BEYOND

Beyond: Borders (PART I)

So painful… it hurts so much… I can’t take it anymore… somebody… anybody… please!

“HELP!”

Tamashi opened her eyes instantly after hearing a cry.

“Help. That is the one thing people have trouble asking…”

Tamashi looked around and realized that she fell asleep in her class. Or to be accurate, she was pulled in her sub-consciousness by an unknown force.

Again…? She thought to herself.

It’s almost been three months since she returned to her world after accidentally entering Luciel’s dimension. For almost three months she’s been trying to figure out if what she experienced was actually real or just an illusion or a dream.

She turned her head to the window and stared at the blue sky where birds flapped their wings freely.

“Angels…huh?” she mumbled.

I wonder… I wonder… if that world is real… I wonder how Luciel is doing. She thought.

“Tammy, you seem to be out of it again?” her friend Gina asked.

“What? I mean, I’m fine. Just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night” she said and smiled.

Classes were over as three were walking home together, as always.

“Bet it was because you got hooked on Travelers! Men that game is awesome!” Ray cried in excitement. “I can’t wait to get home and get started on the new quest!”

“Don’t lumped yourself with Tammy, Ray. And need I remind you, we have a big test tomorrow. So stop goofing around and crack open a book for once”

“What?! No! This quest is supposed to have a big reward! It’s gonna be an awesome armor! I need that armor Gina! My life depends on it!” he said with his eyes screaming with determination.

“Fine. Fine. But don’t go crying to me tomorrow morning for a cram session”

Tamashi laughed as she watched her two closest friends argue like they always do. She then heard a bird chirped that made her look up. She followed the big brown bird fly to a nearby tree on the streets. An image of Luciel soaring up in the sky, flapping his giant wings of ash black and snow white. She saw his earnest smile as he dived to the wide open skies as the soft orange ray of the sun touched his fair skin. And for some reason, Tamashi’s worries were cleared. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew this scenery was real and that Luciel was doing just fine. He was happy and free. She smiled and continued walking that got her friends’ attention.

“Hey, Tammy! Wait up” Gina caught up with Tamashi and Ray lagging behind.

“Don’t leave me behind! Or else I’ll use my secret weapon on you!” Ray threatened jokingly.

“You have no secrets. And more so, you have no weapons, you big scaredy-cat” Gina teased.

As soon as Tamashi got home, she jumped on her bed, her pillow catching her face. She smiled, relieved she was finally back on her bed.

I can’t wait for summer vacation. She thought. I’m sure Gina would suggest another outing at the beach. But I hope not. I just want to sleep.

“…it hurts… it hurts so much...”

“What?” Tamashi immediately got up after hearing a soft cry.

“…please… stop…”

“Who is… is it another one?” Tamashi looked around her room but nothing was out of the ordinary.

“… no!... please!”

She can hear the cries getting louder and louder. She got on her feet as she kept on looking around. And then she started hearing soft clicking noise and high pitch sounds that made her even more confuse and agitated.

“AHHHH!”

Tamashi was alarmed and she followed the screams coming from outside her door. She quickly opened it but as soon as she took a step out of her room, she was falling down a pitch black hole. She screamed as loud as she could and shut her eyes tight. She was falling down a long time but it felt like an instant to her.

She regained consciousness and was awakened by a loud explosion. When she opened her eyes, what she saw was something she couldn’t believe. She was outside and there were falling embers from a gray sky. She sat up, and that’s when she realized, she was in the middle of a war zone.

Left and right, she saw lifeless bodies of men in armors. There were some whose arms or legs were detached from their bodies. The grounds were covered with pools of blood. There were giant holes all the around the place.

“W-Where…?” she mumbled very softly as she was having a hard time finding her voice after seeing such a horrific sight.

And then she heard that same high pitch sound coming from the right side and soaring to the sky as it head to the opposite direction. Her eyes widen when she saw a primitive missile flying to the other direction. She hurriedly got up and ran as far as possible. She found a man-made hole and jumped in. Just in time to cover herself from the blast. A strong wind blew dust and debris towards both sides. Tamashi covered her head and eyes as she leaned on a wall. The explosion was so loud that it almost left her deaf.

When she opened her eyes, she saw torn clothing and helmets that were blown in the hole. She coughed after inhaling the smoke that was still in the air.

“Did I went back in time now?” she asked herself.

The sun went down and so did the attacks. It seemed like a cease fire.

Tamashi took this opportunity to get up and get out of the hole. It took quite a bit of effort to jump up and pull herself out of it. She patted herself to get the dirt off but it wasn’t enough and her clothes were still covered with so much dust.

She took another look of the place with her eyes carefully scanning her whole surrounding. Her eyes twitched when she saw a huge fortress at her right side. Like the Great Wall of China, this was big enough to be seen from afar. There were several giant lit up torches on top of it to light its surroundings. However, on the opposite sight, one would think it was defenseless because its walls weren’t as big or strong. Since Tamashi was further from the left side, she couldn’t be certain but she did see small embers similar to the other side. Indicating that there was a fortress. From what it shined on, it seemed to be a wall made of wood cut down from the surrounding trees.

Tamashi looked from left to right thinking very carefully where to go. Not sure which side were friendly, she decided to go south, towards the woods. As she was walking, she kept looking at the ground where there were bodies. Her eyes twitched when she realized that some of them were well armed and protected but there were others who only had thick clothing to use as armors and hand crafted spears as weapons.

She picked up one of the spears and looked at the tip. She was no expert when it comes to handmade things and considering it was very dark with no moon to serve as light, but from what she saw, even the arrows were man-made. She looked behind her where a body from the other side was lying. The soldier still had his sword tightly grasped in his hand. She pulled it out and looked at its blade. It was well made. Sharp and smooth. The soldier was protected with metal armor like the one she saw in history books from the medieval age. Or from pictures from the stories of Nanria or King Arthur.

“It seems so one-sided” she said looking at both men.

She took another look at the sword and decided to bring it with her. She grabbed the sheath and slid the sword inside to not accidentally cut herself.

Continuing her walk, she headed into the forest. Seeing it so dark, Tamashi felt a bit of regret.

“Maybe I should have listened to Ray and played those games…” she said to herself.

No clue as to what to do or how to even start a fire, she felt frightened. She looked up and the sky was covered by huge trees. A cold wind blew that made her shiver. She wasn’t dressed for this kind of weather. Tamashi was wearing shorts made of jeans, short sleeve loose t-shirt and plain white socks that were now covered with dirt and blood. She rubbed her arms to warm herself a bit.

After walking for several more minutes, she felt tired and found a log she could sit on for a while. She carefully placed the sword beside her feet and sat there sighing heavily.

“This is a disaster and hopeless” she said finding it helpful to talk to herself in this quiet forest. “How am I supposed to get home? I don’t even know where I am. Was I sent to another world or sent back in time? And how was I sent here? I didn’t fall from a cliff like last time. And the last time I checked, there was no hole out in our hallway” she cried. “I can’t even ask for help and I can’t tell whose trust worthy in this battlefield. I guess things can’t really happen the same way twice”

Tamashi thought about the last time this happened. Last time she was lucky enough to be found by the gentle and kind Luciel after falling from the sky. And fortunate that the one who cried for help was the one who found her.

“Wait, who called for me this time?” she thought after remembering the voice she heard.

Tamashi sighed and slid down to the ground and leaned back on the log. Her chest felt tighter from fear and loneliness. She hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms. Not realizing it, she fell asleep.

Tamashi was awakened by a sound coming from behind the trees. She looked up and felt a shiver. Quickly, she picked up the sword and unsheathed it.

“W-Who’s there?” she asked while her tremble.

From the darkness, a hungry wolf emerged. It growled while baring its teeth and saliva dripped to the ground. Tamashi gulped and stepped backwards. She felt the log on her feet that made her glanced behind her for a second. As soon as she did, the wolf jumped towards her. In an instant, Tamashi was about to swing the sword only to witness the wolf whimper after being shot by an arrow coming from behind Tamashi.

The wolf fell to her feet and Tamashi unconsciously sat on the log, feeling her legs shake from fear. And then, a young man appeared from behind her. He quickly knelt in front of the lifeless wolf then took out a knife, slitting the belly of the wolf. As if a reflex, Tamashi looked away and covered her mouth.

“Hey you,” a calm yet bossy voice called out to Tamashi. “what are you doing out here?”

Tamashi thought twice about answering him or even looking at his direction but when she saw his feet from her peripheral vision, she decided to answer him.

“U-Um… I was just…” she thought hard about whether or not to tell him the truth while her eyes wander, as if she would be able to find the answer around her.

The young man held her chin and made her look at him. Their eyes locked and Tamashi felt her face redden after seeing such deep green eyes staring intently at her.

“You don’t seem to be from around here” he said as he got his face closer to her.

It took her a second but she came to and shove his face away from her that made her fall to the ground, hurting her bottom a bit.

“Aww…” she cried softly.

“That’s what you get for pushing me” he said.

Tamashi looked up to him and as the moon’s light pierced through the leaves, she saw a tall guy with messy copper hair dressed in white long sleeves shirt where the top two were unbuttoned, gray tattered pants and was standing on bare feet. His clothes were loose. His skin was warm beige and he had strong jaw. Looking at him, he seemed skinny and yet a bit muscular.

Tamashi analyzing his features were interrupted when he glanced at the sword beside her that made his eyebrows meet. He angrily pulled an arrow out of his quiver and loaded it on his bow, targeting Tamashi.

“W-Wait, wait! What are you doing?!” she yelled in terror.

“Are you a spy!?” he asked. “Who sent you?! Was it Prince Irvi? The king?! Answer me!” he came closer to Tamashi who instinctively raised her hands and crawled backward.

“Y-You got it all wrong! N-No one sent me! I swear! I don’t even know who this Irvi is!” she defended.

“Then where did you get that sword?” he asked so coldly.

“I found it, okay! At the battlefield! I picked it up to defend myself out here! That’s all!”

He looked keenly at Tamashi’s face before lowering his weapon and returning the arrow in his quiver. This made her breathe deeply from relief.

“Then tell me why you’re out here”

Tamashi thought about telling him the truth, but from how he acted early, she hesitated.

“Actually, I don’t remember. I woke up and I was in the middle of the battlefield. I ran towards the woods to get away from all the fighting. I don’t even know where I am”

He looked at her face again, trying to figure out if she was lying. But from Tamashi’s terrified look, he believed her words. Despite the fact it was only half the truth.

“From how you were helpless earlier, I take it you don’t know how to use that sword” he said and grabbed it and returned it to its sheath. “Come with me”

Tamashi watched as he hang his bow on his back, mouthed the dead wolf over his shoulder and the sword in his hand. Afterwards, he began walking north.

This guy… is the opposite of Luciel. She concluded in her mind.

But given the circumstances, she had no choice but to follow him who knows where.

They walked for about two hours before they got out of the forest. The sun was already rising and Tamashi was out of breath with her feet aching.

“Keep up girl” he said and she saw a gate made of thick wood.

The tips were sharpened and at the top, there were archers guarding the entrance. They saw her and aimed their arrows at her.

“Halt! One more step and we’ll fire!” two of them said.

“Lower your weapons! She’s with me”

“Hal! You’re back!” one of them said. “Open the gates!” he yelled to the others.

The two door wooden gates opened as four men from both sides pushed them. Hal walked inside with Tamashi closely following him. She looked around and saw a village with huts. People dressed similar to Hal were looking at them. Seeing their clothing reminded Tamashi of the medieval times. Men a bit older than them all had weapons, women and the elderly had either a big basket made from hay carried on their backs filled with vegetables or a bucket of water in their hands. Children dressed with thin layers of dirty clothing were hiding behind houses or inside them.

Seeing them, she knows this is the place she saw on the left side of the battlefield.

I knew it… it’s a one-sided battle. She thought to herself.

“Aw!” she cried and tripped.

Hal stopped walking and glanced at Tamashi who was turned her body and sat up. She looked at her feet and saw her socks were filled with holes. After walking for hours, she wasn’t so surprised. Her right feet had a giant hole at her heel and was now wounded.

The archer who called out to Hal earlier ran to him and whispered.

“Hey Hal, who is this girl? Her clothes are so revealing and weird” he said as he eyed Tamashi’s legs.

“I didn’t catch her name” he unmouthed the wolf and tossed it to the archer. “Clean this. Give the wool to the children at the med bay. The same with the meat”

“S-Sure…” he answer.

The archer watched as Hal approached Tamashi and without her consent, carried her in his arms while still wearing the sword.

“H-Hey! What are you doing?!” Tamashi said in embarrassment.

Hal didn’t answer and just continued walking. Everyone was watching them head to his hut. All their faces where filled with questions.

As soon as they got inside Hal’s hut, he gently put Tamashi down on a rug made of wolf’s fur. It was Hal’s bed which was so soft on Tamashi’s skin. She watched as he poured water on a wooden bowl from a barrel then grabbed a white cloth. He sat in front of Tamashi with his legs crossed.

“Show me your feet” he said softly.

Tamashi didn’t argue and did as she was told.

Hal slowly removed her socks and checked her wound. He soaked the cloth in the bowl of water, squeezed the water out then cleaned her wound quietly. Tamashi’s eyes twitched a bit from the baring pain. She looked at Hal’s face closely. She saw a few strands of his hair fall to his eyes. Seeing him like that, reminded her of Luciel when he was quietly watching the city from the cliff. Such familiar eyes.

She looked away when Hal caught her staring. Pretending not to be embarrassed, she just let her eyes wander around the place.

Hal’s house was simple and small. His bed was the end of the hut. There was one window at the left and at the opposite side, was a fireplace made out of stones carefully built to keep the fire tame, which was the only other source of light. The barrel of water was underneath the window and beside that was a wooden table filled with a sack of apples. Two other wooden bowls stacked together, wooden spoons on the bowls, and satchel made out of wool. There was another barrel beside the door, which was basically a brown cloth, where Hal unloaded the weapons he was carrying. Beside the fireplace were neatly stacked woods for burning. Next to it was an old trunk.

Hal was already through cleaning Tamashi’s wound and wrapped a bandage around it when she was done inspecting the hut.

“Umm… thanks” she said.

Hal didn’t reply and just threw the water out the window then placed the bowl on the table. He walked to the trunk and opened it, pulling out a robe. He threw it at Tamashi who barely caught it.

“Put it on. You might freeze to death in those clothes” he said then went outside.

“Definitely nothing like Luciel” she mumbled to herself and wrapped the robe around her shoulders.

Outside, Hal went to the gates where he was ambushed by the guards who were so eager to ask him about Tamashi.

“Hal, who was that girl?” the archer from earlier asked, named Forrest.

“Yeah. Is she your lover? Is that why you keep leaving in the middle of the night?” another guard, Gil, with a spear on his hand asked.

“I didn’t think you had it in you Hal” another archer, Jedd, jest.

“Quit messing around. I just found her after surveilling the area” Hal answer, nonchalant.

“You’re no fun Hal” Forrest said.

Forrest was the same age as Hal, an inch shorter, charcoal hair, black colored eyes and was wearing the same clothes as Hal except his shirt was brown and he had a vest made from dark brown wool over his and his pants were tucked in his wool brown boots. He was skinnier than Hal and not as muscular. He had a playful attitude and always likes to joke around. His voice was very cheery and earnest.

Gil was already in his thirties and had a black beard and wore the same clothes as Forrest. He was very muscular and looked dependable. His voice was deep and a bit rough.

Jedd was two years younger than Gill, he was very fit, not as muscular as Gil but was in better shape than Hal. He had coffee brown hair that could reached his shoulders if it weren’t tied up. Almost the same height as Gil and had a calm and warm voice that matched his personality.

“But seriously Hal, where’d she came from? And what’s with her clothing?” Gil asked.

“No idea”

Hal’s answer made Gil hold his chin while deep in thought.

“Well, in any case, I think it was very gallant of you to come to her aid” Jedd said as he tap Hal’s shoulder.

“Yeah. Especially since its Hal we’re talking about here” Forrest joked that made everyone who was listening laugh with him.

Tamashi was sitting on the wolf rug while hugging her knees when she felt her tummy grumble.

Oh right. I haven’t ate anything since coming home from school yesterday. She thought.

Tamashi got up and when she felt her foot sting from the wound, she hopped with one foot towards the exit. Outside she saw all the village people doing their morning routine. Mothers cleaning the front of their houses, the men doing heavy labor white the children were playing together. But what caught Tamashi’s attention was a cottage where women in while clothing were frantically coming in and out. When another one exited, she noticed that her clothing was covered with blood stains.

That’s when she remembered. They’re in a middle of a war.

She looked around the village once more and noticed some houses where in ruins and other men were busy preparing weapons and explosives. At the very end near the giant gate, she saw Hal at the center of a group of armed men. Everyone was listening intently to what Hal was saying.

“They’re having a meeting”

Tamashi was alarmed when she heard a young woman’s voice. She turned around and saw a beautiful girl standing beside her. She had fair skin, long honey blond hair with a ribbon at the tip, rosy cheeks, red lips and hazel eyes. Her voice was sweet and warm that almost melt Tamashi’s heart.

She was wearing a white long sleeve blouse, off shoulder, and a long reddish brown skirt like those she saw in renaissance fairs.

“Can you walk?” she asked with a gentle smile. “You know, you shouldn’t be walking barefooted. Here let me help you”

The beautiful woman grabbed Tamashi’s arm and put it around her shoulder as she led them in another hut near Hal’s. It took Tamashi by surprise but she just let herself be taken to another strangers’ house. When they got inside, it looked the same as Hal’s except it was smaller and had more plants that liven up the place.

The girl helped Tamashi take a seat on a wooden chair before going through her trunk.

“Here. Use these” she said as she laid down a pair of boots in front of Tamashi.

“Umm…. Thanks”

As Tamashi was slipping on the boots, the girl had a good look at the clothes Tamashi was wearing underneath the robe.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked that made Tamashi look up with a surprised face.

Before Tamashi could answer, the girl went through her trunk once more and this time brought out clothes. It was almost the same as the one she was wearing. Except this one had black skirt and a light blue corset that used laces to close.

“Ah, there’s no need for that. What I’m wearing is just fine” Tamashi answered, feeling embarrass to wear such clothes.

“Nonsense. You’ll freeze to death if you keep wearing that ridiculous outfit. Come on, let’s remove those clothing”

“What?!”

Tamashi was startled when the girl suddenly came closer to her and pulled the robe off.

It took a while before the girl successfully got Tamashi to change, leaving Tamashi ultimately embarrass. One because another human being saw her naked and two, the clothes were tight due to the corset.

“There. Perfect” the girl said joyously.

“Umm… I know this is too late for me to ask since you already saw me—“Tamashi coughed to stop herself from saying the next word. “But, what’s your name?”

“Oh. Pardon the late introductions. My name is Esme”

“Nice to meet you Esme, I’m Tamashi”

“Ta-Tama…shi?” she repeated in confusion.

“I know. Odd name” Tamashi said awkwardly smiling.

“It may be but it shows your uniqueness and that’s never a bad thing”

Their conversation was interrupted when Tamashi’s stomach called their attention. Esme saw Tamashi’s face lit bright red which made her laugh.

“Wait here. I’ll make you some food” Esme said as she started cooking over the fireplace.

Minutes past when Tamashi’s nose caught a delicious smell. Esme pour stew on a wooden bowl then laid it on the table in front of Tamashi.

“Eat up” she said and Tamashi didn’t hesitate to accept Esme’s cooking.

While Esme was enjoying watching Tamashi eat, they both heard the sound of a bell. Esme quickly got up and took Tamashi’s hand.

“We have to go” Esme said.

“W-What?”

Esme pulled Tamashi out of the hut and there Tamashi saw the whole village in chaos. Everyone was in a hurry to get out and were all heading to the same direction. The men all took weapons as those on top of the gate were starting to load a giant slingshot with bombs.

Esme led Tamashi to a safe house deep in the forest with the other citizens. There they could here loud explosions, men shouting and gunshots.

“We need to stay here” Esme said to Tamashi as they went inside a cave going underground.

Tamashi looked around and she saw the children crying in fear as their mothers hug them. The cave was dim, with only a few torches to give light. The ground shook every now and then.

The battle wage on for hours. It was already dark out when the firing stopped.

“Wait here” Esme said as she slowly went out to check.

A few seconds later she came back and signaled everyone that it was safe to come out.

When they got back to the village, Tamashi’s eyes dread. More houses were destroyed with some still burn. Men were lying on the ground dead. The children and wives rush to their family’s side. They cried for their fallen men and the women in white were in a hurry to aid those who were barely alive.

Tamashi looked up at the top of the gates and saw Hal looking out with his hands forming a fist. Her heart ache for everyone.

“Come with me” Esme said and took Tamashi by the shoulder.

They returned to Esme’s hut and the place was a mess. Esme picked up the things that fell and Tamashi helped her out.

“Is it always like this?” Tamashi asked.

“Yes. Every day we struggle to stay alive”

“Why are you at war?”

“It’s a long story. The war started hundreds of years ago”

“Hundreds of years?!” Tamashi asked in awe.

Esme walked to the fireplace and started the fire to warm them. As the flame danced, she began to tell the tale.

Approximately five hundred years ago, the world was made up of four great nations. Each were more advance in one field. The one located at the farthest north part were a religious island where everyone practiced a single faith. The one at the south were an agricultural island where every kind of vegetable or fruit could be found. The one at the east side were known for their metal work where they have developed the strongest metal yet. The ones at the west lived in the largest island and known to be the most powerful. They were advanced intellectually and are known to be scholars. Different they may be from each other, they all lived in harmony until one man decided to rise above.

From a small island located at the southwest where people were fishermen, a man with great ambition stood out. He was sick of the low life he was living and wanted to rule and become the most powerful man on earth. And he knew for that to happen, he had to conquer the land at the west side. But he was smart, he knew that wouldn’t be possible without an army and power.

So with ambition in one hand and greed on another, he travelled to the east side. With a single boat, he sailed for weeks until he finally reached the land where metal was their life. But this man was no fool. He knew a nation this great would not be easy to win over.

And with that, the man created a plan to take over the metal nation. A plan that took months, years to accomplish. The island was rule by a wise king who trusted in humanity. That’s why when the ambitious man plotted to take over the nation climbed his way up to the highest ranking, the right hand man of the king, the king made no assumptions of his intentions. The king saw a man who was determined to make a name for himself, so he gave him a chance. However, one night, the ambitious man set his plan in motion. Since the king was already at an age and required a tonic every night, the man poisoned him. When the king died, the man was then crowned the new king.

The ambitious man’s first goal was attained. His next quest was the land of the religious. A small yet prosperous island. With now an army, taking over this nation was no problem. With the strongest metal at hand, they created weapons that were no match with the men of faith. The north was conquered within a day.

However, their next mission proved difficult when the man craved the last of the west. The most powerful nation. The island where the scholars reside. Their walls were impenetrable and their technology were vast. They waged war that lasted for ten years but found no success. Finally, the intelligent got the best of them when the ambitious king himself led the army. With unknown technology, he was shot and fell ill. Unable to move, the attacks were put to a stop and after a week, the ambitious man died. But his dream remained.

His descendants continued his hopes and the battle continued. With each generation who fought, failed. But there was one who thought of something no one before him did. This happened eight years ago. When the new ruler was crowned, his first command was to send a spy to the land of the educated. The spy’s mission was to gather intelligence that could be used to destroy them. His second order was to capture the land of the south and there conduct research as to how to further develop the stolen technology. Seeing as this island was only agriculture, invading it would be easy. And since that day, continuous bombings and firings filled the land.

“That’s terrible” Tamashi commented after hearing the story. “All this is because one man wanted to rule the world?”

“Yes. But what’s worse is that they only attack for the sake of testing their new weapons and no one even bothered to open negotiations. That’s what Hal is most upset about. That’s why everyone is so desperate to take them down. They invade our land and treat us like target practice” Esme said with fury and sadness in her eyes.

Tamashi felt awful for them, however, seeing them all, she knew it was a battle they couldn’t win. The enemy has unlimited resource and knowledge that these people knew nothing about. Their army was far more experienced and greater in number. She couldn’t tell where they draw their strength from.

So how am I supposed to help them? She thought. If I was called here, there has to be something I could do. But what?

Tamashi excused herself and went outside. Her wound was already healing. Allowing her to walk without pain. She still couldn’t run though. She looked around the village and saw how everyone was lending a hand to gather the things that could be salvaged and opened their houses to those who had theirs go up in flames. Finally she reached the gate.

Who called me here? Was it Hal? Or Esme? How am I supposed to help in a war? She asked herself as she looked at the gate that was heavily damaged and was barely holding up.

“I see you can walk now”

Tamashi turned around and saw Hal standing behind her. His eyes were colder than when they first met. It was to be expected after what just happened.

“Hal…” Tamashi was at a loss for words.

Hal looked at Tamashi from head to toe that she noticed.

“Esme lend it to me” she said referring to her clothes then Hal just nodded.

“I’m going for a walk. Care to join me?” he asked which took Tamashi by surprised.

Before she could even answer, Hal already gestured the guards to open the gate then he started walking. She watched his back for a second before she followed him.

The two walked in the silence of the night. The cold wind kept blowing and the sounds of crickets and owls filled the air. Tamashi felt a bit uncomfortable as Hal was walking quietly in front of her. She watched his back and softly sighed. As the moon revealed itself, Hal looked up and the light gently shone upon his face. Tamashi’s eye widened seeing such a beautiful scenery. It was like a clip from a movie.

Hal noticed Tamashi staring and turned to her.

“What?” he asked.

Tamashi snapped out of it and looked away. “N-Nothing” she said. “I-I was just wondering what we’re doing out here? Isn’t it unsafe to be wandering around since there’s a war going on and all?”

“They don’t attack at night. At least, they haven’t attempted to. That’s why I use to this opportunity to hunt for food and gather as much information as I can”

“Information? How?”

“I’m looking for a way to get into their fortress but I’ve never been able to get near their territory. It’s heavily guarded”

The bitter look in Hal’s eye made her wonder.

“Hal, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“What do you think about this war?” Tamashi asked in a low voice.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you think you can win?”

“No” his quick answered surprised Tamashi that made her eyebrows meet. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop fighting. We can’t. I can’t”

“If you know you can’t win…why?”

“To live is to fight. If you can’t fight for what you believe in, then you are no better than those of the dead”

After saying that, Hal continued to walk, entering the darkness. With the intent to follow Hal, Tamashi took a step but was stopped after sensing an energy coming from the northeast side. As if being pulled by a mysterious force, she went towards that direction. When Hal turned around to check on Tamashi, she was already gone.

“Where…?”

Walking on her own, Tamashi found herself nearing the borders of the enemy’s territory. After seeing men with guns, she quickly hid behind a tree.

Crap. I walked this far? Maybe I should just turn around? But… I know this feelings. It’s the same feeling I have when I hear voices… I’m sure the person responsible for me being here is the one pulling me here. She told herself. But then again, it’s too dangerous for me to be walking around by myself…

Tamashi decided to go back but when she looked around, she realized she had no idea how to get back to the village.

“I-I’m dead…” she said softly.

Tamashi took another peek at the guards while feeling terrified. Silently, she started walking away as quickly as she can when she trip on a giant root. The guards were alerted and was heading to Tamashi’s location. Tamashi heard footsteps that made her heart rise in fear. She began to crawl for her life when on the other side, there was another sound of footsteps.

She could feel her hand getting colder, she started sweating, and her legs tremble. Her mind was in a daze. The night seemed lonelier and colder for her. Each step she heard was getting louder and louder and was approaching faster.

Why is this happening to me?! Of all the people?! Damn! Someone help me! She cried in her head.

She closed her eyes, shut tight, waiting for the worse to happen. When all seemed lost, she felt a hand grab her wrist.

“Oh ghad, please don’t kill me” she whimpered.

TO BE CONTINUED....