The Vilnipolya Sich Part 2

Hikari was a broken man, his cultivation, his love, and his innocence were lost all at once and here both him and Chad were. Running into the night like a couple children who broke something in the house and didn't want to get caught. They ran all night and yet Hikari didn't feel it, all he felt was the pit of infinite sorrow that was his gut right now. Now the sun was cresting the Eastern horizon and the pair made it to another small town that was surrounded by farmlands. “Alright hand me your cash and hide behind this tree. You're coated in blood still, we need to get you some new clothes.” Chad ordered as he stuck out his hand. Hikari in his mindless sorrow complied and handed Chad all the paper cash money he had made during their time at the carnival, he never spent any of it anyways. Chad took the wad and ran off while Hikari sat under the boughs of a lonely pine tree. There he sat for a while and forgot who he was, far from home, haunted from the grizzly act he committed last night, and exhausted from a night spent running. Sitting under the boughs of a tree that creaked and whipped in the vicious steppe winds above him. Hikari looked out at the rising sun and for a moment had no idea who he was anymore. He was scared, someone else, a murderous stranger, whose whole life was some haunted and evil thing. Here Hikari was halfway across the world and stretched to his breaking point, and he didn't know if he could ever really pull himself together again. As he meditated upon his misery Chad would come with a duffle bag on his back and a change of clothes for Hikari. Hikari would strip down to his nagajuban, packing his blood stained kimono into his pack. There Chad handed him a shin length black wool coat with a row of small decorative tubes on each breast. The thing was old and musty smelling and had plenty of holes, but worked well enough as Hikari, for a moment he thought to flip his bloody obi belt inside out and wear his sword again. Yet as he grabbed the thing he couldn't bear to look at it as his hand shook just holding it. Instead he packed his obi with his Kimono, tied his sword to the side of the pack securely, and opted to use a rope from said pack as a belt instead. With a quick exchange the two were off on the road West again after skirting the outskirts of the town in the early morning.

“Well at least I don't think we have to worry about any law coming after us at the very least. Considering the guy was Daionian and we're fully in true Vilnipolyan territory. It's my understanding though I'm no history buff that the the Grand Daion Khanate had conquered these lands back a long time ago but the Vilnipolya Sich revolted and kicked the Daionian Khans out, and the Vilnipolyans never really lost the grudge. Between that and how battle mad these people are, I doubt anyone is gonna investigate the death of womanizing carny too much.” Chad explained as they walked trying to ease Hikari’s worries, for he still remembered the first time he killed someone himself and he didn't take it much better. The only sign that Hikari had acknowledged anything Chad just said was a mutter and nod as he walked. By mid day the exhaustion set in for both of them and Chad dragged them off to some roadside truck stop to where they'd buy their own lunch for the first time since they set out from Muryowa. Chad ordered for the both of them, he got dumplings while Hikari got some sort of bright red stew with beets among other things in it. Chad ate quickly while Hikari couldn't bring himself to look at his food with how much it reminded him of the blood. Though after a reprimand from Chad Hikari would eat his now cold stew for the sake of nourishment while trying to not look at it or spill too much. Physically the food made him feel better yet mentally he was still as exhausted as ever. Chad paid and the two were on their way once again, thumbs out as they walked down the side of the hot asphalt.

Chad saw Hikari's dread, and no doubt miserable internal dialogue and sighed trying to think of a way to at least get him to quit feeling so sorry for himself. Nobody seemed interested in picking up a hitchhiker who looked tempted to throw himself under their tires before they stopped, or that was what Chad told himself as the trucks and armored vehicles rolled on by. Though deep down he did have something of a brotherly affection for the Hikari, traveling with some for months on end will usually do that. “You know I remember the first time I killed a guy.” Chad stated as they walked which made Hikari lift his head to listen, his words cutting through the nonsense going through his mind like a hot knife through butter. “Ya the Henrikan government doesn't exactly give out licenses to kill unless they expect you to use it. It was eight years ago I was on my second big mission, back in Daion. A local Khan was threatening to stop foreign oil sales in his territory and the crown nor the coin were so pleased about it. Anyways my job was to create a distraction for the more experienced agents to slip and take care of some things as it were. So I bashed one of the Khan’s cars and made its alarm go off, I was supposed to just slip off back into the darkness. Yet what I didn't realize was one of the Keshig’s were out taking a piss and his route back to his post ended up crossing my escape route. We both saw each other at the same time and my training kicked in. I didn't think, I didn't even really consciously shoot him It feels like, yet my hand went down, a silenced pistol went up, and the guy got a new hole between his eyes before he could say anything.” Chad hesitated for a bit as he tried to think of how to elaborate. “I've had to kill plenty in my time as an agent but that's the one that always sticks with me. He had to be my age or maybe younger, probably only got hired on because he was someone's kid or something. His face, what could be parced from the blood and gore was just frozen in surprise. I killed him before he even really realized what was going on, and then I had to run and grab his body that was just bleeding, shitting, and pissing everywhere. It made a mess all over me but I couldn't just let the other keshig find his corpse. Ended up having to drag the body all the way back to the rendezvous point. Once we were out of ear shot my superiors were just screaming at me about how much of a fuck up I was and how I almost blew the mission. Hell I was shaking like a leaf the whole time a lot like you are now. It'd have taken me a while to get to terms with it if they had let me, but sooner rather than later I was back out in the field and those times it was my job to kill. That feeling never really goes away, you just kind of come to terms with it after you do it enough. All I can tell you is, at least your first kill was for a worthy cause, and I'm real sorry about that girl you were sweet on.” Chad rambled as he beared his soul to Hikari while they walked.

What Chad said made Hikari think for a while as they walked, for the first time that day there was something in his mind other than last night. Even if they were related, he thought about the wars between Muryowa and the Foroned Coaserdom of Henrika. How much blood must have been spilled by people not unlike the either of them here. How his ancestors defended Muryowa and never lost their cultivation because of it. This comforted Hikari if only a little, enough to make him a human again instead of a walking ball of misery. “I got to ask, if you've killed and done all these covert missions, why did you help me when we first landed in the Grand Daion Khanate? In the city when we got attacked by all those other Muryowa, surely you could have let them or the keshig get me and then sneak back to Muryowa on a ship undetected.” Hikari asked as he started walking a little more perked up now. “Honestly? Because I decided I was going to use this as a vacation. I've been stuck doing wet work day in and day out with hardly a break between missions for years now. So I decided to play along and turn this into a trip. Besides you're an alright enough guy, and any new regime we arm in Muryowa is just gonna come bite Henrika in the ass down the line like they all do.” Chad answered in turn. “So does that make us friends then?” Hikari asked with vulnerability in his words and a wounded soul. “Really? Gods you people are so earnest it makes me want to vomit. Yes Hikari, we're friends now, for better or worse.” Chad sighed and answered before chuckling a bit to himself. Hikari didn't smile, he was still too beat up about what happened last night to do that yet, but he did nod to Chad in gratitude. “Thank you my friend.” Hikari responded his weary soul now a little more at peace.

Eventually the two would get a peculiar ride to say the least. A real big treaded vehicle not completely unlike what Chad drove for the carnival, except for the fact it had a giant gun barrel sticking out of the front of this extra top end. A real tank pulled over for them and a mustached Vilnipolyan popped his head out of the hatch. He asked where they were going, Chad made up some lie about being mercenaries and the tank drive told them to hop on the sides. Chad translated the request to Hikari and the two found themselves flanking either side of a tanks main turret sitting atop the guard over the treads as the thing raced fast as a car down the highway. The wind was too cold and the open air ride too dangerous for either man to fall asleep. Instead it was time for Hikari to brood in silence except for the rushing of wind past his ears. There the thoughts of what Hikari should have done flooded his mind. How maybe he could have just thrown the shape changer out or beaten him unconscious with the saya. Then he'd have been just the heroic savior of Aiko instead of the angry murderer he turned into. Had that gone differently maybe the event would have spurned Aiko away from the carnival and she'd have join their travels then and there. Then his thoughts went to Aiko, what happened after they ran off? Could the murder have been pinned on her? What if she was arrested, or worse what if she was killed in some revenge by the shape changer’s friends. He damned himself inside his mind for not having his act together enough to actually try and help Aiko. For a moment Hikari seriously pondered jumping off the tank and running back to the carnival, he had to save Aiko. This was his responsibility and he loved her damn it, what the shit was he doing running away when the woman he loved might be framed for his crime? Hikari seriously considered jumping off the tank several times like a damn fool until the high speed of the tank and human fear knocked some sense into him. Hikari sat back on the tank, Aiko had gotten herself out of dozens of scrapes before they met, she had told him stories of doing such herself. She was a smart woman that was far better acquainted and suited to this land than he'll ever be. No, the only thing his running off would do is make things worse for both himself, Chad, and Aiko. He hated himself more than he knew he could hate something for how last night went down, but now he just had to go with it. Though still he didn't want to accept that he'd never see her again, much like Bataar or Old Man Kou.

After passing hours away on the tank the massive thing would eventually pull over at a truck stop to refuel. When its mustached driver went inside to pay for gas Chad hopped off and Hikari followed. Not wanting to get caught up in Chad's lie and end up sent to the front lines of whatever conflict was happening in this land they struck off while they had the chance. A couple teenagers in a ratty car would end up picking them up next and driving them a few towns west before dropping them off and heading South instead. Night had come out now and the fires of battle illuminated the northern horizon ever so faintly. Chad found a cheap old motel for them and paid for a room that night. They set their packs down and the first thing Chad did was go into the bathroom and take a shower, his first brush with cleanliness that wasn't hastily washing himself with handfuls of water from a barrel at the carnival. As he waited Chad fumbled with the buttons and turned the hotel room TV on. He couldn't understand a word of the programming but he wanted the noise and visual stimulation to distract himself from his dark and dreary thoughts. Chad took a while but finished his shower and came out of the bathroom with a fresh change of clothes. Hikari would go in after him after he shut the door and looked in the big bathroom mirror; he once again didn't recognize himself or know who he really was. Eventually he stripped down and stepped into the shower before fiddling around and discovering what made the thing shoot water. There Hikari stood in the cold waters of the shower brooding to himself until the cold sank into his bones and shook him from his torpor of misery. He dried himself off and got dressed before leaving the bathroom and crawling into his separate bed. This was the first time either him or Chad had slept with a real roof over their heads since Muryowa and between that and the exhausting day and night they had, when Hikari's head hit the pillow he fell to sleep instantly. Chad was about the same earlier and was already asleep by the time Hikari was done in the bathroom. Chad was too low down exhausted to remember his dreams that night which was a mercy. Both would end up sleeping well past the morning of the next day, though Chad would be the one to wake up first and stir Hikari from his slumber. The two got to their aching feet and slowly got ready for the day ahead.

They'd get a breakfast at some eatery next to the hotel, Hikari would have some sort of sweet bread with jam and an orange, the latter of which he had for the first time and enjoyed to the point where he pocketed the seeds from the fruit for later. Hikari was still fully hounded by the events of the carnival but today he was actually a functioning human in spite of it. The two would hit the road later in the evening than they'd normally want to, but a day of rest in hindsight is exactly what they needed. Eventually a couple men in an SUV would pick them up off the side of the road. Only after a few minutes into their ride for one of the men to turn around and aim a revolver at Chad and start shouting. Hikari's eyes went wide on account of how he couldn't easily unsheath his sword nor was he sure he could actually cultivate his energy and stop him. Chad however reacted before the blink of an eye by smacking the gun hand away and pinning its attached arm between his own arm and the driver's seat before reaching under his shirt and producing a handgun of his own before pressing it against the gunman's head. The driver stomped the breaks of the SUV and the thing lurches to a sudden stop. “Hikari grab the damn gun!” Chad shouted before Hikari jumped to action and tried to wrestle the gun away from the gunman only for the thing to go off into the seat behind them and deafen everyone in the car. Chad would pistol whip the gunman in the face smashing his nose in before putting the gun to the driver’s head. With the smashing in of his nose Hikari successfully wrestled the gun from his hand and pointed it at his head. With the SUV stopped Chad opened the slid out of his seat with Chad mimicking his movements in tandem. With both of them out of the SUV Chad fires a couple shots into its trunk and the thing drives off as fast as it can. “What even was that?” Hikari asked Chad as he handed him the gun. “Bastards wanted to rob us and gods know what else after.” Chad responded as he took the revolver from Hikari. “And where did you get that first gun? I don't remember you having it before.” Hikari questioned further. “I bought it at the pawn store I bought your jacket from, and by the gods does it feel good to have one again. I felt naked without it for so long, besides if your magic is out or whatever then it's up to me to defend us now.” Chad explained before he holstered his pistol and pocketed the new revolver.

The pair would run off and switch the road they hitched on after that, as to not worry about their would be robbers exacting revenge. Normally Chad would have just shot them but with him being in a foreign land on no official business and everything that Hikari has just gone through he decided against it. Another day of hitchhiking passed with another stay in a hotel and a meal of cabbage rolls and potato pancakes the pair would be picked up by and old couple in a truck who had most of their belongings packed with them and were heading West to avoid the sudden onset of fighting in the North. Hikari didn't know what the fighting was about and he didn't care, he just wanted out of this land that drove him to the point of total misery and then some. That and he still hoped Aiko had managed to get away from that murder unscaved, with the tiny impossible dream that maybe she'll head West too and they'll meet at the border or some such fools dream. After most the day of riding the pair would be dropped off in a large railway city that seemed to be built around some sort of old fortress that bordered a great forest. “Zelenivorota, just as planned. Now all we need to do is hop a train to the Republic of Fyhelean and we'll finally be out here.” Chad explained as he gestured to the city. “Why do we have to hop a train? Can't we just walk or hitch over?” Hikari asked in confusion. “Because non-island countries have to worry about these things called borders, and they don't just let people pass without paperwork. Especially when the country next to you is a military dictatorship that erupts into war every decade or two.” Chad answered as the two walked into the city towards the rail yards.