A Lotus-Scented Breeze

Avina Garamond

Chapter 18 – The Longest Battle

The battles had gone for two months. They were constantly pressing themselves deeper and deeper into Saahalian territory. Villagers fought them, soldiers fought them, even the wilderness fought them.

When they weren't fighting, or being caught in a storm, Sephiroth's men gazed at everything in wonder. Rice fields under water. Grass. Bamboo. Hills and mountains. Rain. Everything was so different! They marveled at strange animals like squirrels and rabbits. They did not see tigers, though some could have sworn they heard a growl.

Vincent's chariot ran alongside Sephiroth's.

"Don't you become bored of just standing there?" he finally asked. He had long wondered how Sephiroth could stand in a chariot for hours. Sephiroth looked at him, surprised.

"Do you want to sit?" he finally asked, a little worried that Vincent's legs were going to give out any second now. Vincent shook his head.

"No, but you never sit until the middle of a battle when you switch to a horse. And you only lay down to sleep. How do you do it? At home, you were always laying down, or sitting on your throne." Sephiroth laughed, happy that Vincent wasn't just putting on a straight face and suffer through the bumpy chariot ride.

"Silly of you to think me as lazy simply because you haven't seen me active," he said. Vincent's cheeks burned. What did he know of Sephiroth? Not a lot. He was a king, he had boring kingly tasks, and he liked to be fed grapes by someone else. That wasn't a lot. Did he like to hunt? What does for fun besides take a bath in front of all his harem girls? Where there Quarassiessian board games that he liked? Did he draw? Did he play music?

"How long do you think we'll be here?" Sephiroth asked suddenly. Vincent looked up at him. Sephiroth was looking around him in wonder. There was a mist going through the bamboo forest. Birds chirped and flew through the mist as if it wasn't there, disappearing and reappearing in the thick white fog.

"Want to stay a little longer?" Vincent asked, smiling. Sephiroth shook his head.

"I want to go home..." Vincent felt a pang of guilt. Just because Sephiroth was interested in the sights around him, didn't mean he wasn't homesick. He sighed. That's why Sephiroth's men were so quiet. They missed their home. They wanted back to the safety of their families, to their familiar heat soaked sand, and gallant festivals.

"We are close to the capital," Vincent said. "We will fight the final battle soon."

Suddenly, a battle cry rang through the air. The men dropped into their familiar positions. Sephiroth whipped around for a target. But the mist was impossible to see through! Ling Shi Wen barked orders to his men.

"We are surrounded," he told Sephiroth. Sephiroth cursed. He jumped from his chariot and swung onto Riqissis instead. Vincent jumped from his chariot and onto his own horse.

"What do you plan to do?" Ling Shi Wen asked.

"If they surrounded us, that means there are less people to cut through to the other side. I suggest cutting through the formation and rounding back behind the enemy." Shi Wen nodded.

"Your ideas are daring, yet they always seem to work," he said. "No matter how impossible they are for other people." Sephiroth smiled.

"I'll take that as a compliment. MEN!" The Quarassiessians turned to him. "Archers steady. Swordsmen, follow!" A part broke off the army. Ling Shi Wen ordered some of his own to follow Sephiroth. They ran into the mist.

They came upon the men almost by accident. The mist was too hard to see through, and they met face to face rather abruptly. The fight broke out instantly. Sephiroth blocked out the screams as he plunged into the battle with his horse. Riqqisis struck out with his hooves whenever someone came too close for his comfort. Sephiroth balanced perfectly. He struck out with his sword at the soldiers. He aimed for necks. They didn't have armor surrounding them and the men could easily be decapitated.

Far away, he could hear the cries of the other half of his army as the circle enclosed around them. Sephiroth and his men continued to hack and slash at the enemy Saahalians surrounding them. Suddenly, Sephiroth was free. Riqissis jogged over padded dirt, not bloody bodies. Sephiroth wheeled him around, cutting a soldier from behind.

"You didn't give him an honorable death," Vincent called from a few dead bodies away, killing a soldier. Sephiroth didn't remember ever feeling so angry at Saahalian culture. He hacked off the heads of other soldiers when they weren't facing towards him, just to be spiteful.

The soldiers turned towards him, but Sephiroth went on killing them. Damn Saahalians. Fought to the last one. Couldn't they just flee? No, that wouldn't be honorable. Selfish bastards. Sephiroth killed any he could reach.

"Seph!" Vincent called out, panicked. Sephiroth dropped flat onto his horse's neck. He heard the singing of a blade as in sliced through the air he had just occupied. He saw his cut silver hair fly to the ground and be trampled by iron-shod hooves of the enemy horse. He yanked his horse' reins sharply to the right. With a screech, his horse reared as it turned. A hoof clipped the enemy Saahalian on the face and he fell from his horse. The enemy horse ran off, frightened. Riqissis landed onto the Saahalian's face. The Saahalian no longer moved.

Sephiroth calmed Riqissis and galloped back to the enemy troops, ready to resume killing. Vincent looked back to his own worries. Sephiroth was alright... His heart drummed in his chest. Safe. Safe...

Sephiroth circled all of the enemy troops, killing all who didn't face them so that they could die their dishonorable deaths. It took hours to hack through all the troops and join with the other half again. How frightened they looked!

"Stand ground!" Sephiroth said. "For Quarassies!" The troops looked at him. Yes... they had to suck it up... They continued to fight. For Quarassies. For Quarassies! For their home! Just a little more!

"Don't despair!" Sephiroth called. He kept encouraging his troops until his voice was hoarse. He and the men kept fighting. The Saahalian force was growing thin. It started to rain, obscuring vision even more. The sun was setting early behind the mountains. The Quarassiessians were terrified they would have to fight in the dark and cold. Their only comfort was that their king was still with them.

Vincent could see the terror in them. He ordered his Front and Second Line to keep attacking. For Quarassies? No. For Sephiroth. For Sephiroth and his beloved people and his beloved land, but for Sephiroth more than anything.

The battle raged on, fierce and bloody and loud. The sun set. Terror gripped the people of Quarassies. Many of them scrambled onto bamboo and started shooting from a safer height. None of them could coordinate a sword attack in the dark.

Vincent and the allied Saahalians fought hard. Sephiroth kept appearing and disappearing in the darkness. He was only recognizable by his silver hair. Battle cries grew more both hoarse and sparse. Soon, they stopped altogether. Vincent put his sword back into his sheath. He glanced around. Allies. Allies everywhere... Was the battle over?

He galloped to Sephiroth. Riqissis stood still under the rain.

"Seph?" Sephiroth shook his head.

"A minute..." he requested hoarsely. Vincent recognized the broken voice instantly.

"It'll be alright. I'll have my men set up camp," he said. He galloped off the Ling Shi Wen.

"The Quarassiessian people are shaken," he said in Saahalian. "Lets make camp soon. They are frightened and need rest. Sephiroth is going to keep them here for prayers most likely." Ling Shi Wen nodded. They rounded up the Saahalian people and dragged them away from their wineskins to set up camp a ways off.

Sephiroth stayed with his people. He helped them dig a grave pit and they all prayed for the fallen ones. They sprinkled salt on their faces. Hopefully, they would have enough salt for any other deaths that could occur. The enemy Saahalians were simply ignored. They took their weapons and arrows and trudged into the camp.

Sephiroth gave them a few comforting words and sent them off to bed. Only a few brave ones took up the first watch. Sephiroth went into his tent where Vincent was waiting for him. Armor piled in a corner and they both lay on Sephiroth's cot. Sephiroth was trembling like an autumn leaf, not that he knew what Autumn was even. Vincent stroked his hair behind his ear.

"Shh... It'll be alright..." he crooned. Sephiroth shook his head.

"We've never... ever fought in the dark. In the rain... and mist. It is windy, there was bamboo everywhere. Our bows and arrows are useless, our swords are inexperienced," Sephiroth said. "This could have been the end of Quarassies." Vincent kissed him.

"But it wasn't. It wasn't because your people kept fighting. They fight for you. You comfort them. You give them a reason to fight. You give them a reason to live." Sephiroth curled towards Vincent, head on his shoulder. Vincent was so much stronger than him during war. While he was breaking apart, Vincent was living and breathing his beloved land and culture. Vincent here was stronger.

"When do I go home?" Sephiroth asked. Vincent hugged him soothingly.

"Soon. The forest goes behind the palace. We shall see it soon. Maybe even tomorrow." Sephiroth nodded.

"I want to go home, back to Quarassies."

"You'll be home soon. I promise," Vincent said. Sephiroth fell asleep against him. Vincent sighed. He wanted his Sephiroth back. The strong man that he could depend on, not the man who was breaking. But in order for him to have Sephiroth back, he had to go back to Quarassies. Yet if he won this war... he'd actually become the king of Saahal. Then... then he'd have to stay in Saahal. What was worse, he didn't know what he wanted to do. Stay in Saahal forever, or stay with Sephiroth. He decided to wait a little later to make his decision. He kissed Sephiroth's lips. His hair was cut short on one side... Vincent wondered what would happen when Sephiroth noticed...

Author's Note: As you can tell, I'm no good with battle scenes. If you have any tips, leave a review! Criticism is LOVED. Hahaha, all reviews are loved. X3 Thank youuu!