The barracks were quiet with the the soldiers working the fields. It was not a kind life but it was fulfilling. He was not allowed to leave the camp as he was the one protecting it at the moment. It was a quiet night and almost too quiet for his taste as he stood with sword in one hand and his free hand behind his back. XiuYuan was used to combat and the field and this quiet seemed not right.
So he moved among the shadows of the structures around him. His booted foot making little sound as he moved. It was the sound of a footfall that alerted him that something was up. The way that it was off -half shuffling, half moving. The lieutenant frowned and paused it was not his foot fall he knew, but it was going towards the offices and so he moved quickly leapt to the rooftops and moved across the roof. Until he reach the office and dropped down.
It was a young woman, a woman weaving on her feet. He was surprised woman did not come to this place, it was the home of the Generalâs army, and only the Generalâs Lady was frequently there. His brows drew together and he reach for the sword at his side. He would never draw on an innocent woman and his alarm grew when he realized that the young woman was covered in blood. He did not sound the alarm confident that he could handle this trouble on his own.
He caught the girl before she dropped. There was blood all over her and she looked like she might not make it through the night. âWho, are you and why are you here ?â he whispered. There was no supporting her. He dipped forward and he swept her into his arms carrying her. He called out âGua Wi â he was the medic on hand. The girl was taken into his private quarters where he eased the girl onto the bed.
Immediately checking for wounds on the girl, of which there were several.
He started to yell for the older man again when he appeared through the door. âHere, master Chuâ he stated.
The girl reach out and caught his hand as he was rising up. âThe Hawk are going to attack the city.â was what she told him before she dropped into unconsciousness.
âPlease care for her. She is to be left in this bed do not move her.â he instructed . Gua Wi bowed his head and moved to tend to the girlâs wounds. She was covered in blood. All of it her own. It seemed she had been struck multiple times. No matter he was an excellent doctor and she would pull through. She would just be weak for a spell.
She had no business being out of her father's house late at night and she very well knew this. Still the draw of the night was a powerful thing for her. She was not her father's favorite her mother having died in childbirth without giving him a son. She had a few half siblings now. More then one brother, the great sage seemed to have gotten what he wanted. Her father was so learned let so close minded.
White garments had merged around her and she smirked faintly as she took on the form of a nine tailed fox. Free from the compound of her father. Free to run as she saw fit. Nocturnal nature was not her fault. It could have been blamed on her mother but it was bad form to lay such things at the feet of the dead. She often escaped and just ran. She would play tricks on the cruel or she would aid the righteous.
In this case she ran to far along the side of the lake, and she found herself in the trees watching a group advance towards the city and her eyes narrowed. That wasn't good. She had tried but failed at altering their course with her abilities. It only wore her out and she wound up back in her human form. This allowed the Hawk's to see her, no longer protected by her small , swift form.
Her fan snapped open followed by the second that simply dropped down from her sleeve. These were not simple ladies fan's these were war fans. She drew herself up, she was not just a scared maiden either. Still she knew she was no match for a War Band not by herself. She risked wounds, many of them to get to the General's camp to warn them  in advance, they might not have noticed because they were pretending to be a group of hunters near the river, she was at least capable of delivering her message before the darkness had claimed her.
Were her wounds bad enough to kill her ? Maybe.
She felt ill with it.
Depleting her energy had been bad and she only stirred two days later. Her head felt to big for her body, and there was a distinct throbbing in her shoulder, her side and her back. âIs the city safe ?â it was the first thing that asked after accessing her own ability to move.
@chuxiuyuanâ
