Three: Scarless Backs

As the gentle breeze brushed the leaves in the trees, Zhuge wondered whether there would ever be a tailwind in his life. Two towns had suffered great casualties at the hands of The Orginale and neither him, Lo or their new ally Teepee could do anything to stop them.

                Teepee was very likeable, often expressing concern for Zhuge who was either looking longingly up at the sky or staring solemnly into the ground. Lo also enjoyed the company of their new ally, somehow finding reason to laugh.

                “Do you think my commanding officer will mind me breaking rank?” Teepee asked, smiling despite the pit in his stomach. He was immediately calmed by Lo’s laughter.

                “What were your orders in retreat?” asked Lo.

                “There weren’t,” shrugged Teepee, “We were that confident our ambush would succeed.” He screwed his face up in disappointment and brushed away some debris from his bow.

                “Well I think getting a report back to armies up the line won’t get you in trouble,” said Lo and Teepee nodded.

                Zhuge had said very little since the departure from Tul’Dun and just as well some of the more important things didn’t need to be said; they were now a part of the war and they had made a decision to fight for The Neu, they needed to make as many allies and establish themselves quickly and finally they needed to gain revenge for their family and friends.

                And so, while Zhuge did like Teepee he wondered how much help he could be towards these unspoken tasks. How high up did he serve in the army, what were his contacts like, would he save his own skin before taking an arrow for him or Lo? It made no sense why these questions came to him, a simple peasant, but they did.

                In the quiet of the footsteps against the hard forest path, it was easy for the three men to hear the rustling in the bushes as two men in torn and dirty clothing bustled and rolled into the opening. Upon seeing Zhuge and co the men recoiled then changed their mind and bowed before them on their knees.

                “Help us,” they pleaded in desperation.

                “What’s wrong?” asked Zhuge. One of the men pointed a trembling arm back through the bushes.

                “Two soldiers...stealing our food!” he cried.

                To Zhuge, it was like staring at himself a few days ago. He too had been frightened in the sight of soldiers and having had plenty of time to collect his thoughts he knew what frightened men needed. Lo had been his protector and now he had to protect these men.

                Without consulting with his friends Zhuge charged through the overgrowth, pushing against straying branches and stumbling on large roots. He came to a clearing where the trees parted and a cloudy sky hung over a small garden of crops. In the garden were two men pulling away corn and placing them in a large sack, cackling as they did so.

                “Hey!” yelled Zhuge, withdrawing his sword. The soldiers looked at him and sniggered.

                “What’s your problem?” asked one of them in a gruff voice, continuing to steal corn.

                “That’s not your corn to harvest,” said Zhuge which was responded with another low snigger.

                “What are you going to do about it?” asked the second man, dropping his sack and getting his own sword out, as did his friend.

                Foolishly, Zhuge rushed the garden and ferociously swiped, knocking both men back temporarily. The gruff voiced man reacted quickest and tried to stab, but Zhuge deflected his sword before swiping at the second man who fell to the ground trying to dodge.

                “Heh, you’re pretty good,” admitted the man on the floor. Slyly he kicked out at Zhuge’s shin which sent him to the ground body first, “But you’re no soldier of The Originale.”

                Zhuge rolled back, unaware that Gruffy (the nickname Zhuge cleverly gave the man) had tried to cleave at him. Despite this dodge, Zhuge couldn’t gain any advantage and the soldier cleaved again, only narrowly missing. Exposed, he did his best to raise his sword to defend himself, but he knew the next swing would make contact. As Gruffy bore over him an arrow fired into his upper arm which made him drop his sword.

                “What the-“ he cried. The soldier on the floor looked into the forest where Teepee stood with his bow. Before Zhuge realised it Lo was by his side.

                “We’ve got your back,” said Lo. Confident he couldn’t be beaten, Zhuge jumped up at Gruffy but another clang of metal was heard as a long sword blocked the attack.

                “Stop!” commanded a third man who was tall with short black hair and a goatee. He pointed his long sword to the ground as wall between himself and Zhuge, “I am Capulet, a General of The Originale. I apologise for the conduct of my men.”

                Capulet stared at his men and swung his arm, signalling for them to depart which they did quickly.

                “Never would I condone such an act of stealing from those who can barely feed themselves,” he said, shaking his head in disgust. Zhuge snarled at Capulet regardless of how calmly and apologetic the words sounded.

                “You fight for an army that does this on a daily basis,” he said.

                “I can’t be responsible for what other generals allow their units to do,” Capulet replied, “But I shall always order my men to fight while harming as few as possible.”

                Great strength was required by Capulet to swing his long sword on to his back.

                “I hope to find you in good health when we next meet,” he said as he turned his back and walked away. Zhuge took his sword and went to charge his enemy while his back was turned, but he was quickly pulled back by Teepee.

                “What are you doing?” asked Zhuge.

                “We need men like him on their side,” Teepee replied while Lo picked up the stolen corn. At first Zhuge was frustrated, but he knew there was sense in Teepee’s words.

                “Thanks for saving me,” he said. Teepee smiled.

                “I’ve got your back.”

                And Zhuge believed him. He realised it didn’t matter whether Teepee could get them recognised in the eyes of The Neu or how high in the army he was, because he was a trusted ally and for Zhuge that meant so much more after that day than it had ever before.

Reviews

[Joshua]

Nice job with that chapter... I have enjoyed this book so far and this installment does not disappoint! I like the fact that it breaks the common fantasy paradigm of good and evil. Great work.

[dreaming dame]

:) This is great. :) Then again, all your writing is. I agree with Honourfish, and the names are really neat. :)

[Darkest Rose]

I love this! It shows so much about war and how it's considered as two sides that both are in the wrong to the other really. Love the chapter just like the rest! Fab write :)

[Honourfish]

Liked it! Showed that both sides of the war are human and that we shouldn't consider one side good and the other evil!