Long March

A little thing it was that came fumbling to my cave. A pink pudgy thing. Human. I must admit I haven’t indulged in the species; they seemed to be... too inconsistent. Some looked shriveled and wrinkly, while others looked fit to burst. Some looked underdone, and others overbaked. They never looked appealing; a different flavor with everyone. However, this one, maybe… Small, it may be, probably a child. No intelligent being would enter my cave with the number of dead things I have out front. My decorations often deter adventurers, treasure hunters, or anything else. But this stupid child ignored the warnings outside, stumbled upon my cave, and ventured down the winding corridors to my hoard, arousing me from my slumber. Usually, I am not disturbed until spring. However, she brought in the chill of winter. I can feel it piercing through my scales. Maybe that is why she ventured in. It matters not. I will pluck the child in my claw, ignore its insistent screaming, fry her with my breath, and enjoy a little sniggle.

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The barren cherry blossom trees trembled in the piercing cold wind while a soldier with adorned ornate armor knelt atop a hill, looking down at the military encampment. The camp was rashly put together, with many bamboo trees being chopped down. A bonfire blazed in the middle, and excitement was in the air. Some of the holy men adorned in white seemed to be erecting a symbol of the great dragon God, Yizin. They have been on the road too long. The journey from the Hinden region back to the Imperial City should have only taken a fortnight on the road. However, due to the weather, there were drawbacks. Snowstorms forced the royal entourage to march through the Yapinjin forest, forcing a longer journey. Though the forest shielded them from the snow, it did endanger them from Forryma, Giant snow leopards. Kenichi looked down at his hand, that has been wrapped in white cloth. Or cloth that used to be white anyways. Blood soaked through and started to drip. Contaminating the crystal white snow, a drop would fall, and the snow would absorb it, spreading it out on the surface. The hand hurt immensely, he wiggled his fingers, and even though some were missing, he felt all of them. There was a cheer from down below; it looked like the King finally arose and was already craving attention. Kenichi felt ashamed of what he thought. King Takami was a good man; he was always in good spirits and an advocate of peace. There has only been one conflict since he ascended to the throne. The conflict enabled Kenichi to become Captain of the King’s guard. He reached for the Katana that lay in front of him and, without touching it, slid his hand over. Remembering the time when Takami gave him the blade. While honoring the weapon, a sharp pain shot through his butchered hand. He reeled back before blood fell on the Katana. He reached into a pouch on his belt, pulled out more white cloth, and vigorously started to wrap it around his hand. Slowly but surely, the white cloth began to turn red again; however, it did not drip. While his hand ceased to bleed, he reached for another pouch on his belt and pulled out some green herbs. He packed the herbs into his pipe and used the torch standing in the snow to light it. He pulled down his face mask and sucked in the fumes. He held his breath for a couple of seconds before coughing uncontrollably. Completely ruining the image of a stoic man meditating atop the hill. Kenichi wasn’t much of a smoker; he found it made him sluggish and slow, but the holy men insisted on him smoking to dull the pain. He would usually ignore this advice, especially since the King was on the road and needed protection. However, with the state of his hand, Kenichi wouldn’t be able to protect anybody. Might as well not be in pain, he figured. Kenichi was worried that since his hand had been mangled, he would lose his position as Captian. What kind of King would have a Captian that couldn’t fight, let alone protect? Kenichi sat on that hill, trying to meditate.

“Captain?” A soft voice came from beside him. Kenichi opened his eyes and glanced up to see Yumi. The Princess’s handmaiden. She was dressed in a white coat with brown fur around the cuffs. Her hair was tied up in a rather plain bun. That is when Kenichi looked into Yumi’s eyes and saw that they were red and irritated, she’s been crying.

“Yumi?” Kenichi shot up, startling Yumi. “Are you alright?” He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders. Yumi’s bottom lip started to tremble, and Kenichi could see the tears begin to well up in her eyes. “Was it.. was it one of the men? I swear to that fucking dragon god ill rip off-” Kenichi started reaching down for his Katana, but Yumi stopped him before he could pick it up.

“No, Kenichi, it’s not that; it’s...” Yumi struggled to blink the tears away. “It’s the Princess. She’s not in her tent.”

Kenichi stood there for a second, his mind moving a million miles a minute. He knew the answer before he even asked it. “Has she been seen in the camp?”

Yumi shook her head, “The other girls and I couldn’t find her anywhere, but I wanted to come to you before we worried, his Majesty.”

“It’s good you did that, yes, very good.”

There was a pause before Yumi began again, “Ever since the Forryma attack, I haven’t been able to find you in camp.” Her white jacket had a patch of pink from where he had held her previously. She reached out to grab his shoulder gently.

Kenichi looked at Yumi, and all he could feel was the throbbing of his hand. He took another huff of his pipe before dumping the remainder and gathering his things. “Come, we must find the Princess.”

Yumi took Kenichi to the Princess’s tent. After a quick investigation, it was clear that she awoke, had a bit of breakfast, and dawned her coat. A warm fire blazed in the middle of the tent. The flame flickered and reflected light from the mirrors that decorated the room. Yumi and the other two handmaidens stood at the end of the Princess’s bed, which had multiple layers of furs and blankets. All three women wore the same hair and gazed down at the floor, too ashamed to look up. The handmaiden farthest from Kenichi was weeping quietly, trying not to draw attention from outside.

After investigating the area further and determining that she had abandoned the tent, Kenichi turned to the three handmaidens and asked, “Who was with her last?”

At this question, the weeping woman immediately burst into tears. Yumi and the other handmaiden went to her and tried to comfort her, trying to keep her quiet. The woman started to hyperventilate, unable to catch her breath. Tears were rolling down her face, and the other two women tried their best to calm her down, but she was getting louder despite their efforts. With one hand on his Katana, Kenichi walked with conviction to the woman; he cleared the other handmaidens out of his way and grabbed the one crying. Kenichi tried to get her to look at him, but her head was like a rag doll. With his resting hand on his Katana, he took a step back and backhanded her across the face. Yumi and the other Handmaiden covered their mouths with shock. The room was silent. The previously crying woman slowly turned to face Kenichi for the first time. She sniffed and whipped the snot from her face. A red line on her cheek opened up, and a small trail of blood began to leak from it. Kenichi looked down at his hand and saw that he must have cut her with his gauntlet.

Slowly, with the same hand, he reached up to try and whip away the blood, “I- I - sorry.” Kenichi started to stammer.

Before he could wipe away the blood, the handmaiden intercepted his hand. She dragged it down to her chest, where she cupped it in both hands and looked up at him, directly into his eyes. “I was with her this morning. I - I arose the Princess and got her dressed; we had breakfast together, and while I was cleaning, I turned away for only a second, and she was gone! I thought she was hiding from me, like playing hide and seek. We play that sometimes.” She half chuckles, thinking back on better times. “But It wasn’t until I noticed that her coat was gone that I really started to worry. I threw mine on as well and immediately left the tent. At first, it was easy to see where she wandered off to. The fresh snowfall did little to hide her trail. However, she was making her way to the soldier’s section of the camp. I couldn’t follow her trail; I lost it in the soldier’s footprints. I asked a couple of the men if they saw her, pretending that we were only playing, but none saw her. Except for maybe one man who said, It would be against the rules to rat her out. I begged him to tell me, but he refused. He said he’d only do it if I were to..” She stopped and darted her eyes at the other women before looking back at Kenichi. She quickly glanced below his belt and then back up to him.

“Do what?” asked Kenichi. She looked him in the eyes again and sniffled. Her eyes darted below his belt again, staring at the bulge in his pants, then looked back at Kenichi, hoping he knew what she was trying to say. After a couple of seconds of silence, Kenichi understood the man’s request. “For all that is holy.” Kenichi cursed under his breath.

“But that is when I gathered the others! And Yumi thought it was best to tell you.” She glanced over to Yumi, who smiled half-heartedly.

“What did this man look like?” Kenichi asked with urgency.

“He looked like a barbarian,” she said with disgust. “He wore rags and fur and had this awful beard.”

In most situations, you’d need a more descriptive accounting; however, in this case, Kenichi knew precisely who she was talking about. “Thank you. I will find this man.” Kenichi took his hand back, bowed to the handmaiden, and quickly turned away. He made his way to the exit of the tent. Yumi broke off from the group and caught up to Kenichi in the doorway.

“Kenichi!” Yumi grabbed onto his shoulder, turning him to face her. She grazed her hand down his arm and held his hand. “Kenichi?” she spoke softly. “Don’t you touch my girls like that again!” And slapped it away. Kenichi took a step back in surprise. Yumi recomposed herself and gave Kenichi a genuine smile before turning away and re-grouping with her handmaidens.

Kenichi stood there stunned momentarily, thinking about what had just happened. How was he supposed to take that? Shaking his head, he stepped out of the tent and, under his breath, mumbled, “Women.”

Kenichi walked with conviction. He knew exactly where he was going. The man Kenichi was looking for was called Bjørn the hunter. He was a foreigner to the country; however, he was a well-known traveler and knew the surrounding area well. It was the reason he was hired on this expedition in the first place. And If he knows anything about Princess, Kenichi will find out. The camp was all hustle and bustle, but Kenichi maneuvered through quickly. The men parted for him and stood at attention until he passed. He made his way to the outskirts of the camp and quickly found Bjørn’s tent. It was the only tent that wasn’t constructed traditionally. Bjørn’s tent looked more like a big round hut covered in furs and hides. Smoke leaked through openings on top, implying that he was indeed inside. He reached the front of the tent and met Bjørn’s beast. A large black dog was chained to the outside of the tent, and when it saw Kenichi approaching, it sat on its haunches, ears alert. The dog had thick black fur that almost formed in clumps; snow would often get stuck between his coat. Kenichi could make out a low growl coming from the dog. It dropped the bone it was chewing on. Kenichi squatted down and looked into the dog’s eyes, even though its fur seemed to cover them. He reached out his hand, offering it for him to sniff. He did, at which point his tail started to thump on the ground, and he jumped up and started to bark. Kenichi smiled and allowed the dog to come up to him. He scratched him behind the ears, and the dog eventually went back to chewing on his bone. Closer to the front now, Kenichi could make out some noise from inside. Bjørn wasn’t alone.

“Bjørn!” yelled Kenichi. The dog looked back at him, curious as to why he was so loud. But once he determined Kenichi wasn’t talking to him, he went back to chewing his bone. The noises from inside stopped. “Bjørn! I know you’re in there. I can hear you!” Silence. Kenichi stood out in the cold longer than he would care to admit. Eventually, the same noises from before started up again. Kenichi liked to think of himself as a patient man, but even patient men lose patients, and without any warning, Kenichi bragged into Bjørn's tent.

It took a second for Kenichi’s eyes to adjust to the dimness of the hut. His nose was immediately hit with a somewhat musky and stale smell, and his ears with multiple screams. The first thing Kenichi could make out was the fire pit in the center of the room, and the more his eyes adjusted to the low light situation, the less he wished he saw. A large man with long brown hair and an equally long beard was behind a woman who was on all fours. Her hair was being pulled. Another woman was sitting on top of her kissing the man, her back towards Kenichi. Bjørn stopped kissing the woman, looked around her, and looked directly at Kenichi. Bjørn started to go red in the face, but it wasn’t from embarrassment. He had a nasty scowl on his face that was only accentuated by the scars.

“Who the fuck are you!? Did I invite you into my fucking tent!?” He threw both of the women off to the side and stood up. He towered over Kenichi, about an entire foot's worth. Kenichi stood his ground while this huge erect naked man approached him, face so red it would burn to the touch. “Well? What do you say, little man?”

Kenichi looked around the man to see the two Geishas scramble together and get under furs scattered about the room. He looked back at Bjørn, having to look up, which he didn’t like doing. “If you don’t step back right now, I will cut IT off.”

Bjørn stared daggers into Kenichi until a smile broke on his face. Bjørn stuck out his finger and tapped it on Kenichi’s chest. “I like you.” Bjørn turned around and reached for a garment of clothing on the floor. Kenichi looked away with disgust as Bjorn went to bend over, already seeing much more than he wanted to. “Who are you? and more importantly, why the fuck did you barge into my tent?” Bjørn draped the deep navy blue cloak over his body and made himself comfortable between the two Geishas, putting his arms around them.

“Kenichi, Captain of the Royal Guard.” He bowed slightly out of habit. Kenichi regretted it immediately; this man didn’t deserve his respect and was ashamed that he showed any. Surprisingly Bjørn, with a stoic face, also bowed back, only his head, but it was more than most foreigners would do. “We must talk.” Kenichi eyed the geishas wrapped up in Bjørn's arms. “Privately.”

“Is this about that woman?” Bjørn asked. Kenichi nodded his head. “Shit.” Bjørn rubbed his beard and made his way to standing. “You two stay here. Keep the place warm for when I get back.” He winked at the geishas, who giggled. Bjørn put on trousers and his fur boots. “Ale?” He asked Kenichi, who shook his head and went back outside. “More for me then,” Bjørn smirked while swashing back some.

As soon as Bjørn made it outside, he was assaulted by Kenichi. He grabbed Bjørn's jacket. “Why didn’t you tell the handmaiden where the Princess ran off to!” Kenichi was trying not to yell and draw the attention of the camp.

“Hold off!” shouted Bjørn pushing Kenichi off of him. “They were playing a game. I didn’t think she was actually missing. That is until you barged into my tent demanding to talk to me privately. That's when I thought, why would the Captain of the King's Guard wanna talk to little old me? Then I thought back to that woman playing hide and seek with the Princess. She said she was just playing a game. I should've known she was lying.” Bjørn let out a slight chuckle before taking another swig of ale.

“This is no laughing matter!” Kenichi was starting to lose his patience. “The Princess is missing; you must tell me where she is!” Kenichi was trying extremely hard to keep his voice down. Bjørn noticed this and glanced around him, looking at the soldiers walking about and the ones sitting at the fires. There was no urgency.

“You haven’t told anyone yet, have you?” Bjørn stated. Kenichi was shocked that this barbarian was able to come to that conclusion. Guilt rushed over Kenichi. He knew he should have every man and woman hunting down the Princess. “You're telling me this is no laughing matter, yet you haven’t established a search party or anything! This is exactly a laughing matter!” He cackled and tried to take a sip of ale. However, he choked on his laughter, and most of it ended up on the ground.

“Listen,” Kenichi said and started to move closer to Bjørn. “Last time the emperor’s daughter went missing her handmaidens….” Kenichi hesitated on what to say next, and his voice dropped into hushed tones. “Let’s just say the ones that didn’t come back are no longer in the Princess' service.” Kenichi looked up at Bjørn, hoping he knew what he meant.

Bjørn locked eyes with him and sighed, “Fucking emperors.”

“King.” Corrected Kenichi.

“Same fucking thing.” Bjørn thrusted his ale flask into Kenichi’s chest. “Hold this. I’m grabbing my bow and axe.” He turned back into his tent, leaving Kenichi outside. Kenichi investigated the flask he was now holding and unscrewed the top. Without thinking much, he took a swig of the concoction. And within seconds of it hitting his tongue, Kenichi immediately spits it out. From within the tent, he hears Bjørn howling with laughter.

Bjorn led the injured Captain of the King's guard through the bamboo forest. He would stop at the bamboo, examine the leaves and gashes left behind, crouch down in the snow, and investigate the prints. The little Princess left a pretty easy trail for the two men to follow, thanks to the help of the light snowfall. Kenichi figured the snow was good for something after all.

After about an hour, the two men came to a clearing with a cave opening in the mountain. The wind blew, creating a menacing sound from the cave. This place didn’t look right to Kenichi; it had a dark aura about it. The clearing was obviously man-made, and a stone statue stood in the middle. It stood like a table with a flat top that eventually shot into a figure. A Dragon. It sported scales, a powerful jaw with rows of teeth and wings spanned out wide. It looked like something right out of a children’s storybook. Bjørn was not amused by the statue. “Shit,” Bjørn mumbled under his breath.

Kenichi looked at him, confused, “What?”

Bjørn sighed, “Look; if she went into that cave, I doubt we’ll get your Princess back.”

“What? Explain yourself!” Kenichi demanded.

Bjørn sighed again, laid his bow on the offering table, and leaned against it. “In these parts, some religious folk believe that dragons created the world. One dragon in particular.” Bjørn motioned his head to the dragon statue. “They created holidays and a whole bunch of other shit. Honestly, it’s just a bunch of stories. However, Dragons still exist. They haven’t been hunted down to extinction just yet.”

“Hunting down a creature to its very last is cruel.” Kenichi narrowed his eyes at Bjørn and placed his hand on his Katana.

Bjørn ignored Kenichi, “Say whatever you want, but if a two-ton monster comes hurling towards your town with no warning, good luck trying to save people. Dragons are machines of war, and innocent people suffer the consequences.” Bjørn dropped his head and looked into the snow.

“We don’t have time to debate. We must find the Princess. Her tracks lead into the cave.”

“Right.” Said Bjørn, shaking his head, trying to remove a bad memory. “We just need to be careful. Look around you for a moment.”

Kenichi stopped where he was, and half turned around the clearing. “What? I don’t see anything.”

“Gods, you're thick,” Bjørn mumbled while he made his way to Kenichi. Bjørn squatted down and stuck his hand into a snow pile. He pulled up to reveal a rib cage of some sort of half-eaten animal. The bones still had chunks of meat frozen on it. “There might not be a dragon, but there is something in there. My bet is a Wyrm.” Kenichi looked at him, a bit confused. “Almost like a baby dragon but not quite as big. My guess is that the town near hear worships this creature. Pretty evident due to the offering table, but there is even reason to suggest that they gift this thing livestock like cows and ox. You can see stakes and ropes in the ground here.” Bjørn points off into the distance where there is, in fact, a stake tied to a rope and a snow pile close by. Bjørn returned to standing and readied his bow. “We should really get more men for this.”

“If what you say is true, then time is of the essence.” Kenichi drew his Katana, gripped it in his damaged hand, and marched toward the cave opening.

Bjørn let out a chuckle and followed shortly behind.

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I wasn’t quite asleep yet when I heard the sound again. Footsteps echoed down my cave. It sounded like multiple at first; however, only one man entered. This man was dressed in finally ornate armor, onyx. Hmm, it would be excellent for my collection. Oh, what’s this? He brought a sword, oh but not any sword, a katana. Interesting. He is now yelling at me, waving those little arms around. How adorable, almost as cute as the thing I ate. I raise my massive claw and bring it down. Usually, that is enough to make my problems go away.

Oh, doesn’t look like he is leaving. No, he is starting at my claw. No, not my claw but the cloth of the little girl. The fabric that got stuck in my teeth. Perhaps he wants it back? I hand him the material, and he yanks it away. Ungrateful cur. The heat rises in me. I smell the brimstone, and the sides of my mouth curl up. I haven’t done this in a while. I breathe out my fire, melting the ice that gets hit immediately. Somehow the little thing was able to get out of the way. No matter. I may eat him, too, and keep the armor for my collection. The little man starts to yell, he tries to take a swipe at me with his puny little sword, but it doesn’t pierce my scales, silly little man. I take my claw and pin him to the wall cracking the cave around us. He is pinned and is still yelling, breathing heavily. The arm that is holding the sword drops. The sides of my mouth curl up again. I smell the brimstone in my nose, and just before I unleash my flame, I hear a clink. And an arrow falls to the floor. I look up from where it fell. A colossal icicle hangs from the ceiling. Another arrow hits it, clinks, and falls to the floor.

I let go of the man pinned to the wall. He slumps over. No doubt every bone in his body is broken; no need to worry about him. I find where the arrows are coming from. A disgusting hairy thing was hiding in the shadows. I knew I had heard multiple people. I see the vile creature knock another arrow and release. It also hits the icicle and makes its little clink noise. However, almost immediately afterward, an explosion goes off. I reel in the blast and look up from where the explosion came from. A Magic Arrow! That disgusting thing carried something so valuable!? The giant icicle pierced through the smoke, coming right for me. I felt it penetrate my skull, and then…