Go Kingdom, Tongbo

One year and eight months since the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven

What would rapidly evolve into the start of the Zhuo-Go conflict had its roots in an unfortunate event on an otherwise unremarkable day.

The city of Tongbo laid along the border between the former holdings of Gi and the start of the Go kingdom; in the time that had passed since Sousou's defeat, the Gi lands had already been reorganized under Ragna's banner, and so the people there lived in slight unease, never knowing if the next day would be the day that Zhuo revealed its true power-hungry nature and advanced on Go.

For several months, that wild dream went unrecognized, but on that otherwise unremarkable day, it unfortunately came true.

Just around midday, one of the guards on the town's main wall saw a host of soldiers in Zhuo's green livery marching toward Tongbo at full speed. Shortly afterward, the gates were put under merciless assault by a battering ram, while archers on the gate's ramparts strove vainly to shoot down as many of the invaders as possible.

Ultimately, the effort was futile; no matter how many soldiers fell, more rose up to attack, and eventually the gate fell. From there, it was nothing but a one-sided slaughter as the people of Tongbo were put to the sword, every single one.

Because of that, there was no one to report that there was not a single sighting of Ragna of Zhuo nor his generals on the scene; the only evidence of Zhuo's presence were helmets and weapons marked with their colors, left within the remains of the town. The news made it to Sonsaku's ears from a report that one of the palace guards had heard from someone on the streets of Namyang, not any official report that could confirm Zhuo's presence there.

That small fact, that small obscuring of the truth of what happened at Tongbo, would be the only thing that allowed the upcoming war to get as bad as it did.

Go kingdom, Namyang

One year, eight months, and five days after the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven

Chuubou Sonken very rarely saw her older sister Hakufu Sonsaku in a state of such single-minded fury that anyone in the vicinity was stunned into absolute silence. One of those times had come up shortly before their Aunt Sonsei had attempted to poison Sonsaku and take over the kingdom; Sonsei had attempted to bully some of Sonsaku's less loyal retainers into leading an attack on a Gi outpost, and when Sonsaku had found out, she brought Sonsei to the main throne room of the palace and denounced Sonsei with a blistering torrent of words that could have stripped the tile from the floor and the paint from the walls had Sonsaku been shouting any louder.

Yet, that storm—the one moment in her life when Sonken had been legitimately afraid of Sonsaku—was a pale and distant breeze compared to Sonsaku's expression when Sonken came into the throne room five days after the destruction of Tongbo. At Sonken's side, Kannei immediately lowered her head, as did Ryomou; Sonsaku, though seated calmly on the throne, seemed to exude a cloud of anger that hung over the throne room like a poisonous fog.

Beside Sonsaku, Shuuyu frowned sadly and rubbed Sonsaku's shoulder, adding a squeeze at the end to both warn and reassure Sonsaku. Sonsaku looked at Shuuyu with a gentle, but thin smile at the show of support, then focused her attention back on the members of her court. "It seems that young Ragna has let Sousou's defeat embolden him," Sonsaku said, her voice as icy as her catlike blue eyes. "I believe that you all know what has happened to Tongbo, correct?"

Everyone nodded. They did not have the strength to put words into the thick and oppressive air that surrounded them at the moment; the only words that would be allowed in the throne room now would be Sonsaku's.

"It isn't his manner to do such a thing, so I wonder what might have spurred him into such a rash move," Sonsaku said. "Whatever it is, though, hardly matters. It is our time to respond in kind." She swept her eyes down to where Sonken stood. "Renfa. You, Shishun, Ashe, and Shaoren will be leading an attack on one of Zhuo's border towns. Take it if you can, but if you cannot, I expect for you to make direct contact with Ragna or one of his generals to shed some light on this situation."

At that point, Sonken finally found her voice. "And what do we do after that, sister?"

Sonsaku's merciless gaze chilled Sonken's heart. "Regardless of the reason he presents, he will be receiving a fitting punishment. The people of Tongbo died painful, meaningless deaths. Regardless of whether he surrenders to you or not, we will return the favor to him. Bring him here and he will be dealt with as he deserves."

"I understand," Sonken said, and with that tacit acknowledgment that Ragna would have to suffer no matter what happened, she felt her heart sink into the pits of her stomach.

If Sonsaku heard or thought of any doubt in Sonken's bearing, she said nothing about it. Instead, she closed her eyes. "Aunt Sai. You, Non, and Meirin will be focusing on defense. If for whatever reason this becomes a protracted conflict, we will have to contend with all the resources he's gathered up to now. Unlike Sousou, I don't intend to take him lightly. If he wants to make his way to Namyang, he will do so with enough loss of manpower that he feels like we've cut his limbs off."

Shuuyu nodded, frowning softly at the heat simmering under Sonsaku's facade. It wasn't so much the threats against Ragna that bothered her as much as the sheer depth of Sonsaku's anger. For all the woman's talk a few months back about how ruthless Shuuyu could be when pressed, Sonsaku's own drive was nothing to sneeze at. It was something Shuuyu loved about Sonsaku, but if the ruler of Go could pull Shuuyu back from her own excessive feelings when the time was wrong for them, then Shuuyu had an obligation to reciprocate.

Rather than speak aloud and risk shaming Sonsaku in front of the court, Shuuyu simply rubbed Sonsaku's shoulder again. Sonsaku's shoulders hitched in response, but only for a moment, then relaxed. Shuuyu could tell that Sonsaku was still spitting mad and was just reining in her temper, but if it kept Sonsaku from saying or doing something she'd regret, then Shuuyu was fine with that.

"You're all dismissed," Sonsaku said, and the pressure in the room eased. "Renfa, I expect you to be on the road within the next two days. Don't send messengers back if you need to update us, use hawks instead. If the opportunity comes, capture Ragna and bring him back here; anyone else with him is expendable."

Sonken knelt down and bowed; Kannei and Ryomou did the same, then followed her out of the throne room. Once they were clear of the doors and walking down the hall to Sonken's room, Sonken let her calm mask drop, exposing a worried frown. "What in Heaven's name is that man thinking?" Sonken said aloud, clenching her hands into fists as she strode down the hallway. "Burning Tongbo to the ground? Killing every man, woman, and child in the city? Those are Sousou's tactics! Why would he see a need to emulate that arrogant woman?"

"Men have their hidden sides, Lady Renfa," Kannei replied, her voice quiet and untroubled—at least on the surface. "Even those as straightforward as him are no different. No one is perfect."

Sonken stopped walking, forcing Kannei and Ryomou to come up short, and glared at Kannei with frustration and sadness warring on her face. "Sheren said it herself, this doesn't fit him. Who he is, how he carries himself—he's not a man that enjoys or employs excessive cruelty. It isn't right, Shishun."

Kannei held back a frustrated sigh, but before she could speak, Ryomou cut in. "I agree with you, Lady Renfa." Her eyes were set in a firm glare, but it bore no anger; she was focused, very intently so, but on what, Sonken didn't know. "The man that you and I know would not do such a thing. And when uncharacteristic behavior begins, does not one particular sect follow behind it?"

Sonken blinked, her face losing all traces of the conflicting emotions moving across it. With wide eyes, she remembered what she had seen on the fields outside Xuchou; those strange, white cloaks fluttered in the breeze of her mind's eye as clearly as if she were back at the battle itself. "The Taoists? You believe that they're involved in this somehow?"

"It's a possibility," Ryomou replied, folding her hands into her sleeves. "But the problem is that even if that were so, it doesn't change the fact that we are not sure that it is so. Lady Sheren's orders still take precedence, but those orders give us the ability to confirm with our own eyes what is happening. His status is uncertain, but at the least I doubt Ragna himself has not fallen under their sway. If he had—even if fairly recently—he would have been far more aggressive with his attacks."

Slowly, Sonken's stupefied expression changed into a satisfied, confident smile. "Yes. Yes, you're right. How silly of me to think otherwise. You're a genius, Ashe. All we need do is find proof that the Taoists were involved in this plot..."

Kannei gave Ryomou a look while Sonken began to, if slightly, drift off into her own world. "Ashe, you're playing a dangerous game here."

"I don't want to fight that man," Ryomou said. "No matter what, I don't want to fight that man. It's not just for Lady Renfa's sake, either. He's strong. With Sousou's resources behind him, he's even stronger than he used to be. If we rush into war with him, the cost may be steeper than we're willing or able to pay. If he wasn't responsible for what happened to Tongbo, then I'm all the happier to avoid making him our enemy."

The frown on Kannei's face deepened. "And if he is? Then what?"

Ryomou turned back to Sonken; the middle Son sister nodded to herself and began to walk forward again, her course of action set and her attention focused on going back to her room.

"Then we fight," Ryomou said, fixing her glasses. "That's all."

Zhuo District, Youzhou Province, Xizang

One year and eight months since the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven

The rumors of what had happened at Tongbo had not escaped the ears of Ragna's faction either. On the same day that Sonken received her orders to make Ragna pay for his betrayal, the man himself and his generals were just receiving the news about Tongbo.

After calmly dismissing the messenger that had brought the news to him in the throne room, Ragna managed to wait about three seconds after the doors closed behind the messenger before he got up and nearly knocked his throne over. The so-called "Five Tiger Generals"—Kan'u, Kouchuu, Chou'un, Chouhi, and Bachou—all winced in sync as they watched him march side to side across the dais where the throne sat, while Ryuubi, Shoukatsuryou and Houtou entered into a frantic, whispered conversation, only sparing the barest of glances toward their ill-tempered ruler. Kada, too, was present, as he'd come by to talk to Ragna about a sickness going around in Xizang, but was keeping quiet.

At length, Ragna threw himself back onto the throne, running a hand through his cloud of white hair. "We've been framed," he said, his voice low and growling. "We never had any troops deployed that far south, and we didn't have any reason to attack a town full of civilians. Not like that matters to Go, though—all they needed was an excuse to start a fight, and now they've got one." He peered over at Ryuubi, Shoukatsuryou, and Houtou. "Touka, Shuri, Hinari. You three been working on a plan over there or what?"

Shoukatsuryou raised her head from the huddle first, and bowed, meeting Ragna's eyes with a frown and a shake of her head. "Well, Lord Ragna, we can't quite disprove Go's accusations. Any evidence we could attempt to produce would be called a falsehood or a trickery, given how much time has passed between the destruction of Tongbo and now. At this point, we have no real option but to wait for Go to make their counterattack and move from there."

"We need to identify which cities are most likely to be targeted by Go's forces and prepare appropriate defenses," Houtou said, adjusting her hat."I would likely consider any of our holdings that are closest to Tongbo as the targets of most concern, but we may also have to consider attacks from the sea. This is Go we're dealing with, and we saw how effective a pirate Kannei is. If she leads any raids on any of our towns near the ocean..."

Ragna grimaced. "Not a pretty picture, Hinari."

Houtou looked down, her expression crestfallen, but Ryuubi picked up the slack from her without skipping a beat, saying, "It's a likely scenario, though, Lord Ragna." Ryuubi's shy mannerisms had mostly died off thanks to her not-insignificant work in helping to manage Zhuo in Ragna's absence; in less official circumstances she was still pretty easygoing, but at times like this she was all steel. "Hinari and I spent some time this morning reviewing some of the other battles Kannei's been involved in, and I can tell you that her performance at Liangdu was not a fluke. Anything she did along that river, she can do ten times better out on the open sea."

"We'll have to see what we can do about reinforcing our coast cities, then," Ragna said, rubbing his face with one hand and wishing not for the first time that they had access to any kind of "real" artillery. He wasn't well-versed in war tactics from his old world, but he did know that cannons would've been a damn lovely deterrent for any raiding that would potentially take place. As it was, they'd have to rely on their own ships, which were OK but nowhere near the level of skill that Kannei and her crews would have. "I think I finally have a use for most of this stupid amount of manpower I've gathered. We can send Shia and Ren and the like out to those cities as a just-in-case, while the main force works the land campaign."

"Who are you thinking of mobilizing with the main force, Lord Ragna?" Shoukatsuryou asked.

Ragna closed his eyes and leaned back lazily into the throne, as best he could anyway. "The 'Five Tiger Generals', of course, and since Shuri came along last time, Hinari can come instead. Aside from that...I don't think I've seen En'ya in action yet. If Touka's willing to spare her, I'd like her to come along, as well as the Kakou sisters and Gakushin's group. This is the first major military exercise we've had since Gi; they've made decent steps with the odd bandit raid or two, but now's as good a time as any to see if they've gotten rusty."

Off to the side, Kan'u frowned, but said nothing. Kakouen, at this point, followed Ragna's orders as if Sousou had given them, and so too did Riten and Ukin. Kakouton tended to glare a lot, as did Gakushin, when Ragna gave orders, but Sousou's warnings had mostly straightened them out. Extending his trust to them like this would either further break down what few walls remained between the former Gi leadership and Zhuo, or serve as an avenue to make those walls even thicker.

This lack of protest didn't go unnoticed; Ragna looked in Kan'u's direction and offered a small nod and a half-smile, then turned back to the group at large. "We're leaving in the next three days. Everyone be ready by daybreak on departure day."

The council members all bowed to Ragna in response, then dispersed. Only Kan'u and Kada stayed behind, and Kan'u stayed quiet for some time before sighing and shaking her head. "I wonder if it's a sign of growing insanity that I no longer question your more ridiculous decisions. If Gakushin and Kakouton truly agree to cooperate, I may have to forfeit my right to be surprised at all."

Ragna chuckled, and got up from the throne, walking down the steps. Kan'u quickly fell into step beside him. "They may hate my guts, but you'd damn well better believe that they're not gonna waste time making trouble for me after the lecture that Karin gave them." He felt her hand brush against his, and he gently grasped it, twining their fingers together, before continuing. "She mostly insulted them a lot and told them to quit making Gi look like a bunch of ungracious losers. Kakouton looked like she was about to cry."

"I hope you had the decency to avoid laughing about it," Kan'u replied, her voice and expression stern. "I may not like Kakouton, but there's nothing worse than being scolded by someone you respect in front of someone you dislike. Laughing at her would probably make her hate you even more than she already does."

"Well, I guess I screwed that up, then," Ragna mumbled. Kan'u scrunched her brow up, giving him a look and a tired sigh that said pretty much everything she was thinking, but after a moment, she smiled with the air of someone worn out to the bone, and shook her head.

"Just don't make it worse, please, Lord Ragna," Kan'u said. "You'll have to assign her or Gakushin to one of us for evaluation, and I would prefer that I don't have Kakouton glaring daggers through my head with her one good eye while I'm trying to present a fair account of her actions in command."

Ragna let out a low laugh. "She'd probably do it anyway, but I'll see what I can do, Aisha." Despite the light smile on his face, Kan'u could see from the way the corners of his mouth seemed to droop a little bit that his thoughts were still on Go. "I need a minute to get my head together. We'll talk later, OK?"

"Yes, my lord," Kan'u said. She squeezed his hand gently, then nodded, let it go, and withdrew.

Once she was gone, Ragna let out a sigh and sat on the plush red carpet that led up to the main dais. After a moment of sitting quietly with his eyes closed, he shook his head. "I really didn't want it to come to this, Sonken. Really, I didn't. But if it's you or us...you damn well better believe that you're going to go down first." After a few more moments, he raised his head and gave Kada a tired glance. "You had something to report?"

"Well, I've managed to treat most of the sickness that's been going around, but...it's not normal," Kada said. "I've used a little magic here and there to confirm its origins, and...I think it's the Taoists. The worst part of it is that the soldiers are taking it the hardest, and I can't quite shake it on them. This was premeditated."

Ragna's face pinched up as he took a steadying breath through his nose. "Shit. Well, can we spare you or are you gonna have to handle this?"

Kada rubbed his chin. "The local doctors can pick up my slack for the time being," he said, "and if it really is the Taoists...well, they could be involved in a lot more than this. It'll be for the best if I go with you. I may be able to prove their involvement if necessary."

Ragna gave Kada a humorless smile. "Go thinks we were the ones that wrecked Tongbo and probably won't stop till they kill everything wearing Zhuo colors. Think you can handle that kind of pressure, Kada?"

"I thrive under pressure, Lord Ragna," Kada replied, grinning. "Just leave it to me."

Go-Zhuo Border, near Toutei

One year, eight months, and three weeks since the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven

In the end, the two armies did not meet for another few weeks after the attack on Tongbo, partially out of a need to avoid overtaxing the towns on the way to the border area, and partially out of a need to survey those towns and think of potential ways to protect them from retaliation. Things quickly changed, though, when Go got word of Ragna's latest position, about a day out from a neutral border town called Toutei. Thinking it likely that Zhuo's forces were retreating, Go quickly made their way to Toutei to engage Ragna's troops.

When the two armies arrived at Toutei, it was high noon and the town itself had been destroyed exactly like Tongbo had been. As the Zhuo army approached, Ragna looked upon Go's soldiers outside of and within the town's ruins with a surly frown and furrowed brow, rubbing his face with his right hand as Cerberus came to a stop. "Well, shit. What happened here?"

The Tiger Generals were riding in a line formation alongside him, but said nothing to Ragna's dismayed expression. Kakouton, who rode behind them with Kakouen and Gakushin's group, rolled her good eye and snorted. "The town appears to have been attacked, my Lord. Are there any other questions you have? Perhaps an inquiry about the color of the sky?"

"If you keep mouthing off to me, you're going to get an earful from Karin when we go back to Zhuo," Ragna replied shortly, cracking his neck. Kakouton bristled at Ragna's casual use of Sousou's true name, but held her tongue at the stare he gave her when she glowered at him. "That's not what I'm talking about, dumbass. Think about it. This town practically belonged to Go, so there's no way they would've attacked it. On top of that, this looks like it happened a couple of days ago, but Go must have known that we were coming here if they're arriving exactly when we are. If any of them have brains, they should be able to see that we couldn't have attacked the town."

Houtou adjusted her hat, then worriedly clasped her hands together. "I think I see what you mean, Lord Ragna. Toutei was attacked to draw both armies to it. It's likely that Go heard about it when we did and assumed that we attacked it, just like Tongbo, even when we clearly couldn't. We're being used as a scapegoat for someone."

Gien grunted in annoyance and hefted her large spiked club, staring at the Go army with a challenge in her eyes. "Who'd go to all that effort, though? What would they have to gain from getting us and Go to fight over this?"

Silence fell over the group for a while, but it was Kakouen that broke the silence. "The last time strange happenings were involved in a battle, that Taoist sect had a hand in what happened," she said, her voice cold with suppressed anger. "If they have as much hatred for Lord Ragna as their last trick implies, then it makes almost too much sense that they would try to frame him again."

The Tiger Generals all stiffened at that, while Houtou's eyes suddenly lit up as if she'd just realized something. Before she could speak, though, Ragna unsheathed Blood-Scythe with a grunt and a growl. He stared across the ruins of the town at the rapidly growing Go army, then shook his head and sighed again, spurring Cerberus forward; the sea of red-and-gold had begun to move towards them. "We don't have time to discuss it now. They're getting ready to mobilize and attack. Once we deal with them, someone needs to find Kada and tell him to report to me! He knows the Taoists well enough to know if they might be involved in this." He spared one glance over his shoulder. "Everyone, get your men and get them organized! Shion, Shuuran, you two are flanking and laying down cover fire. Aisha, Rinrin, you're with me on the front lines. Everyone else is supporting the flanking maneuvers, and Hinari, you're managing advance and retreat orders!"

The group nodded and dispersed to carry out Ragna's orders.

A few minutes later, the frontlines began to push against each other, raised in war.

Sonken, Sonshoukou, and Ryomou, in contrast to Ragna, were not in the thick of the fighting when the battle started; in fact, they'd been surveying the damage done to the city when their scouts gave word of Zhuo's forces just arriving outside of the town Kannei and her men had taken control of most of the primary battle units, leaving the others to survey the troop movements from behind.

This was a good thing, as Sonken was so distracted by the sight of Toutei's ruins that she could barely think. Ryomou's expression was carefully cultivated toward neutral, but her mouth was drawn into a tight line, while Sonshoukou seemed just as shocked as her older sister.

"...it seems like what happened to Tongbo," Sonshoukou said at last, "but it doesn't look fresh." Her cheeks puffed out in agitation. "Something's not right. If Ragna was just here, then why doesn't it look like it?"

"It's hard to say, Lady Shaoren," Ryomou said. She adjusted her hands within her sleeves and shook her head as she switched her gaze from the battlefield to the burnt-out husk of Toutei. "We would need to speak to the survivors of the attack, if there are any at all—but considering the state of the town, I doubt there are any, and that's suspicious enough all its own. "

The mention of Ragna's name from Sonshoukou seemed to rouse Sonken from her stupor, and she looked toward Ryomou with a pained expression. "Ashe, be honest with me. Do you truly think that Ragna would have done the likes of this to Tongbo unprovoked? You know him as well as I do at this point. He wouldn't do this."

"I may not want to make an enemy out of him, and quite honestly I don't think he would do this, but I won't assume anything is beneath Ragna of Zhuo so long as he is a potential threat to our country," Ryomou replied, her expression finally giving way to a frustrated frown. "I understand that you respect him, Lady Renfa, but right now, we are at war. You have to put your infatuation for him aside and concentrate on fighting him."

"This isn't about infatuation," Sonken said, her voice rising sharply. "Ashe, our men are out there shedding their blood for the sake of our country. I would prefer that they not die under false pretenses, especially if Ragna is innocent!"

Sonshoukou stepped between Ryomou and Sonken, her blue eyes flashing as her eyebrows lowered. "Ashe is right, Renfa," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Right now it sounds like you're just making excuses for Ragna. We know he didn't do this, but he still could have destroyed Tongbo. It's not impossible."

Sonken bit her lip, but didn't reply. After a while, she focused back on the battle. "We'll know the truth after Shishun fights him," she said at last. "If he spares her, then we know that he wants a different solution to this problem. If he kills her, then perhaps he's just as lost a cause as you think he is. And while she does that, Ashe, keep trying to figure out what Zhuo's primary plan is here. They've massed less soldiers than usual and we need an answer to their main strategy."

Ryomou almost wanted to argue again, but conceded the point after a moment of thought. Only the most desperate of situations would give him reason to kill an enemy general when they could be spared instead, and desperation alone would be a pretty good indicator that he wasn't as trustworthy as Sonken thought he was.

Of course, none of this occurred to Kannei, who was riding with her men to Ragna's flag. Battle was on her mind and victory was her plan. The group had chosen a simple but effective strategy; they were approaching from Ragna's blind side in separate groups, utilizing the chaos of the battlefield to cut a path to him that he wouldn't notice until it was too late. And, at first, this plan worked perfectly; they were unobstructed in their advance on Ragna's flank, and what resistance did appear was squelched before a warning could be passed on to Ragna's group.

Unfortunately, the keen eyes of Ragna's rear guard did not miss the slow advance of red and gold coming up behind them, and one shouted alert had Ragna's men about-facing and reorganizing themselves for a fight. When she realized that the element of surprise had been lost, Kannei sucked a tooth in annoyance, then turned to the men that were accompanying her. "Let the lead groups go first and draw the majority of the attention. Cover me until I can get close to Ragna. Once I kill him, I'll burn his flag."

The men around her nodded, and Kannei moved in, Sounding Bell drawn and ready to strike. Her men soon surged in front of her to block her from sight, and within moments, Ragna's guard was pushing them back. Kannei immediately slipped off to the side and continued forward, totally unimpeded, but the moment she got within arm's reach of Cerberus, the horse snorted loudly and bucked his rear legs at her, forcing her to jump back before her skull got crushed. For his part, Ragna just looked annoyed until he managed to turn Cerberus around, at which point he saw Kannei and her angry scowl and understood what had happened. Sighing, he dismounted from Cerberus and patted the horse's head with a mumbled "Good boy", then rolled his shoulders and settled Blood-Scythe, already drawn, into ready position.

"Almost had me there, Kannei. Too bad for you that Cerberus' ears are basically like a second set of eyes for him."

Kannei just bent her knees and ran at him in response. Sounding Bell whistled sharply as she swung for Ragna's stomach, and he replied by blocking the blow and pushing back, forcing Kannei's sword arm up and away. However, rather than let him get a free shot at her, Kannei moved with the force of the attack, launching into a backward somersault and landing with ease before darting off to the side. Rather than slash at him again, though, she lashed out with several fast punches from her free hand, aiming toward the center of his body and his head. Despite his best efforts, Ragna took her opening punch to the chin almost head-on, leaving him open for a few shots to his stomach and ribs before she finished her attack with a knee to the stomach and a slash that cut down his collarbone and knocked him over.

Before he could get up, Kannei darted in once again and thrust Sounding Bell toward his neck, missing only because Ragna had the sense of mind to roll away from the strike. The moment he had his feet under him once again, he swung Blood-Scythe like a bat, smashing the sword's dull side into Kannei's ribs. The force of the attack flung Kannei to the ground and forced her to drop Sounding Bell; by the time she managed to take a knee, he was already standing over her, showing mild irritation at either the attack on him or the bleeding gash that had torn through his jacket and the shirt underneath. Without a word, he put Blood-Scythe to her throat, and stood still, waiting patiently.

"You should kill me," Kannei said. "Lady Sonsaku will see capturing me as an insult, and she tends to repay those very viciously."

Ragna took a moment to spit a wad of saliva and blood off to the side. "Well, I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about Sonken. I've never dealt with Sonsaku, so I already know that she's not going to be inclined to listen to me. But Sonken knows me and Sonken will listen to me if I say I didn't do shit to Tongbo, or even to this place." He rolled his shoulders slightly and sighed. "Kannei, you're not an idiot. Why would I burn a city of non-combatants to the ground? Don't you think it's too convenient that all of this happened right when tensions were highest between Zhuo and Go? What the hell kind of sense does that make?"

Kannei grunted. "It makes no sense at all. But, still...that changes nothing. Someone did it, if not you, and if that was the case, then someone pushed the blame to you."

"Working theory right now is that this has something to do with those freaky Taoists that screwed with Sousou," Ragna said. He lowered Blood-Scythe, but kept his stare focused directly on Kannei, who winced as she got to her feet. "No proof yet—and we may not ever get any, considering how secretive those annoying bastards are—but I don't need it for anyone's sake but Zhuo's anyway, I don't care if Sonsaku ever believes we didn't do it. I'm sick of these idiots causing all this goddamn trouble for me, and I swear the moment I find 'em I'm gonna break their scrawny necks."

Kannei sighed, then flinched again as her injuries rattled her body. Ragna looked at her, as if suddenly remembering that she'd been hurt, then beckoned to her with Blood-Scythe. "Out of respect for Sonken, I'm not going to tie you up. Show me where she's at so I can have a talk with her and get this shit over with later. Don't try to run away, or you're dead."

His voice was even, and the promise to carry through on his threat didn't waver. Without offering resistance, Kannei did as she was told.

Go-Zhuo Border, near Toutei

One year, eight months, and three weeks since the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven

Three hours after Kannei's defeat

Despite Kannei's loss, the Go forces continued to fight on, led by their unit commanders, but morale began to flag and kept dropping despite their best efforts. Eventually, the main host was worn down by Zhuo's careful tactics; unlike Gi, Go didn't have an obscene amount of soldiers to hide behind, making the fight far more dependent on who could fight smarter. By drawing pockets of Go soldiers apart from the main force, Zhuo was able to use arrow fire and powerful cavalry attacks to thin out Go's numbers little by little, until eventually Sonken had to shake her head and sigh in frustration as the last lines fell. This left only Sonken's personal guard, Go soldiers that had surrendered, or Go soldiers that were too wounded to keep fighting.

Sonshoukou, for her part, was much angrier about this than Sonken—vocally and visibly so, given the lines in her brow and the snarl on her face—and nearly stomped off into the battlefield to fight until Sonken firmly grasped her by the head and forced her to stay still. Cheeks puffed out in annoyance, Sonshoukou rounded on her older sister, preparing an angry tirade, but stopped when she saw that Sonken's expression was tired, frustrated, and ashamed.

"We may have already lost Shishun today, Shaoren," Sonken said, her voice cold and angry. "Stop being a brat and accept that this is our defeat."

"We could have won!" Sonshoukou replied, her face still reddening. "Renfa, you idiot! Are you really going to let him just walk all over us like this because Shishun lost? Where's your pride as a princess of Go?"

Sonken's eyes narrowed. "I am many things, Shaoren, but I am not a fool. I did not come to this place seeking to lose this fight on purpose. Regardless of why Shishun lost, the result is the same—we've been defeated, and we don't have the manpower to turn him back anymore."

Ryomou simply nodded in agreement at this, though she looked even less pleased than Sonshoukou did. She reached into her sleeve, drawing out a telescope, and cast an eye over the battlefield. After a moment, she focused on one particular spot to the north, and said, "Ragna is coming toward us with Shishun. He should be here in a few minutes."

Sonken allowed a visible, relieved smile to cross her face for a moment, but let it pass almost immediately afterward. "I suppose I'll get my answers from him one way or another, now." She opened her eyes after a moment of silent contemplation, then turned to her guards. "Men. When Ragna approaches, step back and allow us to converse freely. He won't attack you unless you're hostile."

The soldiers looked as if they'd been told to kiss a frog, but nodded their agreement. With that done, Sonken turned her attention to the direction that Ragna was coming from, waiting quietly as the smells and sounds of the battlefield's dying breaths wafted in on the wind. Eventually, Ragna's footsteps gradually grew audible and louder until he was standing right in front of Sonken and her entourage, with Kannei still in front of him and Cerberus following closely behind him. His injuries from Kannei's attacks hadn't quite mended yet, and Sonshoukou smiled vindictively at the fact that at least he had gotten hurt for his efforts."

"Well, if it isn't a sight for sore eyes," Ragna said, smirking cockily. Despite that, there was no real mirth on his face; the smile was cold, and the irritation was almost tangibly rolling off of his body. "Hopefully you cleaned your telescopes as you came up to the town so you could very clearly see I didn't have jack shit to do with this—or with any other towns in an eerily similar condition."

Sonken sighed and barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Your observation is noted, Ragna, but your smug behavior is a bit much." After a moment of pointed silence, she folded her arms and stared straight into his face. "You imply what I want to know, but I would rather hear it clearly from you. Did you destroy Tongbo?"

Only the slightest hesitation showed in her eyes as she said that, and Ragna knew immediately what she meant. Letting his smile fade, he folded his arms and let his shoulders relax a bit. "Of course I didn't do it, you idiot. I already said it to Kannei. You guys know me. You all know that I wouldn't burn a whole town down and kill everyone in it—let alone do it twice. Do you not even verify shit with your spies before going out on a limb?"

"There was no one to verify with, Ragna," Sonken replied, rubbing her hand along her temple. "Tongbo was completely destroyed, and not a single soul was left alive. Given that, and the presence of Zhuo armory and livery in the ruins of the town when we did investigate it, you can see why my sister assumed the worst. You know perfectly well you probably would have done the same were our positions reversed—and if we didn't know better of each other."

Ragna grunted, which was the closest he was willing to get to admitting that she was right. However, before he could speak again, he was cut off by the sound of a horse approaching. He turned around just in time to see a tired, dirt-streaked, and grim-faced Kakouton ride up and come to a stop in front of him.

"We've found more of our livery and weapons in the town," Kakouton said. "No survivors to confirm that we didn't attack, though."

Sonken waved a hand, dismissing the implied concern in Kakouton's statement. "No need. As Ragna indicated earlier, we saw you riding toward Toutei as we were investigating the ruins for any clues about what had happened, and your army didn't look like it had made the trip from anywhere nearby and back again recently. That wouldn't have been enough to prove your innocence, save for the fact that the damage looks like it happened several days ago instead of as recently as was reported—even the trails left by the boots in the streets are old."

That admission caused annoyed scowls to cross both Ragna and Kakouton's faces, but only the latter spoke her mind on the subject. "Then why attack us? I never figured you for a warmonger, Chuubou Son."

"I didn't have a choice," Sonken said, her voice dipping into irritation. "All that our investigation of the town might have proved was that Zhuo had nothing to do with the attack on Toutei. Tongbo is a completely different matter altogether, and there's no way to prove that you all didn't destroy it. My orders were to capture Ragna and bring him back to Namyang to be dealt with." Her eyes narrowed. "I may not be in a position to do that, but the rest of Go is, and the rest of Go will. Are you truly prepared for that?"

Ragna's scowl darkened, but Kannei stepped forward with a pained wince from her injures before he could speak, and shook her head. "He doesn't really care if Lady Sonsaku ever believes him innocent or not, Lady Renfa. And we know, too, that at this point, Lady Sonsaku probably doesn't care either."

Kakouton allowed herself a nasty smile. "That's right. Much as a fool as he is, this man knows when words don't mean anything. When he rides to war, he rides wholeheartedly."

Sonken huffed and looked away, but the slight hitching of her shoulders spoke volumes to Ragna. He didn't call her on it, though, figuring that getting beaten as badly as she did would make anyone bitter. Instead, he gave Kakouton a dry stare. "All right, that's enough outta you. Go help the others secure any prisoners we've got hanging around, then tell them that we're calling a meeting."

Though her lip curled at the way Ragna spoke to her, Kakouton nodded tersely and rode off. Ragna looked back over the ruins of the nearby town, then shook his head and pressed his hand to his face once again. "Fucking Taoist bastards," he muttered to himself.

Once the wounded and the dead were attended to and all prisoners accounted for, Ragna met with his generals in camp, which had been set up a ways south of Toutei's ruins. With only Kannei on the field, no one had been too badly injured in combat; the only sign of battle that most of them showed were dirt-streaked faces and a drying sheen of sweat.

As he walked into the meeting tent, Houtou and the others stood up and bowed gracefully, returning to their standing or sitting positions as Ragna moved to sit on a simple folding chair. After taking a breath, he looked over all of them and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes. "Status report."

"We're still fighting fit at about 20,000 men," Kan'u said. "Casualties were fairly light, about 100 men or so for each of our squads."

Bachou spoke up after that, adjusting her headband. "There were no supplies left in Toutei, but our perimeter is secure; Rinrin and I did some scouting around, and there's no one in sight. We can afford to get established here to a certain extent before we keep pressing into Go territory."

"Sonken and her group are being fed and otherwise taken care of," Kakouen said. At her side, Kakouton grunted irritably and shifted. "The Go soldiers that are left have surrendered peacefully and my men are keeping watch over them with Shunran's forces as backup. They're not saying anything about any potential plans from the rest of Go, so I would recommend that we work on occupying a town and getting additional resources to bolster our supply train."

Ragna answered that with a sigh and opened his eyes. "Business as usual then. Good to know nothing's changed. How far out is our closest holding?"

"I would say about three or four days away, off to the northeast," Houtou replied. "We'll likely have a hawk back soon enough. I'll spend some time going over what maps we have of this area and prepare reports of other Go holdings we can deal with." She met Ragna's eyes, no longer afraid of his imposing figure like she had been when they first met so long ago now. "This won't be an easy road, Lord Ragna. Acquiring Gi has made things easier since we can now get supplies from Luoyang and most of old eastern Gi, but we have to take this slowly. A setback like the one in the early Gi campaign will be far more dangerous."

Ragna nodded, and idly cracked his knuckles. "If it was easy, then this would've been over already. Let's just keep it steady going for right now. We'll have our shot at Namyang soon enough." He looked over everyone once again, then said, "Go and rest up. We'll start working for real from tomorrow on out."

Go Kingdom, Namyang

One year, eight months, three weeks, and two days since the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven

Two days after Sonken's defeat at Toutei, news from the front was delivered directly to Sonsaku in the middle of court, while Kougai and Shuutai were occupied with running training drills for their men. The messenger that delivered the bad news was practically white-faced as he presented a piece of parchment to Sonsaku on the throne; he waited for her to finish reading it, then withdrew from the room entirely when he saw her hands clench and nearly rip the paper in two.

Once the messenger was gone, though, Sonsaku allowed herself one low, rumbling growl before she threw the letter aside and stood up. Shuuyu snatched it out of the air before it fell and read it quickly, then let out a curse and looked sharply at Sonsaku. "Sheren, don't get too ahead of yourself! It's Renfa's handwriting. She's alive for now, and so is Shaoren. We have time."

"And considering he destroyed an entire village," Sonsaku said, "I don't know how much longer that will last. I will put nothing past that man anymore, even if Renfa claims that these so-called Taoists may have destroyed Tongbo and Toutei instead." She began to pace, her brows knitted together and her lips pinched into a thin line. "Shishun's gone now, too. Which we were planning for, yes, but it doesn't make this any easier. For now, Meirin, I need you to send word to the remaining fortifications and towns; surrender is now a last resort. Make Zhuo bleed for every bit of land they take from us, and send some of our sea forces to harass their holdings on the coast. We'll decide on our second line of defense later today, once Aunt Sai and Minmei return from their patrols and drills."

Shuuyu bowed her head. "Of course, Sheren. But what about those Taoists she mentioned? Even if you don't believe that they were responsible for the villages, you know that Renfa wouldn't mention them again just to spare Ragna our anger, and this isn't the first time she's mentioned them."

The anger on Sonsaku's face faded slightly. Indeed, Sonken had made particular mention of the Taoist presence during the final battle of Gi at Xuchou, and though Sonsaku was willing to second-guess Sonken's impressions of Ragna, she wouldn't do the same for the Taoists. "Issue orders to keep a watch for them. For now, we act under the impression that they have nothing to do with any of this. Should proof of their involvement come to us, then we shall do as we need to do."

Shuuyu nodded again, then quietly glided up behind Sonsaku and gave the queen of Go a hug, resting her hands on Sonsaku's collarbone and nestling her chin into the crook of Sonsaku's shoulder. "It's all right, Sheren. You'll see Renfa and Shaoren again, alive. I swear it to you on the Shuu family name. Any word we receive of their well-being, I will give to you. And should that fool Ragna overplay a hand, I will cut it off and save them."

Sonsaku's body, enveloped by Shuuyu's warmth, began to tremble, and Shuuyu felt something wet drip onto her hands.

"As expected from my darling Shuu the Fair," Sonsaku replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Promising me the sun, and then finding a way to get the moon in the process."

There are myriad uses for deceit, especially in warfare. Diversion, psychological attacks, misdirection, morale-boosting—they are all appropriate ways to leverage whatever advantages you can get.

OK, so...I've been gone for a while. And that's kind of scary, especially since I don't really believe in posting chapter updates just to say "I'm working on the next chapter!" I much prefer to take my time and get something done for people to read so that I'm not falsely raising expectations.

To summarize what's happened without really getting too personal? Things got busy in the fall, and stayed that way for the months afterward. Then, when I got the free time to start writing again, I stalled out on this story. Repeatedly. I got many other ideas, as I'm wont to do, but they all had to take a backseat to keeping this obligation fulfilled.

So the solution in my mind became to just finish this one chapter, and use the momentum to keep pushing through, and it eventually worked. As for what's next, though...I'm trying something different.

From now on, I'll be writing Azure chapters "on rotation" with one other story, alternating updates roughly every two weeks or so (this may change if I make really big progress on either or both planned updates in the month). The plan is hopefully to keep myself motivated by not trying to write through the same big scene for two months and getting nowhere. The second story in question will be Stand and Vampire, mostly because it was pretty popular in that poll I ran and because I think the different pace is enough to keep me motivated to work. Expect that update to come out within an hour or two of this one, and expect S&V to be the next story to update in ~2 weeks since I've been working on Azure's chapter for longer.

Once Azure is finished (and trust me, I will finish it), the plan is to start posting Second Semester about 2 weeks after Azure's done.

That said, I'll see you guys in roughly a month or so with the next chapter of Azure, Proverb 15 (no title as of yet). Take care, and enjoy.

~ZS