Through the Eyes of the Dragon

Chapter 38

Chapter 38 - Prison Break

"... Are you sure this is going to work?" Tachibana Muneshige murmured as he peered out at the guards behind them nervously. He spoke in a hushed, lesser Aerosian dialect that the generals and some of the outer villages took advantage of when in tense situations such as so, as to prevent eavesdropping.

Shrugging his shoulders slowly, Mizuki Tadatsune stared down at his crappy sandals, remembering his cellmate's inspiring words. "Matsudaira insisted that it was necessary that we strike either today or tomorrow... something about how the time was right and such. Though, I still don't see how we can bust through without getting ourselves killed."

Sighing, Muneshige paused outside his cell, stalling shortly before he was roughly shoved and locked inside. Tadatsune went along with his guard's ushering however, stepping into his cell peaceably and watching through narrowed eyes as the man locked him in and wandered off.

"Today, huh? Is he gonna give us a signal or something or like, what?" General Tachibana grumbled, picking himself up from off the ground and shuffling closer to the front so he could continue to talk with his friend.

"Well, he's not here right now, so I have no idea," Tadatsune grunted, slumping himself down in front of his cell bars and sighing deeply, "I just hope someone does something soon. That journalist guy from before struck a nerve in me and now I just want to prove him wrong!"

Nodding slowly, Muneshige picked at the sediment on his cell bars, scowling at how unsanitary it was. "Masamune or Tatsuya will think of something, wherever they are. That's all I'm using to keep myself going, anyway...,” he mumbled, withdrawing his hand to bang his head against the bars a few times.

A tad alarmed by his friend’s self-abuse, Tadatsune reached out a hand to wave at Muneshige, seeing as he couldn’t do anything else. “Hey! We’re gonna get out of here, okay? We’re gonna get out and kick Oda’s ass, definitely!” he insisted, his voice sharp to catch his companion’s attention.

Ceasing his banging, Muneshige smiled slightly at his friend’s optimism, sticking out an arm to grab Tadatsune’s hand. Yes, even if they had lost most of Aeros... they were still alive. They still had hope. They could still prevail!

“‘Ey, you two! Get back!” an approaching guard snapped, and instantly the two generals withdrew to the back of their cells. “Disgusting Aerosian slime...”

“I call dibs on killing him first,” Tadatsune mumbled, scowling  after the Azuchian distastefully.

A long sigh escaped Muneshige. “Go right on ahead.”

Motoyasu joined them later that evening, looking beaten and tired when the guards hauled the man to his stinking bed and exited without answering Tadatsune’s inquiries. Although, once his inmate had regained himself, he revealed that the guards had begun to get wary of his movements, and hence had taken him into the interrogation room where he was brutally questioned and tortured.

Not daring to inquire about their breakout plan now, Tadatsune returned to the front of his cell, resuming his previous conversation with his friend. "They're getting anxious about something, those Azuchian asses. We'd best be on our heels," he murmured, glancing back at where Motoyasu now rested.

"... I heard running upstairs, so I don't think we'll have to wait that much longer..." Muneshige murmured, lifting himself up onto his tippy toes and moving his ear to the cold, slimy cell wall.

Sure enough, something sounded overhead, shaking the prison and arousing all the guards from their lazy slumber. Alarmed, they all started running around, barking orders to each other and screaming at hopeful prisoners.