Episode 36 Assault: The First Clash of War

[3 Months Previously]

“You’re going down just like your comrade,” Zack hisses in Silver’s ear. She merely returns his hiss with a grotesque, yet defiant, silent glare.

Zack raises his Kage, and forms a devastatingly bright bow and arrow in his hands. He places the edge of the strung arrow on Silver’s back. “You’re gonna die here and now!”

Silver retains her silence, standing awkwardly still under the dominance of Zack. Finally, he loses patience with Silver and fires the arrow.

All at once, a rushing explosion of light engulfs the stone bridges connecting the three towers. A deafening roar of thunderous combustion follows, as the entire bridge shatters in one mere blow, and as the light disappears, the bridge completely collapses, sending Silver plummeting down into the air below.

Zack remains standing at the very edge of the now fragmented stone passageway, staring down at the wreckage below. Large portions of the bridge lie in the gap between the three towers, with Silver nowhere in sight. He smiles pleasurably to himself and walks away, clapping his hands complacently.

He fails to notice a thin, fibrous rope of poison clinging onto the stone bridge, tiny dots of poison trickling down the makeshift thread.

Silver pants heavily, her face covered with soot from the wreckage. The pain at her sides intensifies as she continues to hold helplessly onto the thread of poison. She closes her eyes in an attempt to prevent herself from looking down.

Then, opening her eyes once again in a determined resolution, Silver releases her remaining strength, using it to clamber up the rope. Finally, she reaches the top of the bridge again, hugging it as she reaches it, and laying on it for some moments.

Suddenly, the clamor of footsteps in the tower behind her rings in the air, drawing ever closer. Silver starts in surprise, pushing herself up, only to find that she cannot turn. She stares at the ruined bridges stretched out before her, and notes for the first time the wreckage below, where Arai’s body lays broken and beaten.

‘I must…get out of…h-here…’ Silver thinks to herself. ‘Kunai…Ryuu…the others a-are waiting…’ Silver slowly crawls forward, but collapses to the floor again almost instantaneously.

The footsteps suddenly stop, and Silver feels the silent presence of some silent sentinel behind her. She closes her eyes, having lost all the remaining physical strength in her body. ‘This is it…I’ve been caught…’

“Silver!” a familiar voice cries to her.

She opens her eyes, vaguely registering the noise of a crackling fire somewhere nearby. All of a sudden, like a dead weight, a single thought dawns on her. ‘I’m…alive…’ She then shuts her eyes again, the glare of the fire being too bright for her eyes.

Silver tries vainly to raise her arm, but finds it stiff and unmovable. She stirs and opens her eyes again, staring into the familiar ceilings of the stony, one-room homes in the slums of the Rift World.

“So you’re awake,” a male voice says. “I was getting pretty worried for a while there.”

Silver looks up, and finds a young, tousle-haired man standing before her. He is wearing the attire common to the peasants in the Rift World, yet there is a fiery gleam in his brown eyes, which match the wavy brown hair hovering smoothly over his forehead.

A small fire crackles in a hearth at the foot of the bed Silver is lying on, while a single wooden table and two wooden chairs completes the furnishings of the entire room. By the ramshackle door leans a Zard on its side, while a thin traveling cloak hangs on a peg above it.

Silver stares at the young man standing in front of her, smiling at her. “You’re…you’re…!” she cries, unable to point an awed finger at her savior.

“Experiencing some brain trauma, Silver? You were looking pretty beat up when I found you,” the man replies. “Anyways, if you’ve forgotten, the name’s Tide. Although…now I think about it, Tide is such a generic name. But that’s Rift folk for ya. All they know is names they find in nature.”

“Of course,” Silver replies, some vigor returning to her hoarse voice now, “how can I forget? You’re my childhood friend, not to mention a drunk, gambler, and philanderer as well!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Tide cries, “That’s no way to speak to the guy who just saved your pretty little butt up at that fancy castle-ma-thing! And what’s wrong with indulging in a little booze, a little gambling, and a little, er…manly needs every once in a while?”

Silver sighs, shaking her head impatiently. “You’re annoying,” she retorts dismissively. “Anyway, what was a lowly scoundrel like you doing in the Castle of Kyreim?”

“S’that what they call that place?” Tide replies. “All I know is that I heard you were leading a group of outsiders up into that big castle, and I came to make sure you were okay.”

“I was perfectly fine without your help, thank you,” Silver retorts stubbornly.

“Yeah,” Tide replies, laughing, “you were quite fine up there when I found ya, weren’t you? You were practically lying there in a heap of blood. I have to admit, that I was so scared you weren’t gonna make it when I found ya. But I got some of the townsfolk to help me treat you and now here you are, blasting me for throwin’ dice every once in a while.”

“Hmph,” Silver fumes. “I’ll bet when you die they’ll take you to the plains of Idavoll. But whatever. I could’ve been fine without your help, thank you very much! Besides, now I’ve been separated from my companions. They need me!”

“Whatever,” Tide replies, grabbing his traveling cloak and putting it on. He picks up his Zard as well, shouldering it as he places a hand on the doorknob of the only exit to the room. “I gotta go.”

“Wait!” Silver cries, surprised, “Where are you going?”

“I thought you didn’t need me, huh?” Tide replies, smiling slyly. “Anyway, your highness, I’ve gotta go chop up some wood for the fire. It’s getting colder and the logs ain’t gonna chop themselves.

“Help yourself to some cereal or whatever if you’re hungry. Oh wait, I ate all that the other day. Um…well, scrounge around, see what you can find. I’d show you Tide’s Potpourri of Mysterious Goodies, but I don’t think you’d find any delectable materials in there at the moment. Oh well, I think there’s some grains of rice lying around. Ciao!”

With that, Tide leaves, slamming the door shut behind him so as to shut out the wind. Silver watches the doorway for some time, before shaking her head and sighing wearily.

Meanwhile, Tide watches from outside through the partially closed curtains at the window as Silver draws out a book and begins reading. He shakes his head, smiling sheepishly. “That Silver, always got her nose stuck in a book. One day I’m gonna glue it to a page in a book that says ‘Silver is a big fart.’ That’ll teach her.”

“Anyway,” Silver finishes, “that’s pretty much what happened after we parted ways. Soon afterward I met with a few other people who were willing to revolt and we gathered as many people as we could who’d be willing to join in the uprising.”

Silver sits at the head of a wooden table surrounded by Ryuu, Ayame, Ivy, Lily, and Sasha. By her side stand several men, including Jirgen from earlier. Together, they are all gathered within the bounds of a fairly built courtyard, similarly constructed to the lush gardens of the now dilapidated Orbis.

“I see,” Ryuu replies in a low growl. “We were actually warned about your rebellion army while we were in the Underworld prior to coming here. If that’s the case, then we’ve been instructed to help you. How have things been so far?”

“So far things have been doing quite well,” Silver answers. “Though that is due largely to the absence of Lord Kimura from the Castle of Kyreim lately. Since he left, there hasn’t been much activity opposing us. However, he returned shortly before your group arrived, and we’ve been receiving trouble from them lately. Also, recently what appeared to be a gigantic Paradox broke the barrier into this world, and it’s been roaming about ever since. My heart beats with fear every time I hear about it; it seems to be causing mass destruction everywhere it goes.”

“Not only that,” Jirgen chips in, “but more and more Paradox sightings have been cropping up all over the country. Our eight stations that have been spaced about the area have been busy answering these emergency calls, and each time the Paradox only seems to be uglier and stronger than before.”

“There have also been numerous sightings of giant eggs laying about the Rift World,” Silver adds. “We aren’t sure what these are, but they seem to be Paradox eggs.”

“Damn it,” Ryuu curses, “it seems that Lilith has indeed been causing trouble after all.”

“Lilith?” Silver questions.

“Lilith is the legendary beast mentioned in myths. Up until very recently she has been sleeping in the Underworld, but these three guys called the Soul Eaters from the Night World have released her. She’s big trouble,” Ryuu answers.

“I see,” Silver replies. “Is there anything we can do about it?”

“I don’t know,” Ryuu replies, “the only thing we can probably do is somehow try to chase her back into the Underworld and seal her there again. But it won’t be easy.”

“I understand,” Silver answers, “she’s given us a lot of trouble already.”

“The other thing is that we also have to concentrate on our goal of defeating Lord Kimura’s wishes to take the Third Phoneme,” Ayame adds. “But to do that, we have to defeat Lord Kimura personally.”

“You’re the Third Phoneme Lord Kimura is seeking?” Silver asks, turning to Lily.

Lily starts, not expecting the question. “Um…y-yes…”

“Yeah,” Ayame answers for her, “Lily’s the Third Phoneme. She’d been hidden in the Night World, but we had to find her to protect her. She’s also Kunai’s sister, but that is unrelated.”

“Kunai?” Silver inquires. She looks about, her eyes roving around the people gathered before her. “Now that you mention it, where is he?”

“Kunai chose to stay behind in the Underworld,” Ryuu grunts. “He’ll be gone for five days, and then he should be coming back by then.”

“Very well,” Silver replies, “but at any rate, we must begin plotting our movements against Lord Kimura’s forces, and this Lilith you speak of.”

“Right,” Ryuu agrees. “Anyway, it seems that right now your forces are almost completely composed of villagers you’ve found in the slums. Am I correct?”

Silver nods, sighing heavily. “Unfortunately, yes. While they are all good men, we have found that they alone are not enough to take down even a Paradox, because, you see, there are not many here in the Rift World, much less the slums, that possess a job.”

“Yes,” Jirgen grunts, “unfortunately due to our lack of jobs we are reduced to bearing arms consisting of futile kitchen utensils and other tools not meant for battle.”

“So it seems each of your eight stations is a class-less guerilla, am I correct?” Ryuu responds. “That’s going to be trouble indeed, if they can’t fight very well…”

“Then what are we going to do?” Ayame wonders. “As things stand now, we aren’t in a good enough position to strike the Castle of Kyreim. But war’s breaking out even as we talk. Can your stations really stand against the powerful militia of Lord Kimura’s?”

“I don’t know,” Silver admits, “but most of the men and women I’ve appointed to captain positions with the stations do have jobs, and they are quite capable of fighting.”

“Most?” Ivy asks.

“I say ‘most’ because…” Silver replies, before trailing off as a man sprints into the courtyard, breathless as he waves a Zard high over his head.

“Tide!” Silver cries, leaping to her feet at the sight of the brown-haired man. “Where have you been? I instructed you to stay with your men at 4th Station, yet you ran off to God knows where!”

Tide bows to Silver as he arrives, the gesture losing most of its appeal due to the note of panic in his movements. He lowers his Zard, struggling to catch his breath. “Lady…Lady…Silver!” he gasps, clutching his side.

“Tide, what is wrong with you? Where have you been?” Silver inquires.

“I’m…sorry, Lady Silver,” Tide murmurs, having caught his breath at last. “But I was out playing some dice at The Slippery Snail in District 46 when I heard it. I know it’s a pretty dodgy place, especially for me, but the booze there is good. Anyway, while I was trying my luck at the cards there, I happened to overhear some of the Myougun’s plans!”

“What?” Silver cries, astonished. “How sure are you that the information you overheard was accurate?”

“I’m not sure,” Tide replies frantically, “but that’s part of the reason why I rushed so fast to get here.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Silver yells, lose her composure as she stands, bewildered. “What were the plans? What did you overhear in that damn bar?!”

“The Naraku are gonna blow up District 81!” Tide bursts out.

Silver’s eyes widen, as the men behind her shuffle in fear. Her arms, which had been raised in the excitement, drop to her sides, as she stands stunned. “But…but…that’s here! We’re District 81! That’s our headquarters!”

“Exactly,” Tide replies.

“How much time do we have before they attack?” Silver asks.

“Judging by the time that’s passed since I left the bar to get here, we probably only have a few min—” Tide replies, before he is interrupted.

Several shrieks from Ivy and Lily ring throughout the area, as the ground rocks from several explosives let loose nearby. The walls of the courtyard begin to crumble, as everyone is thrown to the floor.

Silver scrambles to her feet, screaming orders over the noise as she does so, “Alert all stations to report immediately back to headquarters! Red alert! The Naraku have struck headquarters!”

Next Time: Episode 37 The Naraku Return!

Kunai: Hey, what happened to my fight with Arai?!

Otis: SHUT UP!

Kunai: …

Ayame: Anyway, next time the Naraku return, this time looking for blood! The odds don’t look very good for us, with the Myougun’s gigantic Paradox army!

Sasha: Things are starting to get confusing, with so many enemies…Lord Kimura, the Myougun, the Soul Eaters, Paradoxes, Lilith…just how do we know who to trust?!

Kunai: Can Azuma be trusted?

Otis: SHUT UP!

Kunai: Hey! No fair! Why don’t I get a part in all this?

Episode 37 The Naraku Return! coming soon!