Jumping Ship

Kizuna

I watched the ongoing battle with a faint feeling of disgust and nausea. I sat on a small throne on our flagship as our forces were being pummeled in the center of our formation. I felt it every time one of our men died and I couldn't stop it.

A small offshoot clan which had sworn loyalty to ours had not shown up for the battle today. Which meant I had to rearrange our forces to cover for that hole. Needless to say, the battle wasn’t going well without them.

I felt a punch in the gut as I heard a ship explode. The deaths of the crew and the earth god died violently. I leaned over and tried not to throw up on the deck. One of my two retainers rubbed my back softly. I held onto the feeling as I pulled myself away from the soldiers' suffering.

I raised my head again, the charms on my headdress jingled softly. I had to be strong, for the sake of my troops. The power of a budding god that I held within me gave them strength simply by being in my presence.

I was the princess of the Kirin clan and I more than any other member of my clan was the closest to becoming a god. Even my father’s transformation had slowed significantly. It was the highest honor we could achieve, to obtain the goal that all clans sought. To become a god and ascend to the heavens.

As such, my station demanded that I reside on one of our grandest ships. The Peace’s Edge had been designed with defense in mind. It was a blend of our traditional designs and from the Chinese but it had no sails. However due to how heavy it was with steel plates on the outside, it was exceedingly slow, even with two god cores.

I shut my eyes as one of the Eye-borrower clans ships was cracked in two. Even without them being connected to me, I could feel the deaths of the enemy clan. A kirin was a holy being that was meant to signify peace among other things. The very act of violence, blood and everything involving war went against its very nature, my nature.

Hidden beneath my multilayered ceremonial dress, I tapped my covered hooves against the ship deck. I could feel my retainers staring at me in disapproval but there was an anxiety within me that I couldn’t shake. It wasn’t due to the battle or senseless nerves. It was like something was about to happen, something familiar.

“My lady!” One of my retainers roughly grabbed me and dragged me behind the throne I sat on.

“Wha-!?”

Something large crashed into the deck and our bodies bounced against the deck. Wood splintered and slammed through the throne and through bodies. I gasped as their pain kept piling on top of each other, almost overwhelming me. I heard the screams of my men and I screamed with them. I barely felt my retainers cover my body with theirs.

The sickly sweet scent of my retainer's blood prevented me from falling unconscious from the pulsing pain of my men. I pushed them off of me, their blood smearing onto my clothing. Shards of wood stuck out of their backs. They were breathing faintly, but they needed medical attention fast.

I peered around the now broken throne to see a longboat smashed into the deck. Fire leapt from it and onto the deck of the Peace’s Edge. My men had leapt into action, spilling chemical solutions onto the spreading fire. Medical staff began to treat or move men to safer spaces other than the deck.

Instinct warned me to look out into the sky. Several Eye-borrower ships were rushing through a hole in our lines, intent on capitalizing on this opening. They ignored my ships moving to pursue, hellbent on sinking the Peace’s Edge.

The vice-captain of the ship's voice echoed from the speaking tubes set throughout the vessel. “Hold, and brace for impact from the bow, starboard and port sides. Men on deck, focus on the fire. Ready the cannons decks two through four.”

I paused as I saw movement on the small ship. A man in a frightening mask exited the cabin with a god orb under one arm and a little girl in a red kimono tucked under his other arm. He leapt through the fire and onto the deck. I staggered as I felt a pulse ripple through me. That was the man that I had been waiting for all this time. The seer had been right, I’d know the moment I saw him.

He rushed past me, our eyes meeting for a moment, a single long moment. He rushed off to the back of my ship, dodging around my men who were injured. The only thing back there would be… the longboats.

“Take my retainers to the medical bay!” I shouted at a pair of samurai about to give chase to the masked man.

“Yes my lady!” they shouted in unison.

That man wasn’t going to get away without taking me with him! I took off at a run, leaving behind my retainers with the samurai. Some regret wanted me to turn back, to make sure my retainers would be alright but this would be my only chance and I had accepted that a long time ago.

I followed after the man as he ran though my ship. I slipped off layers of my ceremonial dress until only the last layer remained, a simple white kimono. I turned a corner as he hopped onto a longboat. They were big enough to house ten men with equipment. I hopped onto the back almost silently as he vanished into the interior that spanned the whole middle of the boat. For once I was thankful that my retainers had made me wear padding on my hooves today.

I staggered as the Eye-borrower ships began to pound into the metal plating of the Peace’s Edge. It would survive and the day would end in a stalemate. That is what the seer had said long ago. Or at least she said it to keep the burden off of my conscience. I fell onto the deck as the longboat undocked and fell several feet through the air before spiritual energy took hold.

Who are you?

A voice asked at the edge of my mind. It sounded just like a little girl’s voice and that of a being older than her years.

My name is Kizuna and I own this ship. In return for not alerting my samurai to your presence, I’d like a ride back with you. I have an important job that only your friend can do.

I allowed her more access to my mind, to touch upon my sincerity.

You… you don’t want to become a living god? Why?

I had opened my mind too much so I pulled closed the shutters guarding it, leaving only a small gap.

I don’t want to become a living god or ascend to the heavens.

Her voice was silent for a moment before continuing.

I can understand your plight, at least a little. I will not tell Eien that you’re here with us. However you’re on your own when you try and convince him to help.

I relaxed and sat with my back to the wall.

Thank you.