No Fear for the Setting Sun: Chapter One.

Setsuna grunted, sweat dripping down her cheek as she blocked a downward strike from her opponent. His blade met hers, held horizontally, and for a moment she feared her arms would buckle under the tremendous weight.

She bent her knees to absorb some impact, then growled as she thrusted her sword forward, disengaging their blades.

Swinging her sword low, she aimed for her opponent's waist. Swiftly, he blocked the slash, and Setsuna was nearly caught off guard when he immediately brought his sword up to slash vertically at her.

She stepped back, muscles burning under the weight of her armor. She blinked sweat out of her eyes, ignoring the stinging pain. Taking a deep breath, she lunged forward, intending to run her opponent through.

He deftly sidestepped her attack, turning her blade to the outside as he lowered his shoulder and rammed her in the chest.

Her armor kept her from getting winded, but she tripped, stumbling over her feet as she tried to keep her balance.

She landed painfully on her back, and in a second, the sword blade was at her throat. Her opponent grinned wolfishly at her, before tilting his head to the side.

"This is a rare occurence, Setsuna-sama." He spoke, removing his sword and sheathing it. Setsuna said nothing; yet she took his offered hand as he helped her up.

"To what do I owe this unexpected victory? A distraction, perhaps? Are you not feeling well?"

Setsuna sheathed her sword, contemplating her response.

"Distracted, I suppose." She said quietly. "Tomorrow morning, the princess goes to conference with the delegate of Abelone regarding the invasion of our land. If it fails..."

He smiled kindly at her, and motioned for her to turn around. She did so, and she felt his hands unclasping her armor.

"Worry not about such things, Setsuna-sama." He said. She hummed softly, and felt her chest plate loosen. She grasped the edges with her hands, and lowered it to the floor.

Next, she removed her arm and shoulder guards. They were of solid metal construction, and weren't very light, however they more than made up for that in protection. Many a sharp blade had glanced harmlessly off them, and Setsuna was grateful for it. They were still cumbersome, and she was learning how to move fluently in them, but she had already noticed their benefits. Training to move with them on had greatly improved her speed and mobility without them, and it was quite useful.

Her lower body was in stark contrast to her upper body, and a pair of leather over-pants protected the clothing underneath.

Her white sleeveless shirt was dark with sweat, and, ignoring her protesting stomach, she opted for a bath.

"Kahn, we shall retire for tonight." Setsuna said. Her second-in-command nodded, honouring her request with a salute. He was dismissed, he knew, and took his leave.

Setsuna glanced at her armor laying on the training room floor, and decided that it could wait until she was clean before she cleaned it.

Running her fingers through her unbound hair, Setsuna exited the training room, intent on taking a nice, long bath.

888

It was some time later when she emerged, skin flushed from the heat of the water. The bath had relaxed her to the point of desiring sleep, yet she knew she had only enough time to find some food before she had to start the evening patrol.

Setsuna slowly patted herself dry with a set of white linens, her skin still slightly damp in places when she discarded them. She pulled on a clean pair of leather leg guards that, ironically, did not guard her legs. They were instead shorts, ending just below her knee. The theory was that she only needed to be able to defend a strike down to her knee; anything lower than that, a simple jump and a leg tuck would avoid.

She fastened the two metal buckles in front, and threaded her sword belt through the loops. With her sword secure on her left hip, it made for easy drawing with her right hand. She pulled on a tight fitting white shirt that clung to her form, and took a second to pull her hair out of the back of the shirt. It was only shoulder length when it was down, and she desperately wanted to see it reach longer lengths.

She pulled a similar form-fitting black shirt over her white under-shirt, once again making sure her hair was free.

Finally, she picked up her silver captain's ring from the table where it lay, and she slowly slid it onto the middle finger of her right hand. It's insignia bore her initials, rank, and army, as well as country of origin. It was her free pass to and fro wherever she desired, as long as her rank allowed. Finally, she pulled on a pair of finely crafted leather boots, tightening the strings until they clung tightly to her ankles. Deeming herself presentable, she left the baths.

Heading to the common room, she was lost in thought of what was to become of her country, Khalea. There was trouble brewing, the likes of which had not been seen in her lifetime.

She sighed softly, rounding a corner. After patrol ended, she was to serve as the lead for a protection group, whose sole function was to esure the protection of the princess during the meeting between her and the delegate of Abelone, whoever it was. It was unannounced, and Setsuna wasn't sure why such secrecy was in force.

Shaking her head, forcing thoughts of sleep from her mind, she opened the door to the common room.

And collided head first with another soldier.

Setsuna stumbled back, wincing and rubbing the tender spot on her forehead. Opening her eyes, she looked to who she had run into.

On the ground in front of her, was a girl dressed in light armor, signifying that she carried no special rank. Her long red hair, in twin ponytails and secured by ribbons, draped across her lap and pooled across the floor.

"Ahh, that hurt..." The girl mumbled. Suddenly, she looked up as if remembering she had run into someone, and her eyes widened as she saw Setsuna. She scrambled to her feet, and hurriedly held one arm out in front of her, bent at the elbow and held parallel to her chest.

"C-captain." She stuttered. "My apologies, I didn't see you there."

Setsuna stepped back, giving the girl room to exit.

"You are?" Setsuna asked, curiously.

"Kagurazaka Asuna, captain." She said swiftly, still saluting with her left arm.

Setsuna copied her with her right, as only captains and commanders were allowed to do, and the girl lowered her arm to her side.

"Are you on patrol tonight?" Setsuna asked. The girl shook her head.

"Not tonight. I'm on free-time until tomorrow evening."

Setsuna examined the girl, and noticed, among other things, her startling bi-colored eyes.

"Be on your way, then." Setsuna dismissed. The red-head saluted again, and walked through the door, disappearing around the corner.

Already forgetting her, Setsuna walked over to a row of shelves against the back wall of the common room. Finding her cubby hole, she withdrew an aged book wth slightly yellowed pages. It was bookmarked with a leaf, and she opened the book to that page as she walked slowly over to the near-empty food line.

She stood behind a few other soldiers in line, and picked up a wooden food tray from where they sat stacked on the serving table.

After a few moments, the line moved forward, and the servant looked up at her expectantly from behind the serving table.

"A cut of steak, please." Setsuna said, eyes on the words written in the book. A moment later, and a thick slice of perfectly seared steak was set on her tray, the scent reaching her nose and making her mouth water.

"Anything else, captain?"

Setsuna shook her head. "This will suffice."

"Very well, captain."

Setsuna slid her tray to the end of the table, picking up a knife and fork and tossing them onto the tray before picking it up and heading toward the back of the Common Room.

When she found a suitable table away from the few soldiers loitering here on their time off, she sat and turned her eyes once again to her book.

'...although, there is no record to verify that the warrior thus stated possessed such powers, if any at all. Integral as he was to winning the war, bringing the Humans together to unite against the Demonic uprising, there specifically exists no record of Sir Rakan, 1772, possessing anything remotely close to powers of a magical kind. Whether legend has thrown facts out of proportion at the time of this recording, (1868), 96 years later we cannot say with certainty what took place, as trascripts are rare, and no one who was alive then, is alive now. It is this author's belief that such powers as claimed to be held by Sir Rakan and his many subordinates are tall tales, blown out of proportion by word-of-mouth and while may be based on fact, no longer carry any grain of truth that they may once have held.'

Setsuna hummed softly to herself, and slowly cut a chunk out of her steak, raising it to her mouth. Chewing slowly, she savoured the incredible taste for a moment as she pondered all that she had read.

Tomorrow, she thought, she would take some time off and go see the vendor in town. He must have more books in stock, and she was hungry for any information she could find regarding the war between humans and demons. Some say it never happened; some can recount tales that their parents passed down to them, although everything about it was shrouded in secrecy. Which was odd for something of such apparent magnitude. If humans truly did fight and win a war against demons, wouldn't there be a holiday to remember it by, and statues on every corner of the castle proclaiming our victory? Humans loved nothing more than to parade their trumphs, she thought.

Deciding to put the issue to bed for now, she remarked her page and closed the book. Her steak required immediate attention, and it would be quite remiss of her to forsake her duty.

Several hours later...

Setsuna sighed a tired sigh as she returned her spear to the rack in the armory. She was one of many who put back such a weapon, as they were made to carry them on all patrols. The sun had just risen over the snow-capped mountains in the east. The mountains, tall, jagged frozen peaks, rose high into the sky, a physical landmark of the border between their country, Khalea, and the neighbouring country Abelone. Abelone was a land full of forest, rich in most natural resources and therefore, quite well off. They were a strong force, but for now showed little interest in becoming aggressive toward Khalea. They were but tentatve neighbours, however, and Khalea was quick to make sure they did not offend the Abelonians. Khalea survived on trade with other countries, and since they were bordered on the west by ocean, and frozen plains to the north, all trade came from Abelone, or at least, through it.

By now she was desperately craving sleep, but she would be busy until at least mid-day, if not longer. She left the armory and walked briskly to the barracks, intent on freshening up before meeting in the common room with the rest of the soldiers assigned under her command for the protection of the princess tonight.

The stone floor was hard and unyielding underfoot, but smooth thanks to the skilled masons. The grout that sealed the joints was still solid even after such a lengthy time, although it was not rare to see them performing maintenence on the sandy-red colored bricks that made up the castle, courtyard, garden paths, and surrounding fortress.

It was still too early to have strong beams of sunlight shining in through the high windows overhead, but the sun tried vainly to illuminate the interior of the castle as the darkness slowly gave up and set a retreat. The oil lamps decorating the walls in beautiful, ornate silver sconces had been allowed to go out an hour before sunrise, as was customary.

Her door was secured with a rudimentary locking system, and she fished her two-toothed key out of her shirt. It hung on a chain around her neck, and was always close at hand. Inserting it into her lock, she turned it to the right ninety degrees, feeling the internals grudgingly give up their previous resting place with a slight squeak.

Setsuna made a mental note to call in the locksmith. It appeared the lock needed to be oiled, and perhaps some other maintenence.

Making her way to the basin that rested against the back of the wall, Setsuna slipped the key back around her neck as she realized she would have to drain and refill her basin soon.

She splashed some of the room temperature water onto her face, rubbing her tired skin with the liquid as she held her breath. Eyes shut tight, she reveled in the feel of the refreshing liquid upon her skin.

She took a moment to sigh, licking the water droplets from her lips before reaching for some dry linen. Scrubbing her face dry, she straightened up and slowly folded the towel into a square before tossing it onto the edge of the basin.

"Well," She said quietly to herself, "Time for the meeting."

Exiting the room, she made certain to lock it behind her.

In the castle of Abelone...

The five foot nothing blonde girl giggled softly to herself as she ran an ivory comb through her long, straight hair. It hung down to waist length, and she had it pulled over her shoulder so she could comb it, head tilted to the side as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Softly, she began humming, closing her eyes as her body swayed side to side. She never stopped brushing, slowly and carefully. It was almost that time, she thought. Another one today.

Opening her eyes, she gazed into her dark red slitted pupils.

"Oh, mirror can you tell me how to stay forever young?" She sang quietly, a small smile curving her lips.

"Let me know the secret, and I will hold my twisted tongue."

She of course, knew the secret. Her gaze fell to her porcelain skin, and only the sharpest eye would pick out the fine hairline cracks in her visage. They would be fading tonight, she knew.

Standing, she set her ivory brush down. It was almost time to meet with Sireyou before he went off to council.

She smoothed out her frilly black dress, and spun to admire herself once more in her large mirror. It clung tightly to her chest and waist, held up by two thin straps, then flared out before ending mid-thigh. Underneath, she wore no undergarments.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. She padded over to it on bare feet, and opened it. Standing before her was one of the castle's servants. He bowed to her.

"Elizabeth Evangeline McDowell, Sireyou requests your presence. It is time for the council."

She narrowed her eyes at him and unconsciously flexed her hands.

"You know better than to call me Elizabeth. My name is Evangeline..."

"Y-Yes of course, my mistake. I'm sorry, Evangeline."

"You are dismissed. I shall be down shortly."

He bowed, and quickly left. Casting one last glance in the mirror at her nearly flawless reflection, she followed, shutting the door tightly behind her as she did.

She padded down the hall on bare, silent feet. She knew where to meet Sireyou.

As she entered the lobby on the main floor of the castle, she was greeted by the king, or Lord, as he preferred.

"Lord Sireyou." She curtsied, almost mockingly, and he grinned as he extended his arm toward her.

"Shall we depart?" He asked.

"We shall."

His mischievious blue eyes twinkled in the light cast by the torches lining the wall, and his neatly trimmed beard accented his strong jaw as he stood tall and proud in the centre of his castle. He was clad in all black attire, and carried a sharp, double edged two handed sword on his side. It's hilt was smooth, well worn to his grip, and the pommel was forged into a deadly spear-tip like point.

His dark brown hair was cut short, unlike so many of the rulers of other countries, who took pride in their savage, lengthy hair, for indeed many of them had been warriors, royal blood though they be. They had served their time, and shown that they had fought to defend their country and so deemed fit to rule. Their sons would eventually ride in battle, and if they did not fall, would one day be the successor to the throne, as having earned that right in the heat of battle.

They exited through the main doors, Sireyou donning a well-woven black cloak though it be nearly mid-day, and Evangeline found herself wishing she had the foresight to bring some protection from the mid-morning heat that was surely only to get stronger.

A servant was waiting in the courtyard with two beautiful horses, a mid-sized white-haired horse clad in an ebony saddle for Evangeline, and a pure black stallion for Sireyou. The destrier stood nearly seventeen hands tall, and tossed its magnificent mane in greeting as the Lord approached.

Riding his horse bareback, Sireyou threw himself up onto his horse with all the ease and grace that accompanied his experienced background. His sword dangled perfectly at his side, not hindering his mounting or dismounting in the slightest.

As Evangeline situated herself upon her horse, Sireyou leaned forward and patted his horses flanks.

"Do not fear the outcome of today's meeting, Evangeline." He said, as he turned his horse toward the exit. "No matter what is said or done, the outcome is predetermined. Their fate is absolute."

Evangeline said nothing as she gently spurred her horse onward, following her Lord. She didn't bother to tell him that there weren't many things she was afraid of, least of all, a meeting between countries.

Eyes on the not-so-far mountains, they set a swift pace as they urged their horses up to speed.

Across the plains of Khalea...

Setsuna kept her eyes straight ahead as her horse pulled even with the chocolate brown horse carrying their princess. Even riding alongside her, Setsuna bowed until her forehead pressed against the slightly sweaty flank of her horse.

"Yes, my princess? You have summoned me?"

The princess in question ran a hand slowly through her dark brown hair, her matching eyes scanning the horizon as her other hand shielded her eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. She sat upright on her horse, moving easily with the rhythym as her horse trotted doggedly forward.

"We are almost to our destination, the pass that cuts through the mountains and leads to Abelone. That is where Lord Sireyou will meet us, on the boundary between our land and his. Although I do not expect any trouble, per se, I have the foresight to expect that things will not go the way I wish them to. I want you to be alert, and ready for any sign of trouble from him or his men."

Setsuna bowed again, eyes closed.

"It is my duty to protect the princess with every fibre of my being." She said. She was startled to hear a giggle from the young girl beside her, and she momentarily forgot herself as she raised her head to cast a questioning glance at the princess.

"Oh, captain, I'm not worried about myself. Rest assured, no harm will come to me. I was talking about yourself and our pack of six."

The princess turned to smile at her, and Setsuna's heart nervously skipped a beat. Remembering her manners, she quickly bowed again, before straightening up in her saddle and returning her eyes to the horizon. Allowing her horse to fall back, she surveyed the group of soldiers she was in command of. Two of the men she knew, and had fought with before. She was glad they were with her, if things turned nasty she knew she could rely on them to help out. The other three...she didn't know, although they wouldn't be here if they weren't skilled, she supposed.

Her gaze slid to the last member. Not originally selected to take part in this assignment, the original soldier had suffered a semi-serious injury during training that evening, and had to be removed from the roster. Selected to take his place was none other than the girl she saw before her.

Kagurazaka Asuna.

Out of thousands of soldiers employed in the protection of Khalea, it was understandable that Setsuna hadn't met every single one of them. However, Setsuna was surprised that she hadn't heard of this girl sooner, given how...unique she appeared.

Her armor was as basic as everyone else's of her rank, however, her weapon of choice was anything but ordinary. A massive, black sword hung from her back, and Setsuna was sure that it was slightly taller than the girl herself. How she managed to wield it effectively, Setsuna was unsure. However, the blade did show battle wear, and the girl was currently still alive, so she must possess some skill with it.

Setsuna's curiosity was aroused, and she decided that she would do some digging, and find out who the captain of this girl was. Maybe arrange for a trade. She had many desirable warriors that a few other captains had their eye on, and Setsuna was sure she could make use of that fact.

"Form up, tighten ranks!" She called, seeing two figures in the distance. Immediately, her soldiers straightened up, adjusted armor, put away canteens, and snugged their horses a bit closer to the princess. Setsuna herself spurred her horse to the front ranks, keeping her eyes peeled for archers.

She couldn't ignore the unsettling feeling pooling in her stomach.