Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Captain of the Guard! ❯ Road to the Capital: Eight ( Chapter 22 )

The Road to the Capital: Part Eight

Once things had settled a bit Juri borrowed someone's horse, riding back to where the remainder of the encampment was. She saw her, laying there on a rise not far from the battlefield, unconscious or maybe dead.

"Shiori," Juri cried out even as she put her heels to the horse, rushing to her side. She all but fell down from the horse, grasping Shiori by the shoulders, searching with her eyes for any wounds. "Shiori," she shook her firmly.

Shiori groaned softly, her eyes opening just a bit. "Could you keep it down," she whimpered, "I've got such a headache."

Juri laughed, gently pulling the small sorceress' body close to her own. "Are you all right?" she asked her quietly.

"The spell took a lot out of me," Shiori smiled up at her weakly. Juri smoothly helped the other woman back to her feet, supporting her as needed. Shiori frowned, then visibly winced at her headache. "We'd better try to get Utena and the others together," she said, "we may have another problem to deal with."

Utena reached out, laying her hand on his face. She gently closed the eyes, eve as the healer left them to move on to another. They had been lucky, if by lucky you meant five dead, and twelve injured soldiers. 'A good quarter of our force, dead or injured,' she thought bleakly, and for a moment wondered if there had been something else she could have done.

Keiko rode up, and sent her party of scouts out to assist the wounded. "The bandit forces are still running," the brown haired woman reported, "and the way appears fairly clear."

Utena nodded, "Keep the scouts with the party for now." She frowned slightly, looking around her curiously, "Where's Tsuwabuki?"

"Turns out he had some medical training," Keiko said with a smile, "he's over helping out the other healers, making bandages, that sort of thing."

"Good man," Utena nodded.

They heard a sound and looked up to see the blue haired man riding through the people towards them. Utena was still mildly surprised at how good Miki managed to look, despite having been on the road as long as they had. Blue hair perfectly neat, his uniform still crisp, and only slightly messy from the recent battle.

"What's going on?" Utena asked him curiously, then her eyes widened slightly as she asked him worriedly, "Is Anthy?"

"She's fine," Miki was quick to reassure her," but Juri wanted to get us together. It seems that we may have a new problem."

Utena frowned, looking over at Keiko. The brown haired woman tossed her braid back, "Things are under control here, I think."

"Thanks," Utena gave her a smile. She turned back to Miki and said firmly, "Lets go." They rode through the camp, soon reaching Anthy's carriage where Juri, Anthy and Shiori awaited them. Utena smoothly dismounted, stepping forward to gently kiss Anthy on the lips. "What's going on?" she asked them softly.

Shiori sighed softly, "I ran into something unusual, while the battle was going on."

Quietly, Shiori described the pink haired young man she had seen, while battling to break the enchantment over the enemy force. The description of the uniform caused both Juri and Anthy's eyebrows to raise slightly as she finished.

Utena looked at them, "Do you recognize him?"

"Not the man himself," Juri frowned slightly in thought, "but his garb almost sounds like the uniforms the first High King's generals once wore."

"I don't recognize him either," Anthy admitted softly.

"He's powerful, Utena," Shiori murmured, "I'm not quite sure how powerful, but certainly as strong as Akio was." She looked at the others curiously, "Do you think there's a connection to that black rose pendant we found?"

"It's certainly possible," Utena noted, her eyes dark with her thoughts. She looked at Juri, "How far away are we from the capital now?"

Juri looked around them, then she squinted up at the Sun's position in the sky. "Maybe half a day," she finally answered.

"Then let's get everyone back together," Utena looked over at Anthy, "and try to press on to the capital today." A little smile, "At least in there, we have a fully defensible position if he is up to some kind of mischief."

Anthy nodded, "Let's do it."

"Miki, start getting the camp ready to move out," Utena ordered him. She turned to Juri and said, "Mobilize the troops, and keep the scouts with our primary force, we'll probably need them if any trouble does come." Finally to Shiori, "If you could cast a protective charm, I'd appreciate it."

As the others moved out, Anthy asked Utena softly, "What will you be doing?"

Utena sighed softly, her expression quite grave. "I had best go deal with the dead," she said to Anthy grimly before riding back to the battlefield.

Miki passed by Wakaba's window in the carriage, and she called out to him, "Miki?"

"Yes?" Miki asked her softly.

"Would you mind riding along with us when we go?" she asked him softly. Miki hesitated, and Wakaba gave him her sweetest smile.

"Of course," Miki smiled, "I'd be honored to."

The bandit dead were dealt with quite simply, as Utena ordered the bodies consigned to one of several funeral pyres. "May whatever gods you worshipped take in your souls," she said, tossing the torch up on to one of the pyres.

Their own dead they sealed beneath great stone cairns, in the hopes of protecting them from carrion eaters. Anthy had insisted on it, explaining, "If a man fights and dies for me, the least I can do is try to give him a decent burial, on consecrated ground. We can come back from the capital and retrieve them later on."

As they left the battlefield Juri stopped her horse by one of the stone piles, murmuring to it a promise of, "We will be back."

They rode on throughout the day, only stopping to rest their tired horses for short times. They all felt it, the anticipation of finally finishing their journey, and none wanted to delay. Juri, Anthy and a few of the scouts led them forward, having traveled to the Capital many times before.

The sun was just beginning to set as they came over the rise and saw it resting below them. The walled city of Shi'ohtori, and rising up from the center was the great castle from which the city was named, home to the Ohtori family and the seat of their rule.

The city glowed in the red light of sunset, but Utena didn't notice that. What she did notice, was the band of plate-mail armored men and women riding up the hill towards them. "Oh, hell," Utena cursed, pulling her sword smoothly.

"Wait a moment," Juri cautioned her, "that's the royal crest on their livery."

Utena blinked, then laughed softly, "Sorry."

The band reached their position in a few moments, gleaming in silvery cleaned armor. For a moment Utena felt a bit self-conscious in her own grimy uniform, but firmly reminded herself that she bore the marks of battle.

The leader dismounted from her horse, removing her helm to release long, golden hair over her shoulders. She knelt, murmuring, "Princess, we have long awaited your return."

Anthy nodded to her regally, stepping out of the carriage to stand before her. "Commander Nanami, it's good to see you," she said.

The blonde looked over at Juri and Utena in disdain. "And who are these?" Nanami Kiryuu asked the Princess softly.

Anthy frowned, "Tenjou Utena, the captain of my personal guard," and she smiled slightly, "as well as your new superior officer."

Nanami gaped in surprise, "What?!"

To be continued...

... in the Capital Saga, coming soon.

Author's Note: I'll be taking a short break, maybe a month or so, just to recharge my batteries a little bit for the final story arc. Should be about the same length as 'Road' has ended up being, roughly eight or so chapters.

Part of 'Road' was the plan to give a bit more of the background on the lead characters. So, the fireside stories, each one focusing on a different character. I do wish I had done an Anthy one, but I didn't find a good enough place to slip it in. I also have been laying out the groundwork for the Capital Saga, including a cameo by the villain of that story arc.