His Shadow Upon Your Fate: Part 2

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

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Previous: His Shadow Upon Your Fate: Part 1 | Continued: His Shadow Upon Your Fate: Part 3

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Sequel to "Her Blood on Your Hands."

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Kusno was awaken early, a heavy wave of dismay coming over him once he realized the reason for such.  There was a fog about the forest, but it would leave once the sun peaked over the horizon.  The soldier that had awoken him asked for him to wait outside the town's keep, the air tranquil as he stood and lingered.  Soon after, the soldier returned with seven other individuals in tow.

Four males, three females, he noted.  Each was dressed in the usual Shigu attire: full-body armor and a fabric garment underneath.  All of them seemed tired, dirty, some swaying as they stood at attention in a line.  They were all taller than him, excluding one of the males who appeared to be the same height as him.  He then saw that four had their tails cut at the tip with no bandages.  Those four were the weariest ones, their stank filling Kusno's nostrils.

"Hinokun squad," he spat, eyeing them with disgust.  "My name is Captain Kusno," he began, walking down in front of them.  "You are to just call me captain or sir.  Call me Captain Kusno, and you will get this."  He swiftly slammed his fist into the largest soldier's side, Akuna grunting and coughing.  "Call me Kusno," he spoke again, leaving Akuna with an enraged look upon her face, "you get this."  His fist graced another, this time to Budio's muzzle.  "And any other name that is not captain or sir, you will get this."  His foot rose up and kicked another male in the guts, one that neither Akuna, Rupland, Niyi, or Budio knew.

"And for that matter, from what I heard from the General," he then said, no kindness in his expression, "you don't even deserve such things as names.  And under me, you won't.  Instead, you will be called something else, another name.  And until you prove yourself you will be known by that name.  Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" they all responded loudly.

"Good!  Then let's get started."  He now stood at one end of the line.  "What's your name, boy?"  He began with a male, a jumpy youngster with wide, fearful eyes.

"Uh...," he stuttered, his frame lightly shaking.

"Name, boy!  Name!  What is your name?"

"Drig!  My name is Drig."

"No!  It's not!  It's Prolu!"  He then walked up and leered at a taller, azure-furred male.  "What's your name?"

"Trimbulo," he stated bluntly.

"No!  It's Lor!"  Next was a green-furred female, her face cast in the same indifferent mask like everyone else.  "What's your name?"

"Odkey."

"No!  It's Gradcet!"  Then it was Budio, who was now Cran, Niyi as Dal, Akuna as Runtoos, and Rupland as Inclun.  Males were now known by a female name, and females were known by a male name.  "Remember your names, troopers!  Until further notice, I will call you by these names and you should do the same for each other.  If I find any of you not using your given names, you will be dealt a slap or a punch.  Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir, what?" he snapped at them.

"Yes, sir, captain!"

"Good!  Now, come and follow!  Don't fall behind or I'll deal a cut across the back of your legs!"  Their armor clanked as they marched through the town's streets to where the rest of the army was beginning to awake and form into their squads.  He could see a few stares, some whispering and pointing at them as they took their place.  Kusno and his squad were given the leftmost position, a fodder position, Kusno called it.  They would be meat shields for the others against any arrows, spears, or bullets.

Rain came into sight, her armor and weapon glistening from a thorough polish.  Kusno smiled lightly, contrary to the emotions he was currently experiencing towards her and his subordinates behind him.  She didn't look at him, but she did show a small smirk on her face.

"Good morning, my children!" she loudly greeted them.  "Enjoyed your rest, regardless of any disturbances?"  Her head turned towards Kusno and the unruly few, and he could only stare at her.

"Yes, my General!" everyone responded.

"Good.  We are heading south, through the town's roads," she motioned towards the multitude of buildings and dwellings in the distance.  "The paths might become narrower as we go along, so keep together.  If formation must be broken, then so be it, but make sure you get back into your places when it's wide enough.  Keep watchful and keep ready.  The forest is waiting for us.  Understand?!"

"Yes, my General!"  She gave the order and her army came alive, pressing forward into the town.  The citizens, mostly talyxians, allowed them to march through their streets unopposed.  There would always be those few glaring sneers, a curse spoken their way, maybe something thrown if someone felt inclined enough.  They all hid away from their intended path, cubs dashing away into houses, males and females looking from windows and doorways.  Several females on the side of the street backed away as Kusno gave them a toothy grin.

A few times, the buildings would enclose on them, forcing them to cluster together and, yes, break formation for a short period of time.  The territory's rivers and lakes sparkled in the presence of the morning sun, and Budio found it quite alluring.  Even as they passed over a number of bridges, wagons and town folk taking to the railing as the Shigus passed through, he found himself looking over the edge and staring at the shining ripples.  But he was still very much afraid of the water.  He wasn't a swimmer like so many others.

With the bridges crossed, the glisten of the lakes dimming in the distance, the Shigus found seclusion in the forest.  Again, they moved from the main road, working their own path through the trees and foliage.  Niyi was keen to stay aware of all the sounds and movements on their flank.  It was their responsibility to alert their fellow allies if a threat was spotted.  None would come their way, the forest holding no hostilities towards them excluding the swarm of insects flying about and irritating several soldiers.

When the army had finally caught sight of the dam fortress, it's stonework towers coming into view, it was a lackluster sight for most.  But as they came closer, rounding about to see it's front, many gapped at the large structure that it truly was.  It's enormous body of stone held back the river's might, towers and turrets giving defense against any foes.  The Shigus were certainly no such thing.  The talyxians that watched over the structure were informed long before they had arrived, and relinquished all of it's control to General Rain and her children.

Their guards were replaced by sergals, their footsteps flooding the halls and corridors.  Their gates opened and gave way for them to enter the courtyards.  Rain held up her lance and gained her soldiers' attention.  "This is our new home for the time being," she stated, waving her weapon at the massive dam of apparent and ancient Agundar design.  "You all may settle yourselves around the river.  Get washed, but keep heedful.  Understand?"

"Yes, my General!"  And she dismissed them, but Kusno was ready to give his squadron their first assignment.  He began to speak before he found that one of his wards was missing from the line.

"Where's uh...," he tried to remember the name he gave to that male, "Lor!  Where's Lor?!"

"He went off over there," the one named Cran informed.

"Well get him!" he screamed out, furious.  "Get him back here now!"  He then looked to the large female.  "You!  Runtoos!  Go get him!  Drag him back if you must!"  She then flaked off from the squad, and soon after brought back Lor by the arm.  Kusno came after him, yanking at the scruff of his neck violently.

"Where were you going?!" he barked at his face, thrusting him about.

"We were dismissed!" Lor responded angrily.

"No!  The squads were dismissed! You, personally, were not dismissed until I tell you so!  Are you listening to me?!"  At first, Lor didn't respond, but after another hollering inquiry he finally spat out a, yes, sir."

"Then get back into your spot!"  He shoved him to the side, and Lor found it, his eyes glowing with shame and anger.

"Open your ears, children!" he told them loudly, "because if you want to feed today, you'll listen good."  He felt a cruel grin etch itself across his muzzle with all their eyes upon him.  "I have a hankering for the taste of the wildlife, I want to taste it's flavor.  I want you to get that for me."  A couple looked at one another as he continued.

"It doesn't need to be big, but not too small.  A bird, a krintich, a fremur.  Something that I may chew on.  You are required to go out into the forests and find at least one animal and present it to me to eat.  Dead or alive, it doesn't matter."  He paused for a moment, observing their intrigued glares.  "But if you come to me without a gift, you will not get any rations that are handed out.  I will tell the other captains not to give you even a nibble of meat, and no ale either!  You can go drink water from the river for the rest of the day.  And go ahead, eat what you find and disregard your captain.  Each day I don't receive a gift, you lose something, starting with your palette.  Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," they lightly responded.

"Take off your armor," he instructed, "if you're hunting, you don't need to be making all that noise."  Armor pieces were shed, thumping to the ground.  "You may also work together, but each person must at least give one whole animal to me.  And if it smells odd like you found it rotting or rolled it in feces, I'll force it down your gullet."  He growled lowly with that last statement, giving no indication that he was joking.

A number of them still wore their shin and forearm plating, taking also with them their spears and swords.  "One from each of you!" he yelled out once more as they sprinted out of the courtyard and towards the woods.  He showed a large grin, his tongue going over his lips.

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"This is foul," Niyi spat out angrily, "very foul."  They had talked briefly to Akuna and Rupland before they had split off into two groups.  They promised each other that if more than enough wild game was killed, they would donate it to any of the four that had empty hands.  Their other three squad mates appeared to have no interest in assisting them, their bodies peeling away to disappear between the trees just as they had.

"Can you believe this shit?" Niyi's muzzle wrinkled.  "Haven't we suffered enough as it is?  We're accused of betraying the General, beaten and tortured, then we're to follow an asshole of a captain.  Bastard!"

Budio allowed her to deflate her anger as they walked further into the forest, letting his own complaints go unheard.  But his own hatred remained, the same from when guards slammed beating rods upon his arms, stomach, and legs.  Nothing broken, or anything that he was aware of.  Still, his flesh was bruised and his muscles were worn, but the sight of her walking with him again made the pain seem non-existent.  He could hear her scream, his rage overflowing as he lay in his cell.  His pain was only secondary to the fear he felt while they interrogated him.  He feared how they had hurt her, made her sob.  That same fear still lingered, the fear of her future above his own.  To him, there was no future without her.

"An asshole indeed," he smiled, remembering the punch he had received from earlier that day.  "I hope he chocks and dies from a bone caught in his throat.  Do you think they would blame us for that?"

"Of course they would.  They'll look for any reason to get rid of us now.  One slip and we're gone."  She looked to him, eyes locking.  "We have to be careful," she cautioned and he nodded in agreement.

Talk was reduced, their steps more precise and silent as they graced the forest floor.  They used spears, a more than preferable tool to use for the task at hand.  A bow would have been more appreciated, but the archers would have most likely not allowed them to borrow their own.  Budio was grateful, almost honored to hunt with Niyi, her skills honed during the days of her childhood.

The brush was thick now and something moved in between the trees and bushes.  Budio saw it and Niyi had too.  It slowed and sniffed the air, Niyi's arm cocking back.  Then the spear flung forward like a flash and penetrated the prey.  It squealed partially before it allowed the grip of death to take it.  Two more creatures found the same fate, each carried by Budio while Niyi flaunted her art.  That was enough, Niyi thought, with the night near now.

They waited near the river for Akuna and Rupland, but before they had appeared, the little one named Prolu had come forward.  His hands held no feed, his spear clean of any blood.  He provided them all with a sad look upon his face, one of shame.  "You didn't get anything, boy?" Niyi asked bluntly and he replied with a light, no.'  Niyi felt a bit of pity for the child and..."Stay here for a moment."

"Why?" he asked with much confusion.

"Just wait.  We're waiting for someone."  Soon after, Akuna and Rupland exited the woods.  Akuna carried the same species of vermin that Niyi and Budio had been hunting while Rupland held the corpse of a bird about the size of his fist.  "I see you did much better than I thought you would," Niyi said to them.

"Don't start, Niyi," Akuna retorted.  "And I'm guessing you've been sitting here for sometime, yes?"

"Not too long," Niyi answered, rising up from the ground with one of the creature's remains in her hand.  "And it appears to be this boy's lucky day."  She tossed the carcass to Drig, who quickly caught it with both hands to the effect of his spear falling to the ground.  He took a look it, then one towards Niyi.

"Wha...what do you want me to do?" he asked nervously.

"Nothing...except you sure as hell better be watching our hides in battle.  Understand?"

The young soldier quickly nodded.  "Yes, ma'am.  Thank you."

"And don't expect such charity the next time.  Whether you have food or not will be your problem."  Again, he nodded and they all started to retreat back to the dam.

"Ma'am.'" she repeated with a snicker.  "Did you hear him?" she tapped Budio's arm.

"Aye, I did," he smiled with her.

"He reminds me of you," she glanced behind her and he did the same.

"Well, that's only because of our similar height."

"That and his obvious shyness."

"Hey!  I'm not that shy anymore!"

"Of course you're not.  Thanks to me.  I helped little Budio uncurl from his little ball."  They locked eyes and he walked closer to her.

"Aye, you did."  His hand found hers, and they both grasped one another as they continued to walk.

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Kusno would be waiting for them, chewing away at a portion of raw meat as he sat amongst their armor and property.  His smile grew as they presented their work to him.  "One, two, three, four, five," he counted after swallowing a bite.  "But I must taste them.  All of them."  And he did, chopping down on the animals' furry and feathered hides to let blood dribble down his chin.  "Cold meat," their captain had remarked, "but good meat.  Rations for the hunters," he called out, "hunger for the slackers."  He looked at the now returned Lor and Gradcet without a smile.

Kusno sat quietly, smoking from a wooden pipe, and watched his underlings chomp away at their food, meat from an animal he didn't quite know.  The four cut-tails laid and leaned against one another, separating into couples.  Cran was with Dal and Inclun was with Runtoos, he noted.  The two that had failed to complete his ultimatum leered at their allies, their appetites very evident.  "You know you can still try," he advised them.  "Bring me back something this time and you may eat tonight."  He saw Gradcet mouth something, but her words too light to hear.  "What was that, Gradcet?"

"Nothing," she answered.

"Did I hear that right?  Nothing, what?!"  He quickly stood, his fists clinched.

"Uh," she stuttered, back straightening, "nothing, Captain."

"I'll let that pass," his hands unraveled, "but I want to hear an apology."

"I'm sorry, Captain," she said, humbled now with Kusno settling himself back onto the ground.

"Now," Kusno began, his tone more relaxed, "I deserve a little clarification."  All their eyes focused on him now.  "You're all in this squad, my squad, for a reason or reasons.  I've been told you're all troublemakers.  Questionable recruits' the General said to me.  But she held back telling me why she would call all of you such."

He knew it pained them to hurt that, to hear that they had been labeled as such by their General.  "I want to know what protocols you could have broken to be called questionable.  Now you four," he pointed a claw at Akuna and the others, "are you all the so-called associates of the two traitors that attacked the General?"  Drig and the rest turned their heads to them, waiting for them to answer.

"We knew them," Akuna spoke up, a hint of irritation in her voice, "but we had no idea or part in what they plotted."

"I'm sure the General believes you.  Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.  She still thinks you're worth more alive than dead, but I'm still unconvinced as of now.  Also I wanted to ask why are the tips of your tails gone?"  When the question was presented, their tails twitched about, eyes heavy with embarrassment.

"We were given another chance," Rupland then said.  "We were ordered to give the General a piece of ourselves and we followed through.  A small price, but our pride as Shigus has remained in tact."

"Good words to hear."  Smoke rolled out of his maw.  "I would have scalped all of you, but I suppose cutting off a part of your tail is good enough.  And you three," he now switched his concentration, "what are your transgressions?"

They looked amongst themselves, waiting for one of them to show the courage to answer.  "They didn't like me drinking," Trimbulo finally spoke.  "Said I drank too much, and yes, I may do that once or twice, but I didn't see any reason for them to tell the higher-ups."  He growled coarsely.  "My squad leader was a cunt and a bitch.  She hated me from the first day I joined her squad."

"Ugly words, Lor," Kusno shook his head.  "Ugly words.  I doubt that it was just about drinking.  Sounds like it was something else, more than that."

"Nope, she just didn't like the drinking.  That was all."

"Hmmm," he hummed, knowing he might be hiding the true reasons for his expulsion.  "And what about you,...Gradcet," he pointed the end of his pipe at her.

"They caught me stealing," she confessed lowly.

"Ah, but from who?"

"A commander."

"Oh, quite an offense," he grinned.  "No wonder.  And you, Prolu?"

"I, uh...they said I was not performing my duties as a soldier," he looked away.

"I need more details than that, boy."

"They said I ran from the enemy, didn't have any bravery during battle.  They said I wasn't truly a soldier."

Kusno nodded, silent for a moment as he scanned the entire bunch of his squad.  "A coward," he pointed to Drig.  "A thief," he said to Odkey.  "A drunkard," to Trimbulo.  "And friends of traitors," to the rest.  He smiled, giggling to himself.  "Hinokun squad, indeed it is!" he clattered.  "Now I see that!  So very clear to me now!"

"And what about you?" Odkey then asked, her rage showing.

"Me?" he placed a hand on his chest.  "I'm the one that shouldn't be speaking to any of you!  You're below me!  From co-captain to captain of a pool of rogues!  I must have done something unbenounced to me to have the honor of leading such a band of miscreants!  Hinokun squad," he said again, now visibly aggravated.  With a burst of fury, he pounded his fist down onto the grass, his pipe fumbling from his jaw.  Growling heavily, but now with a smirk on his face, he picked up the pipe and began to repack it with smoking leaves.  "I suggest you all get your rest," he advised.  "You're all waking up early tomorrow.  I have plans."

He stayed wake as each one laid upon their pallets and began to sleep, watching their chests rise and fall with every breath.  "Stay gallant, children," he whispered without waking them, "least I steal away your breath, quiet the stirring of your heart, and doused the light in your eyes."