Her Blood On Your Hands: Part 6


 * This story is from Old Age Canon. Some of the lore may have changed. Author: WinterAnswer

Previous: Her Blood On Your Hands: Part 5, Continued: Her Blood On Your Hands: Part 7 Nuly knew what was at risk. She knew that failure out here among her enemies meant death. There was the chance that they may even torture her for information if her alias was compromised. That used to be her most prominent fear, but, the day she received that document containing her new identity, she learned a new and more potent kind of phobia.

"We have had several recruits not contact us after they were sent off," General Suklin told her and Nuly's eyes detracted from the parchment to look at her. "The northerners we've trained seem to have a tendency to defect."

"I don't plan to switch sides, ma'am," she responded neutrally, wondering if the general was questioning her faithfulness.

"I sure hope that's true considering your oath of loyalty prohibits you from doing so.  But if you were found to have deserted your duty," Suklin warned, eyes unmoving and unwavering from Nuly, "there would be consequences.  Do you know what would happen?"

"A charge of treason, death."

"That's correct, but considering the severity of such a charge, you should know that there might be consequences concerning your family."

Flashes of mother and father pulsed through Nuly's mind as did a spark of dread. "Uh...what do you mean?"

"Well, considering that your alias must not be broken, we will give you a year at least for you to return to us.  During that time, we will be keeping track of your family.  After that year and you still have not contacted us in any way, investigations will be made to see if your intentions were true to heart.  If we find that you were planning to defect, charges will be brought against your family and relatives.  Maybe even fines." Nuly's mouth moved but she struggled to get the words out, fear and misunderstanding clouding her head.

"What kind of investigations, if I may ask...ma'am?"

"Interrogations.  We question them to see if your loyalty and theirs is rightfully placed.  But you and your family shouldn't fear anything if you don't have anything to hide." Nuly was partly offended that she was questioning their devotion, but she swallowed any retractions she had and regained her composure.

"No, ma'am.  They are as loyal as I am to this clan.  But..." That same dominant fear of becoming a causality in this war came to her again. "What if I die?  Will there still be investigations?"

"It's possible.  We have recruits that review the enemy rosters, when they can of course.  The removal of your name from the roster could mean that you perished while completing your duty, but it could also mean that you've changed your name, a way to remove your alias.  That's happened before.  And we have no other means of knowing if you have abandoned us or not."

"So if I die, my family could be accused of helping me defect?"

"Like I've said, it has happened before.  Our clan is tired of deserters, and this is a way to make them reconsider their decision if they were planning to do so.  Many officers consider it equal to taking hostages, but others, including me, consider it to be leverage."

It didn't matter how you traded or switched the words and meanings around, Nuly thought, this was still teetering on the line of being an open threat. "This is just to inform you, Sao.  We are not putting your loyalty to Clan Reono in question.  This is just a warning to those who have thought about turning their backs on us."

Nuly was still confused about this new development, but she took in a quick breath and stood at attention.

"I plan to complete my assignment, General Suklin.  I have no intention of abandoning my clan." Suklin appeared to be satisfied with her stated level of commitment, clasping her hands behind her back.

"I trust you, Sao.  Don't make me regret it." Even that statement had the tone of a warning. Nuly would later remember the stigma Yurgie had mentioned months ago. Even if she and her parents weren't charged, rumors could spread, talk and gossip manifesting into lies that could worsen her family's already harsh situation. Northerners weren't usually hired, even discriminated against by many southerners. She couldn't tell how far the lies would spread, or how deep they would cut. A year was just enough, she thought. Enough to seem like a Shigu. Enough to get close to the General. Enough to complete her mission.

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An officer had awaken Nuly in the middle of the night, leading her into a large building where the city leader and counsel members might have resided. Inside, Rain sat at a large desk, picking at her teeth with her index claw. The room they were in was ransacked, furniture thrown about the room among the articles of paper on the wooden floor. Two guards stood watch at the door while Nuly stood before the General and a lone advisor, who seemed to dare not even let out a breath.

"It is well to see that you have survived...um," Rain stuttered, breaking her stare. "What is your name again, soldier?"

"Luka Valias," Nuly responded whilst in attention.

"Luka," Rain repeated, looking as if she enjoyed saying the name. "Since we have some time now, let's discuss your sudden appearance before my army." Nuly gave them her story, the advisor taking notes with a quill pen on the desk beside Rain as she listened.

Three months ago, Luka was captured after an ambush from Reono soldiers near the Kukusza Mountains. She believes herself to be the only survivor of her squad. The Reono transported her to one of their camps, interrogating her for days for any information she may possess. She denied to know anything, and considering her low rank, her captors decided not to resort to torture.

Instead of transporting her away as a prisoner of war, she was forced to work as a maid, servant, and on certain occasions, sex slave. But only for the high commander, Luka would state, she was only to be used by him. For months, she served food and drink to the officers and a few high-ranking infantry. She caught a few names, like Junia, Lolo, Min, and Hunja. Her keeper, for lack of a better word, was Lumnico Burkao, high commander of the camp.

Luka's career as a serverant to Clan Reono ended when Lumnico had asked her to perform oral on him one night. Instead of submitting, Luka, out of complete disregard to her own fate, bite down and removed one of the commander's testicles, spitting it out onto the floor of his quarters. But instead of executing her at that very moment, the commander's subordinates convinced him that she should be killed before the sight of her allies. The commander agreed, telling Luka, "I'm going to rip the flesh off of your hide and make you eat every last piece." The next morning, she was taken by a squad out into the desert.

For the entirety of her trip, Luka was blindfolded and escorted by a leash. The soldiers that were leading her even had a little fun leading her into trees, rocks, cacti, and tripping her into ditches. Even a few had tried to rape her during the night, but thankfully their captain had stopped them before anything could have been started.

When the Reono came to the village, she was placed in a single cell in a local jail. For a day, she waited there before she was to be taken to the front lines, and flayed before her comrades. When that night came, as the soldiers came to check on her, she laid motionless in a corner of the cell. When they opened the gate and walked in, she attacked. It was three to one, and she was quickly becoming overwhelmed by their blows. That is when she just decided to escape the cell, out into the village, and run for the forest. She was surprised they didn't try to kill her, and when she had ran long enough, she found she had evaded them.

Using what she had learned from her superiors, she looked for the Ticlo star in the sky, a bright star which designated the direction of south. She ran opposite of it, and soon happened upon a squad of Shigu soldiers. "Permission to question, General," the advisor spoke up after the few seconds of silence that preceded Luka's story. Rain nodded. "Can you tell us anything you saw, oh well, considering you were blindfolded for much of the way.  Um...what can you tell us about what you heard or smelt while you were being taken to this village?"

"Nothing much," Nuly responded, "I could smell fires, hear streams, rivers, people talking, children running through the streets.  Also I heard the sounds of gates opening, large ones."

"Where?" the advisor asked.

"Near another village or camp, weeks ago.  I could also hear a lot of clanking of armor.  Many footsteps too, soldiers, but we just moved past them.  But a few days before I came to this village, we seemed to accompany another army which would have been the army we faced today."

"But the soldiers you heard before you came here, what direction were they headed?"

"I would not know that, sir.  Some we just past, others seemed to move away from us."

"How many, throughout your entire trip until you came to this village, would you say that you've encountered?"

"The clacking of armor?"

"Yes."

"Several, more than seven, I believe."

"How big did they sound?"

"I can't say for sure.  Maybe groups of thirty to a hundred?" For a moment, the advisor seemed to ponder that in his mind, letting the quill hover over the paper he was writing on. Nevreans had made a business giving the many races of Vilous their feathers to use as writing utensils.

"When did you hear the largest group?" he asked without looking at her.

"I believe it was the army we followed to this village."

"Yes, but when?"

"About...two days ago."

"And how long before that did you hear another group?"

"Maybe...two days before that?"

"And the squad that was handling you, what did they look like?" the advisor asked, his words coming out rapidly.

"Southerns, most likely.  Then again, I was blindfolded, but they surely smelt like southerns."

"And what do southerns smell like?" the General asked with a calm tone, relaxing in the chair she sat in.

"Like dust, sand, dirt.  They just smell dirty to me." Nuly's muzzle wrinkled as if she could smell one right now. She could see that Silves lightly nodded at her answer. They wanted to make her slip, force her to confirm their suspensions about her.

"What about any talk," the advisor continued, "did the soldiers give any information that might be useful?"

"No, they made sure not to tell anything when I was around, but I think I did hear a city name.  One called, um, Pikturen." Again, the advisor's pen scribed it down on his paper. "Also," she began, gaining their attention once more, "a few days before I came here, I heard one soldier comment on a fortress tower he saw."

"Did he know the name of it?"

"No."

"Then how is this helpful information?"

"I'm sorry," Nuly bowed her head slightly, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm just trying to help my clan after all the time I've been gone."

"It's good that you are back with us, Luka," Rain commented, twirling her finger through a blue strand of hair. "Even better that you came before the battle.  How many Reonos did you kill?"

"I think about seven, ma'am," she said, lifting her head back up. "I enjoyed every moment of it."

"Excellent to hear that.  Can you tell me if you heard many Nevreans when you were being taken to this village?"

"I can say for certain I heard Nevreans, but I can't say for sure if they were with the army."

"Hmmm," the General growled, scratching a claw on the wooden desk.

"I'm sorry that I'm not being any help, my General," Nuly unhappily stated.

"Don't say such things, Luka.  Any information is better than none at all.  And as long as you keep your spear red with the blood of the Reono I believe you'll help us regardless.  Understood?"

"Yes, my General!" Nuly boasted.

"Any other questions you would like to ask, Mulo?" Rain asked as she turned her head towards her advisor.

"No, ma'am," he said, putting his quill into it's ink bottle.

"You are dismissed, Luka."

"Thank you, my General." Nuly then saluted her and began to walk towards the exit. But before she could leave...

"Oh, Luka." Nuly turned back at the General's voice. "Did you receive a sleeping pallet from one of the recruits."

"No, ma'am," Nuly responded with an innocent tone.

"Ah, let's get you one immediately.  Hilli!" Rain yelled past Nuly to one of the guards waiting near the door, who came in and snapped at attention and saluted her. "Go get this soldier a sleeping pallet." And the guard was out the door and down the hall. "Can't have you sleeping in the dirt," she said with a grin while looking at her, "Otherwise you might start smelling more like a southerner." Nuly thanked and bowed at the General again. "How are you finding yourself here, Luka?  Is it all well?"

"Yes, ma'am.  Without a doubt.  I've even made some new friends it would seem."

"Ah, that's good.  What are their names?"

"Oh, well there's," Nuly then relayed all five of her friends' names to Rain. Nuly remembered not to question the General's actions.

"Yes, thank you," Rain said to her as Mulo appeared to write down the names. A moment later, Hilli would appear in the doorway and hand Nuly her sleeping pallet. She was then dismissed, but it took a bit for her to find where she had previously slept. The maroon fabric she laid upon was, although thin, more comfortable than the bare ground. Sleep would once again settle in fast.

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At dawn, Nuly marched in unison with the army as they paraded through the forest that had remained unnamed to her. She had slept well the previous night, and compared to her usual fifteen rekusu morning runs at Camp Hilitolo, she felt more than energetic that day.

They remained at a brisk walking pace while the line of soldiers weaved through the trees and large plants. Apart from the chatter of the wilderness was the sound of their footsteps crunching and pounding against the floor of the forest. Hush whispers could also be heard, but otherwise everyone was to remain silent. Nuly had noticed something was different about the soldier in front of her: instead of a female, it was a male. The lines didn't really seem to have any order, but many of the recruits appeared to have their own places in each line. More evidence to that was that there was a different male behind her now.

As the sun stretched up the sky, Nuly couldn't help but feel fascinated by the overwhelming population of plant life around her. Even as a child, at her clan's village, the forests were almost bare, smaller trees outnumbering the fewer, larger ones. But here, every tree appeared to be a giant, their roots jutting out of the ground so much she could sit upon them. Her bewilderment seemed to have channeled into her expression.

"Never seen a tree before, girl?" the male behind her whispered.

"Uh," she stuttered, closing her mouth, "no.  I mean, yes, but where I lived, I never seen many trees as big as these."

"They are big, but they aren't as big as the ones at Dulican forest.  You have to chain seven of us to wrap around one tree."

"Ha!  You're lying."

"No, it's true.  I saw it and the biggest one we found had to have twelve of us around it.  Amazing."

"What is this forest called?" Nuly felt the question was an awkward one to ask, but she had to know.

"Nuklono, I believe.  They farm a great amount of fruits here.  You ever tasted a junulnus seed?  They're very sweet."

"No.  What's your name?" The question had been burning in her head for awhile. Names would be a good thing to have at this point.

"Juko.  And yours?"

"Luka.  Everyone knows me as the one they found in the forest the night before."

"That was you?  Ah, what happened?"

"Captured, but I'm back.  And it feels good."

"Well, the more we have the better.  So how did you survive capture?"

"Servitude to make it short.  When they gave me the chance to run, I took it."

"Harrowing story, I say," Juko giggled and Nuly showed a quant smile on her face. He then remained silent, and Nuly did the same, now listening to the chirping calls of the birds that watched them from above. But that was not the only thing in the air.

Bugs, why did it have to be bugs?! Bugs on the ground, on the bark of the trees, and worst, they were flying in the air. Nuly had a detestation for anything that had more than four legs. Fleas weren't much of a bother for her, but anything bigger than that made her fur stand on end. Nuly found herself watching the ground she treaded on, making sure she avoided any nasty looking creatures. One particularly aggressive insect attempted to make a home in one of her nostrils which then made her furiously shake her head, blowing air out of her nose to expel the intruder.

"You okay?" Juko asked her, much enthusiasm in his voice after watching the spectacle that was her reaction.

"Yeah, damned flies." An unprecedented stop then preceded through the army's march, Rain being the one who gave the order for them to stop. Nuly saw many of the soldier's heads searching around themselves for the reason of why they ceased. Looking down and between the rows, Nuly saw nothing in her sight that obstructed their path. They hushed each other, but there was little to hear except their own movement and the ambience of the woods.

The General held her weapon high and waved it to the left and one of her co-commanders did the same. The action told the furthest left rows to face their flank and the right rows to do the same. The movement of the soldiers were so quick and fluid that Nuly lagged behind their transition. She quickly turned to face the left flank, seeing that all the soldiers had readied themselves as they held their spears with both hands. Nuly couldn't see through them, but they all were searching for this perceived threat.

They were silent, eyes darting to and fro while they scanned through the vast plant life around them for anything. Indeed something did as a barrage of arrows and short-cut spears soared through the branches to hit both metal armor and flesh. A few yelps rang out before the order was given to rush the unseen opposition. A spark of fright jolted through Nuly's body as a spearhead bounced hard off her armored shoulder. The split-second emotion of fear was quickly followed by boiling anger. She gladly hurried forward with her northern brothers and sisters into the greenery.

More spears whirled overhead, some of the enemies and some of their own. Nuly pushed through the ravaged plant life before the hidden enemy was revealed. A sizeable platoon of Reono soldiers greeted them with spears and crossbows as they came into view. They were defending themselves quite well, clustering around the trees and each other. Nuly saw a slash of blood burst out of a female soldier's throat, hands clinging at the wound while she fell to the ground. A shattering scream belted out of Nuly's mouth as she charged at them, and all of the soldiers regarded her with bared teeth and readied weapons. An arrow whisked past her head as a Reono shot with his crossbow, but then found himself defenseless after his missed shot. No time was given to him to reload as Nuly stabbed through his upper chest before knocking a spear out of the hands of another, taller soldier.

Before Nuly's blade could quiet another Reono, she felt a sharp and heaving pain drive through her arm. In reaction, her arm flailed about, slapping away a groping arm and hand. She pushed herself back, more allies attacking and distracting the bunch while she observed her wound. Her face stretched in surprise when she found a dagger stuck in her tricep. Luckily the blade was short and easily removed before being disposed of on the ground.

Nuly's attention turned again towards the soldiers, her eyes catching the moment of more allies and enemies moving in between the trunks of the trees. She had been so enthralled by the sight she hardly noticed the Shigu caught under a Reono who was brandishing a blade over his head. Quickly throwing forward with her spear and ignoring the pain of her fresh wound, she pushed the soldier off her ally as the spear went right through his exposed lower chest. She looked down at the female soldier who rapidly retook her spear off the ground. "Are you okay?" she hastily asked, staring at the licks of blood scattered on the soldier's armor.

"Damned to hell!" the female yelled out, lifting up, "Of course, I'm okay!  Go!" Nuly found it was best to do so, not an opportune time to chat. The Reono were losing numbers, but more joined in for their support. A Reono soldier slashed at Nuly with his sword and she quickly defended herself with the iron stem of her spear. With the end of her spear behind him, a pushing kick with her shin, the soldier was quickly threw to the ground. Nuly erupted with a call of laughter, relinquishing the soldier with multiple strikes to head, her blade scooping a blue eyeball out of it's socket. With no more movement from him, Nuly then eyed his sword.

The blade, though light, was masterfully crafted albeit it's sustained dents and dullness. Lines of light reflected against the engraved markings on the sword's blade. Like the blade, the hilt was made from iron and was similarly built. Etched and formed with care, the handle felt comfortable even with Nuly's larger northern hands. The Reono crest was thoroughly etched on the hilt guard. Aduli had confirmed even southern-made weapons were considered as trophies, especially the more decorated ones with diamonds and emeralds. Not the most shining example, Nuly had to admit, but an example nonetheless.

But such a treasure had to come at the sacrifice of Nuly's handle on her spear. It would had put her at more risk if she brought both along as the fight pressed on. What surprised her was the efficiency she worked at when handling a sword. The spear was far-reaching and broad, but the sword was quick and versatile. Though that's not to say that the fighters she faced weren't as skilled as her in the art of the sword.

For the ones she did face, they may have been skilled, but not enough to conserve their lives from Nuly's viciousness. Should any of the Shigu see her bring any mercy upon the Reono, it would only deepen their suspensions about her true loyalty. Trust had to be paid with southern lives. She was so eager to that she found herself chasing a young soldier as a retreating howl signaled their defeat. In her stride a hand caught around her arm and in reaction she raised her blade. She was quick to bring it back down as she saw it was another Shigu. "What are you doing?" the soldier rhetorically asked her, and she saw many of his teeth were missing. "Don't go after them.  They'll be waiting."

Nuly and the rest of the soldiers regrouped, quickly reforming into their squads, and beginning their march again at a much quicker pace. The ambush had failed, but it had cost them a handful of their own. Nuly saw that some of the bodies were stripped of their armor and weapons, leaving none for the enemy to take. There was no time to bury or burn the bodies, they would be left to decay or to be used by Reono or beast.

The Nuklono forest gave no help to it's travelers it would seem. Each hour the army pressed on, the vegetation grew thicker, the trees denser in population, and unfortunately for Nuly's sake, more insects crawling under every leaf. The wild call of a Nutnee could be heard before a soldier most likely speared it to it's death.

The army came to a rest after a full day's trek and many rekusus traveled. The small clearing they found couldn't hold many of the soldiers, only the General's top subordinates and herself would sit around the bonfire they ignited. Nuly settled her back against a tree, watching in the distance a soldier climbing one. She first thought it was out of his own amusement but from above the ground, and at such a treacherous location, it was a great vantage point. Soon a ring of soldiers stood around the army, keeping watch as night fell.

Nuly had found Unkli and the rest of the group sitting in a similar circle like they were back in the village. Nuly saw that Niyi had acquired three scratch marks around her neck, but relatively looked to be fine as Budio licked the fur on her belly. Rupland slept while his hand cradled his head, his ear twitching as Akuna teasingly blow into it from time to time. Unkli appeared to be the most awake one of the group, asking Nuly in a relaxed tone to, "help get the little creatures in her fur." Nuly involuntarily squirmed from the offer, the mental image of bugs crawling in her maw causing her to shudder. Nevertheless, she responded, "Alright, but I might gag if I get any bugs in my mouth."

"Just don't vomit on my fur, okay?" she snickered.

"If I must." Nuly made sure to nibble out the insects in Unkli's fur fast and quickly discharge them. By the musky taste in her mouth, Unkli also seemed to be in great need of a bath as well.

"Unkli," Nuly ventured, still licking at the fur on her shoulders, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course, and yes, you can do the fur around my vagina."

"What?  No, I was going to ask you to do the same for me," Nuly retorted jokingly as she smiled to herself, Unkli chuckling lightly.

"Sorry, but I don't go that low, dear."

"Then it's not a fair trade now, is it?"

"Trade?  I thought you were offering?"

"No no no, but I wanted to ask where are we going?  Where is our destination?"

"Hmmm, I think Dagirow.  Why do you - oh, that's right.  Captured, you were.  Ignorant of the details, I understand.  All I really know is that we're going to Dagirow.  Several Reono camps there.  Should be fun."

"Indeed.  A lot of southern meat to feed on."

"A feast.  Now, Luka, may I ask a question now?"

"Not if it's about the fur around your vagina."

"No, it's about what happened to you when you were captured.  You didn't give many details. What happened?" Nuly paused for a moment, hinting at how uncomfortable the question made her.

Nuly told her about how she was forced to bath the officers, clean the latrines, and serve them food for the whole span of the day. "I can't get the smell of their stench out of my fur," she told them with much disgust in her voice. "They allowed me hardly any sleep, only rotten and uneaten pieces of food.  And then, there was the forced sex." Unkli was silent, her breathing a bit irregular. "Thank Vilous I was only used by the commander.  Did I mention I bite off one of his balls?" Unkli erupted with a heckling laugh.

"Very well, you did well.  I would have ripped off his entire genitals and forced him to eat them.  After that, I would pull out his guts through the hole in his crouch."

"Thank you for the idea, Unkli.  I'll be sure to do that if I ever see him."

"Glad I could help." Nuly found Unkli was not the gentlest of groomers when it was her turn. Her claws picked at knots so strongly she was nearly ripping the fur off Nuly's back. Nuly grunted at her pulls and tugs, but Unkli seemed to tone down her strength from then on. With a turn of her head, Nuly saw that Budio was lovingly licking away at Niyi's slit. Niyi gently groped out of her breasts, tongue lingering out of her mouth. Nuly adverted her eyes, letting the two have their fun. "Now I'm about to gag." Unkli whispered softly in her ear.

"Fine looking blade you have there," Akuna spoke as Unkli groomed the fur on Nuly's upper chest. Nuly looked down at the sword she had acquired that afternoon, it's details misted by the night's gloom. "May I see it?" she asked, and Nuly generously handed it to her. Akuna turned it over, finding the handle too small for her oversized hands. Her index finger traced the blade's edge, hands gripping to test it's strength. She then rubbed the hilt's metal, the pads of her fingers feeling it's texture. "Would you like me to scratch out this symbol," she said, tapping Clan Reono's glyph.

Nuly shook her head. "I'll do it myself." Akuna nodded silently and relinquished the blade back to Nuly.

"Otherwise, it's a well-made blade, but I like Rupland's better." Nuly half-wondered if that was some kind of innuendo, watching Akuna shove Rupland awake and tell him to show Nuly his sword. Still half-asleep, he slowly unsheathed the weapon. Even in the darkness, Nuly could see that the blade was smooth and in good shape. She stared at it, and a feeling of wonderment came over as Rupland presented it to her.

Even by the signs of it's use, it's edge was still sharp, but what made Nuly's ears twitch in confusion was the sword's hilt. The hilt guard was metal, but she assumed the hilt was fashioned from wood. The handle was smooth, finger grips sanded inward for a better hold. The realization came to her the same time Rupland said, "Bone." She saw that his tired eyes held no joker's taunt.

"Really?" Nuly asked, still testing the hilt's worn and smooth texture, and he nodded.

"Found it not long ago after taking another village.  Some of their warriors had a few weapons made from bone.  Some of them even had blades made entirely from it.  Quite resourceful, but not as strong as iron."

As the night lingered, the noises of the forest closing in on them, Nuly decided to sleep. Even so, she could still hear the subdued sounds of Niyi's and Budio's lovemaking. After about an hour, Nuly wanted to beat them into unconsciousness with her fists, or rip off her own ears.