The Nameless Fire

"Lagertha, a skilled Amazon who, though a maiden, had the courage of a man, and fought in front among the bravest with her hair loose over her shoulders. All-marveled at her matchless deeds, for her locks flying down her back betrayed that she was a woman."

The sharpened battleaxe was the most well known Luminiegian warrior weapon, with some favoring the harshness of wielding a broadsword for most of their combat. To Lagertha, the sword was considered a top quality item well made and crafted in a two tone style metal. The axe was sometimes also carried in a smaller form used for throwing, most of Bennett's warriors would probably also own a spear and a knife to round off their armory of weapons. But not her, all she needed was her sword and her shield.

She relied on her shield, branded by the mark of the Luminiegians, which was a big part of her attack and defense strategy. Shields were thought to be triangular, or even that moreover as a square, but hers was the only round one in Luminiege. It symbolized her difference between herself and the rest of Bennett's soldiers. For defense against arrows, she learned, the warriors would need his shield and in the throes of battle, it would be used to deflect melee blows and strikes from the enemies close combat weapons.

"Lagertha, who had a matchless spirit though a delicate frame, covered by her splendid bravery the inclination of the soldiers to waver. For she made a sally about, and flew round to the rear of the enemy, taking them unawares, and thus turned the panic of her friends into the camp of the enemy."

The sound of metal slashing against metal startled Lagertha Greenwich out of her reverie. Those words of King Bennett himself, that had passed through her mind, gave her a mild headache as she examined the now demolished practice dummy laying in shreds before her feet of the Luminiege Castle Throne Room. Her broadsword hung low, chest rising and falling with an unearthly pattern. She had blacked out. Again. Nothing disgusted her more than thinking during battle. Battle was a mindless thing, without remorse or care. The last thing she needed was to start getting distracted, even if only during her practices. It could eventually cost her a limb....or her life.

Sighing, she set her sword upon her lap, from which it came whens she had first started, and sat against the wall, pulling forth a small pouch and opening it slowly. Once the cap was gone, she took a swig of rum, drowning her past from hindsight. Nothing could be worse than a warrior's memories of the battlefield. Yet, she would remain loyal to the House of Bennett. It was her home, and she would do what she had to do to protect it.

Samurai.

That word was honored above all the other words in the kingdom of Sakura. So honored, apparently, that they had hired her out to the next best kingdom so that the bonds of loyalty between the two kingdoms could not be broken.

That's how Mitsuko Yamiko had found herself in the nation of Luminiege, a nation ran by a tyrant who had no right sitting on his throne of iron and gold. A king, a true king, was to honor the people that he had the privilege of ruling over. Rumors had spread far and wide of the atrocities committed both by King Bennett and by King Bennett's warriors. She was not looking forward to being one.

For starters, her knowledge of an axe and a shield were limited. She had no use for such violent killing tools, instead preferring to use something that subdued the enemy, a bo staff and shuriken. If she did need to use something violent, she relied on her katana, a sword passed down by her people from warrior to warrior.

Taking a look around the throne room, the place where later on she would be shown to the people of Luminiege as if she were a prize to be won, Mitsuko shook her head.

"Zenme dan dao zhe yǒu," Mitsuko muttered in her native language, not noticing the warrior woman lounging only a few feet away. Had she known that one of King Bennett's closest advisers was there, she would have made herself more presentable.

A Sakurian warrior maiden stood across the room, but Lagertha seemed disinterested. Many people wandered to Luminiege, yet they found they never wanted to stay after only being there for a few moments at court. She couldn’t quite place the face of this newcomer, though it really wasn’t any of her business. She inspected the woman from afar. She was beautiful, that was no doubt, but Lagertha hoped she worked well with weapons, for she would need it if she expected the Bennett’s brutes of warriors to leave her alone. They had learned long ago to leave their filthy paws off of her body; Lagertha had made sure of it. Having killed some of Bennett’s best men, it was a wonder how she had not ended up dead. She supposed it was from the initial fact that if she could take a massive warrior, then she could possibly be deemed unstoppable. Bennett had always admired her for that.

“A Sakurian warrior maiden has come to the Court of King Bennett. Where is the world turning to now?” She scoffed, though underneath she found relief in the fact that she was no longer the only woman with the title of Warrior. Standing from her gloominess, she bowed curtly, just as a man would. “First Officer Sheildmaiden Lagertha, at your disposal.” The bow itself was actually quite clumsy and careless, but that’s exactly how she felt in that moment- careless.

Bennett, of course, had disappeared earlier, and now he sends a foreigner into her midst. She didn’t know if this was a test, or if it were a game, or even neither. But she didn’t trust those that were not Luminiegian. That was for sure. She stretched, releasing a belch of a frightful kind. Strange for such a beautiful woman to act so much like a man. Not that she really cared. She could fight and that is what mattered. The battlefield had always kept her from being hanged.

Secretly, she would leave if she could. Bennett was nothing like his kind and caring father. But no one really remembered the old King, in turmoil of trying to deal with their new Kings demands.

Seeing the tapestry that spoke of the royal family, Mitsuko found herself staring at it's beauty. It was made from red silk, a fabric that King Bennett or the former King Bennett undoubtedly recieved from her people, woven in with gold. Each time the king bore an heir and a new king was named, the tapestry would have another name added to it. Family was something that was important to her and in that moment, Mitsuko found herself missing her own greatly.

Not that she would ever let it show.

A warrior's duty was to be strong and be a symbol that people could look up to in the face of adversity. She wanted to be just that. It was the reason that she had not taken a lover nor had she ever fallen in love. She knew the looks that were associated with her name and her birthplace, men wishing she was like the geisha's of old and her skills could be bought and paid for. It wasn't true and any man that thought they could overpower the young woman had found a Bo staff to the stomach and the pain that went with that.

Hearing a loud belch, one that would put the belches she often made when she ate to much to shame, Mitsuko turned to see the warrior. A maiden like herself, at least she figured from the way she acted. With a bow reminiscent of what her father taught her before she left the country of Sakura, Mitsuko smiled at the other woman.

"Ni hao, my name is Mitsuko Yamiko," she replied with a jovial smiled, "King Bennett hired me for protection in the coming months."