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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 9, 2006 18:28:31 GMT -5
What might have been a soft laugh, or a shaky breath, was muffled against the horse pelt. Yuuto's palm dragged down Orie's arm and onto the glossy mount, thumping the thick muscles fondly. He pushed himself up, and gave a shrill whistle into the air. Answering hooves kicked up in the distance as Yuuto's steed rounded over a hill.
"A mere scratch." His tone was dismissive, but Yuuto's collar was soaked crimson and his complexion a shade paler than his usual bronze.
Instead of tending to himself, Yuuto's gaze roamed over Orie's form meticulously, and the archer appeared worn ragged but unharmed. Smiling softly, the General inclined his head in a slight bow.
"Thank you," he said seriously.
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Post by Orie Hidehira on Sept 9, 2006 18:37:16 GMT -5
Orie bent double at the waist, but he still couldn't exactly go as low as Asai, being atop a horse. "Ah, it was nothing," he answered in kind, a little flustered at the gratefulness. It wasn't a strange thing to say, but given their positions it hadn't been required in the least.
His hand shot out before he even realized it, snagging the cloth on the general's sleeve before he could go to his horse. Even if it was 'a mere scratch', it was still bleeding messily, staining the clear colors of his clothes a dark and ominous crimson.
"You're still bleeding, Asai-sama," Orie said, as means of explanation. He wouldn't insist anything more than that - every man had his honor, after all, but with his free hand he untied the knot of his headband, and tugged it free from under his bangs. Bending to the right, he wrapped the cloth around the wound, neither too tightly or too loosely.
Straightening, he observed his work and frowned a little. "Well, it'll hold up until you get it properly bandaged."
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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 9, 2006 19:01:43 GMT -5
Fingertips trailing over the makeshift bandage, Yuuto nodded gratefully. His attention seemed to turn inward for a moment, then he was moving back into action.
The bodyguards were all returning, and Ishikawa appeared on the verge of unconsciousness from blood loss. As long as they kept the area around the wound packed and didn't remove the arrow, the injury could last until Chiba. But fearing exhaustion and shock, Yuuto ordered Ishikawa to ride double with another man and tied the free horse to his own.
Katana wiped clean as best he could, Yuuto sheathed it and swung into his saddle. Gazing out over the Watanabe clan remains only threatened to reignite his anger, and Yuuto feared it might be self-directed if they lingered too long.
"You did well." He assured his men, eventually alighting on Orie. "All of you."
Yuuto peered up into the sky. The sun had fully moved into position, although weak, and he feared a cold, pre-winter rain would roll in.
"We'll need to set a much faster pace than before. These wounds won't hold until nightfall."
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Post by Orie Hidehira on Sept 9, 2006 19:08:35 GMT -5
They sluggishly went forward. The beginning was slow, as the men adjusted their riding styles to accomodate another injured rider, or to ease the weight on their own wounds. When the pace finally picked up into a steady but brisk one, Orie had once again fallen near the rear. He was tired, and his limbs and back were aching, but they were little complaints compared to the other ails afflicting their comrades.
This was only a taste of what was to come, he knew. They were playing a dangerous game with the worse set of cards. He was more than a little disappointed in himself, for letting just a small skirmish take so much out of him. He swore to practice from dawn to dusk at the general's archery grounds if it would make him better prepared. He looked up, catching a glimpse of Asai's back in between the shoulders and heads of the men in front of him.
The ambush had been handled very well, he gave the man that much. They owed the blessing of being alive to Asai. With the element of surprise and the numerical statistics against them, the fact that they were all in relatively good shape was testimony of the general's skill indeed. At least, Grandfather hadn't sent him to work for a complete idiot, even if the guy was still very, very weird, and put him at edge.
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Post by Asai Yuuto on Sept 9, 2006 19:50:13 GMT -5
Something feral was building up inside Yuuto's chest, and he stubbornly squashed the urge. He needed to meditate; he needed rest; he needed home.
Watanabe's scheming had sucked up what little reserves Yuuto had left. Akihito's safety remained forefront in his mind, but the General could only focus on the here and now- repair the situations he was able to and hope it led him one step closer to the Prince.
The here and now turned his thoughts to their newest recruit. Orie would be a vital, and most helpful, addition to the cause. Yuuto was more sure than before. Orie was just as skillful as he remembered Sensei to once be, and the young man had already proved himself capable of following orders and protecting his commander.
However, Yuuto recalled grimly, there wouldn't have been a need for the boy's impressive rescue if Yuuto had reacted with thought, and not thrown his main weapon away. It was unlike his strategist nature, and Yuuto feared that as Sensei's grandson, Yuuto may have been too attached to Orie before they had even met. And now that they had met, Yuuto could see the problem only snowballing in the future.
That was a subject Yuuto felt strangely hesitant to contemplate, and with a start the General realized he was sliding his fingers over the "bandage" around his neck, and not the scar running down his face.
Wearily, Yuuto cleared his mind and began a game of imaginary Go- one where his pieces were moving ever closer to conquering the Shogun's territory.
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