The Wandering God

42 Twist Into A Single Rope 1/3

擰成一股繩
níngchéng yī gǔ shéng
Twist into a single rope.
Stick together; make joint efforts.

*~*~*~*~*~*

It felt like Kageyama was drowning, and everytime he got near the surface, something would drag him back down again.

The black waters of unconsciousness surrounded him, until they became all he knew. Who was he? How did he get here? What was that voice calling his name? What was his name?

Though the blackness came flashes of images, as though caught for only a moment in reflecting glass. Soldiers in black and green. Horses. Makabe, angrily prancing beneath an unknown rider. And trees and trees, and then plains, and then... a black rock, rising into the sky...no not a rock... a fortress...

"Sho Sensei, please wake up."

That was Sanli's voice. Had the boy had a nightmare again, and come to him in the middle of the night for comfort? But no...images of Sanli grown flashed through Kageyama's mind. The boy was a man grown. They had been in a cabin in the woods... he had heard a noise...

"Sho Sensei!"

Kageyama's eyes flew open.

There was not much to see. He was stretched out on cold stone, more stone before him. The chiseled black blocks of the fortress.

"Sanli?" His voice was hoarse from disuse.

"Sho Sensei!" Kageyama could hear the tears of relief in Sanli's voice, though he could not see them. Where was Sanli?

"What-what happened?" he questioned, hating that he did not know. He tried to sit up but failed. His arms were bound tight with lengths and lengths of thick woven ropes, wrapped so many times around he felt like a cocooned moth waiting to break free. "How did we get back to the fortress so quickly?"

"It wasn't quick. It took two days. Captain Duan and a troop of soldiers ambushed us at the cabin. They had a scribe with them..." Sanli's voice choked. "He put a collar on you, just like the one Duan wore...and everytime... everytime you started to gain consciousness, they would choke you until you passed out again."

That explained the feeling of drowning then, and being unable to surface. He could feel it now, the cold metal band about his neck. The skin beneath it was rubbed bloody.

Shame burned across Kageyama's skin.

He remembered going into the forest. He had seen movement behind a tree. Tensing, preparing to draw his sword... and then something had struck him from behind.

The oldest form of ambush there was. How could I have been such an idiot?

Kageyama struggled again to sit up, but succeeded in only turning himself over. A dull pain throbbed in the back of his head, and a more powerful one burned in his shoulder. He compared it to all the other injuries he had had over the years. Most likely a sprain, not severe enough for a break or dislocation.

Kageyama quickly assessed their surroundings. A dark cell, the only light a sliver from beneath the door. In it, Kageyama could see stone walls, iron manacles hanging from them, and beside him...

Beside him was Sanli, similarly bound, though a less extreme amount of rope had been used.

"Are you hurt anywhere Sanli?"

"I am fine, Sho Sensei. Once they tied me, they lost interest in me. You were the one they kept... kept..."

Kageyama hated the fear in Sanli's voice. You swore to protect him. And look how badly you have failed.