
When he arrived at the tent, Kakita Karasu was talking with his second in command Akodo Ryoichi. At Harun’s arrival, Ryoichu made a bow and took his leave. He gave as small smile to Harun, it looked sad and a little sympathetic. Harun had known Ryoichi most of his life, he was almost family. What did he know that Harun didn’t?
Harun made a bow, as was fitting of a soldier of the Emerald Legions. But the informal way that Karasu received his bow made it clear that he hadn’t sent for Harun as his commander, but as his father.
“Father, is there something wrong?” Harun asked. One of his siblings? His mother? Or was it...no, that was too terrible to think about.
“Sit down, Harun,” Karasu said. He looked tired, older than his thirty-nine years.
“Is it something terrible?” Harun asked. “Is it...my mother?”
“No, no,” Karasu said, shaking his head. “It’s...Arahime.”
Harun held his breath, he had been dreading hearing her name. Surely, nothing could have happened to her…
“She was travelling onboard ship with the Crane ambassador,” Karasu said. “During the night, she fell overboard.”
The words cut like a blade at Harun’s heart. “But...she knows how to swim...she couldn’t...”
Karasu shook his head. “Even if she did manage to swim to shore, there’s no hope. She would have been torn to pieces by animals. I’m sorry.”
I’m sorry...
I’m sorry...
There’s no hope...
There's no hope...
The words seemed far away to Harun.
Arahime couldn’t be dead. It couldn’t be true.
He saw her, pushing him into a cupboard at the Academy to hide from Hayate. Proudly shouting that if they wanted to know where Harun was, they would have to fight her.
She was in the garden, beneath the blooming sakura tree, playing The Promise of Heiwa on her shamisen. A trailing pink hana kanzashi in her white hair.
She was beside him, riding her horse in the summer twilight, her long hair streaming behind her as she urged her horse into a gallop. Taking off and yelling for Harun to hurry up.
Arahime couldn’t be dead. How was it possibly so when she was so full of life?
Karasu’s hand touched his shoulder gently, like a father comforting a child. And like a child, Harun sought reassurance in his face. A denial, that it was all a terrible mistake.
But there was none, only truth.
Harun fell to his knees, a low moan escaping his lips. Tears flowed down his cheeks, his hands pulled at his beard, his hair. He wanted to feel pain, anything to deaden the pain he felt inside.
Karasu grabbed his hands. His voice was cold, and harsher than Harun had ever heard him. “Harun, we will find who did this and make them pay. The Crane have sworn.”
“Send me, father,” Harun pleaded. “Let my blade avenge Arahime’s death. Send me!”
Karasu shook his head. “No,” he said. “I know you want to; I know your heart burns with the rage of vengeance. But that is not your place, my son.”
Harun bowed his head, letting his tears flow freely. Each one a reproach on himself for never speaking to her, for never telling how he felt. How he loved her, that she completed him, how he was lost without her. There were not enough tears, not nearly enough.
It was evening when he returned to camp. Kenji, seeing him riding in, made sure that everyone kept their distance as Harun went to the tent. His grief was soon lost in the nothingness of sleep.
The next morning when he awoke, his eyes were swollen from crying, his mood grey and lifeless. But still, he dressed, still donned his armour. Still, he mounted his horse and went into battle with his men.
The morning after his father Nakura had been killed, his mother Yamada still got her sword and fought beside Karasu in battle. Still went before the Emperor and petitioned to have Karasu made Emerald Champion. There were still battles to fight, she had said. There were always battles to fight, Harun knew, and this was his duty.
Late Autumn, 1236 – Toshi Ranbo Guest Author Kakita Harun!
It had been raining for three days when the message came. Three days of raids at the city walls while the mud grew deeper and thicker. Three days, and Isawa Taka said the rain would probably continue.
The day had been bad, losses to Kyoujin Platoon though the Nikutai Utaku Kenji told him not to blame himself.
He sat with a writing tablet in a corner of the tent he shared with the other Nikutai. The letters never got easier, and Harun wasn’t even sure if they would get to the families of the dead. But it was important to write them, it was his responsibility to his men.
“Gunso.” Utaku Kenji poked his head inside the tent. “Messenger for you, from the Champion.”
From his father, this could mean good news...or bad. All the same, he couldn’t keep him waiting. He pulled the hood of his purple wool cloak over his head and headed out into the rain.
Soon he was on his horse, heading towards the Emerald Champion’s tent. He could see the emerald green banner, flying free in the middle of the vast encampment that surrounded Toshi Ranbo. They had been laying siege to the city for three weeks and only had just begun to make an impression on the city’s defenses. Hopefully, that would change and soon, before autumn had turned to winter.
When he arrived at the tent, Kakita Karasu was talking with his second in command Akodo Ryoichi. At Harun’s arrival, Ryoichu made a bow and took his leave. He gave as small smile to Harun, it looked sad and a little sympathetic. Harun had known Ryoichi most of his life, he was almost family. What did he know that Harun didn’t?
Harun made a bow, as was fitting of a soldier of the Emerald Legions. But the informal way that Karasu received his bow made it clear that he hadn’t sent for Harun as his commander, but as his father.
“Father, is there something wrong?” Harun asked. One of his siblings? His mother? Or was it...no, that was too terrible to think about.
“Sit down, Harun,” Karasu said. He looked tired, older than his thirty-nine years.
“Is it something terrible?” Harun asked. “Is it...my mother?”
“No, no,” Karasu said, shaking his head. “It’s...Arahime.”
Harun held his breath, he had been dreading hearing her name. Surely, nothing could have happened to her…
“She was travelling onboard ship with the Crane ambassador,” Karasu said. “During the night, she fell overboard.”
The words cut like a blade at Harun’s heart. “But...she knows how to swim...she couldn’t...”
Karasu shook his head. “Even if she did manage to swim to shore, there’s no hope. She would have been torn to pieces by animals. I’m sorry.”
I’m sorry...
I’m sorry...
There’s no hope...
There's no hope...
The words seemed far away to Harun.
Arahime couldn’t be dead. It couldn’t be true.
He saw her, pushing him into a cupboard at the Academy to hide from Hayate. Proudly shouting that if they wanted to know where Harun was, they would have to fight her.
She was in the garden, beneath the blooming sakura tree, playing The Promise of Heiwa on her shamisen. A trailing pink hana kanzashi in her white hair.
She was beside him, riding her horse in the summer twilight, her long hair streaming behind her as she urged her horse into a gallop. Taking off and yelling for Harun to hurry up.
Arahime couldn’t be dead. How was it possibly so when she was so full of life?
Karasu’s hand touched his shoulder gently, like a father comforting a child. And like a child, Harun sought reassurance in his face. A denial, that it was all a terrible mistake.
But there was none, only truth.
Harun fell to his knees, a low moan escaping his lips. Tears flowed down his cheeks, his hands pulled at his beard, his hair. He wanted to feel pain, anything to deaden the pain he felt inside.
Karasu grabbed his hands. His voice was cold, and harsher than Harun had ever heard him. “Harun, we will find who did this and make them pay. The Crane have sworn.”
“Send me, father,” Harun pleaded. “Let my blade avenge Arahime’s death. Send me!”
Karasu shook his head. “No,” he said. “I know you want to; I know your heart burns with the rage of vengeance. But that is not your place, my son.”
Harun bowed his head, letting his tears flow freely. Each one a reproach on himself for never speaking to her, for never telling how he felt. How he loved her, that she completed him, how he was lost without her. There were not enough tears, not nearly enough.
It was evening when he returned to camp. Kenji, seeing him riding in, made sure that everyone kept their distance as Harun went to the tent. His grief was soon lost in the nothingness of sleep.
The next morning when he awoke, his eyes were swollen from crying, his mood grey and lifeless. But still, he dressed, still donned his armour. Still, he mounted his horse and went into battle with his men.
The morning after his father Nakura had been killed, his mother Yamada still got her sword and fought beside Karasu in battle. Still went before the Emperor and petitioned to have Karasu made Emerald Champion. There were still battles to fight, she had said. There were always battles to fight, Harun knew, and this was his duty.
