Beautiful Predicament

Chapter 2 - A New Friend

      I woke up underneath the bright sun and amongst a forest of lush green foliage. It truly was beautiful here, I thought. Lushiro stood next to a white horse, brushing it. I wondered how he had ended up with it, but I concluded that that fact didn’t really matter. My eyes drifted down to my blood-stained sleeve, and my mind was once again filled with a sense of dread that blocked out any of my happiness. This dread turned into despair as I thought of the conversation I’d had with the doctor.

      I snapped out of my reverie as Lushiro turned toward me. At first he was grinning, but as he began to walk over to me, his smile transformed into a look of pure horror.

      “What’s wrong?” I whispered anxiously.

      He stopped in front of me and drew his sword. “See for yourself,”  he mumbled.

      My own face stared back at me, reflecting from the polished steel. I quietly gasped. My eyes had turned a bright crimson, and my skin was paler than ever. “I’m…turning into a monster!” I cried.

      After a moment, Lushiro shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he replied, his voice turning soft. He brushed a stray lock of hair from my face, and we stood there for a moment, our eyes seeming to be windows into our souls through which we peered. My heart beat rapidly as our faces drew near, and my eyes fluttered shut.

      “I’m…sorry,” Lushiro said bashfully. I opened my eyes to see him looking away from me, his face bright red. “I’m just a lowly samurai, and you’re like a princess,” he continued.

      “Social status doesn’t matter to me at all,” I replied honestly. I knew there was more I wanted to say, but I didn’t have the confidence to do so.

      Lushiro looked at me again and smiled brightly. Despite my lack of words, I think he had a good idea of how I felt.

      I winced as my wound began to throb once more. Seeing my sudden pained expression, Lushiro carefully guided me to the horse and lifted me up onto its back.

      “Where are we going?” I asked through gritted teeth.

      “Anywhere civilized. If we’re going to stay here, we need supplies as well as shelter,” he stated, mounting the horse and sitting in front of me.

      I wrapped my arms nervously around his waist. Even though I had never been completely sheltered back at home, one thing I had never done was ride horseback; I had always traveled in a carriage of some sort. Yet as the majestic horse carried me swiftly through the forest, my muscles relaxed and I began to admire the vivid scenery around me.

      While confined within the walls of my family’s towering pagoda, and despite my sentence to death, I would’ve never imagined the sense of peace and joy that I felt now. I was finally free and with my only close friend, someone who, now, I was quite sure I loved.

      We broke out of the dense vegetation and onto a field of lush grass. In the distance, atop a tall hill, loomed an enormous castle. I wondered why we were heading here of all places, then realized that this was the first true sign of civilization I’d seen while here.

      After we had covered more distance, we finally reached the bottom of the hill, and a dirt road came into view. Lushiro steered the horse onto this path and followed its gradual incline as well as numerous twists and turns. Several minutes passed before we finally reached the top, but our effort paid off. From here I could see miles of land stretching into the distance. It was a truly remarkable sight. However, Lushiro’s attention was on the ominous castle before us; it’s dark stone walls seemed out of place amid its colorful surroundings. Nonetheless, the guards let us pass through the gigantic archway after checking our horse for any weaponry or other harmful substances. Lushiro was clearly grateful when they ignored his sword. Perhaps it wasn’t considered much of a threat here anyway.