Chapter Text

In the heat of battle, the art of fighting will only get you so far. The real skill is to stand your ground without fear, to be able to kill without hesitating at all. The most experienced and strongest warriors can fall to much weaker foes in the blink of an eye. One mistake, one second of not paying close attention, one time having one more enemy at once than you can handle, is enough. Those were the words of my old Sensei Akiyama and I should learn the hard way how right she was. While the Samurai armies were defending the castles and cities from foreign attackers, there had to be someone doing the dirty work in the wilderness. The Samurai were outnumbered in a scale of one to ten, there was no man to spare on the battlefield. These circumstances led to the the appearance of the Nobushi. As a Nobushi you would most likely end up without proper armor, the only protection for your head being a wooden mask if you were lucky. This just made it even more important to protect yourself and your comrades from incoming attacks. I loved my Naginata, I lost count on how many times it's reach and versatility already saved my life. It was the only thing between the enemies and the village I swore to protect. The Vikings had always been aggressive. They attacked us again and again, for no reason other than bloodlust and greed. I despised them, yet the men and women I killed would never stop haunting me in my dreams. Every single viking wanted to believe they were fearless of death- and some actually were. In most cases however, fear would always conquer them when they actually faced their end. Doubt, that their „Great Hall“ in afterlife even existed could be seen in their eyes. I can still hear their screams.

„Hold the bridge!“ Me and three other warriors were the only barrier blocking the stone bridge that lead accross the river to the village. Of course we had tried to block the way with barrels, stones and anything that was available, but that didn't stop the viking horde from crossing too long. Our commander decided that we could not win and left us behind to give the villagers and the rest of the militia enough time to escape. I wasn't angry at her, it was the right choice. Yet my heart was still filled with fear when I saw the vikings climbing over our improvised barricade. It had rained a lot the last days, their armor was soaked and the vikings' steel was poorly made- part of our advantages that would allow us to keep them at bay for a while. This night however, was clear and dry, the moons and stars combined with the torches we lightened up at the bridge bathed the scenery in mild light. The river was wild and dangerous and the waters devoured every viking who slipped and fell off the bridge while climbing up the barricade. Due to the bridge only offering enough room for three people in a row, we were able to decimate the vikings rather effectively. I almost felt victorious for a split second. Then a huge bull of a man appeared on top of the barricade. He wore a metal helmet and a huge dane axe, but no armor. The vikings called these monsters Raiders. They were the ones who when they told you they didn't fear death, you knew they meant it. And although that was one of their strenghts, it also turned into their biggest weakness rather quickly. I would love to say that I stood fearless against this enemy and took advantage of his lack of armor when he started charging at us, but the truth is that I didn't move not because I was so brave, but because my legs stopped working because of how scared I was. When that giant monster charged at us, I was not the protector I had sworn to be, I was just a frightened girl. I would later realize that I hadn't been the only one whose body gave up, everyone in our group had the same problem. Except one. I didn't know her name, only that she had always been better at, well, everything than me. And in this moment she proved it again. One last time. She took a step forward and stabbed the Raider right in the chest and ran him through. A brief moment of victory, then an arrow hit her in the chest. The warrior slowly took another small step forward, fell on her knees and then on her face. In that moment, the dull sound of her body hitting the ground was the only thing filling the air. Then the silence was replaced by the battlecry of the vikings and they started rushing towards us again. I felt how my arms were trembling in fear. I was used to fight small numbers with a lot of backup behind me, but this was a lot different. I threw a strike against a viking near me who easily blocked it with his shield. Then something hit my stomach and made me lose my breath. I panicked, stumbled, something pushed me off the bridge. So I fell. And fell. As my back hit the water I felt a burning pain rushing through me. I gasped for breath, but my lungs were filled with water instead of air. My right hand still clinged onto my weapon as if it would protect me. It didn't. I felt how the current brutally ripped the wooden mask off of my face, then everything went black.

„This is the Naginata. A combination of spear and Katana, probably the best battlefield weapon you will ever get your hands on out here.“ the old woman said. „I will teach you how to use it, but that won't teach you how to fight. Keep that in mind when the battles start. You are not special, not unbeatable no matter how much you practiced. Now let's learn how to properly take care of this beautiful weapon, shall we?“

I woke up with my face and chest on the dirt, the lower part of my body was still resting in the water, gently being moved back and forth by the now calm current of the river. I threw up instantly, coughed out as much water as I possibly could. My lungs hurt with every breath as if someone had put a blade into it. All the pain I felt before instantly came back to me. My head felt dizzy and when I put a hand onto my forehead to check for a wound, I wasn't surprised to find a long cut, probably caused by one of the rocks in the river. I slowly dragged myself out of the water. Every small movement made my body cry out in pain but I knew I couldn't just lay here until I bled out, so I clenched my teeth and moved on. It felt like hours until I was finally completely out of the river. Still coughing, I turned on my back and looked up at the sky. There was not a single cloud to be seen and the sun was just about to rise. Suddenly, a bird started singing somewhere close, a light breeze touched my tortured skin. A sound that could have been a laugh escaped my lips, followed by a lot of coughing. Ironic, what a beautiful day.