#i need to read more abt shiho i feel like this thing lacks good characterization. meh. thats for another day

[sakitenmaenjoyer]

this made me giggle bc i do kill rui when im angry at him. he never comes home ever so think of this as my revenge for those times and eventual future times

The knights of white work closely with the four maidens of war. The maidens were not severe people; they were dressed in cloth of teal and berry, wore brown leather boots, and rode brightly on their chestnut spotted horses. They had long swords that were thin enough to be mistaken for epee, and quivers that held cream colored arrows. They should have been a contradiction to the austere nature of the knights of white; but the individuals were beautiful, charming, and very human. Who could deny humanity?

Shiho was glad that Shizuku had made a new name for herself. Her sister could smile, unpressured, free of the way her brow pinched in their squire days. She had no idea the pressure the imperial army had on her, but she could guess.

With her quiver at her back, Shizuku had hugged her sister tightly when Shiho had voiced her pride. Shiho really tried to squirm away, but accepted the hug after a sigh. They worked together, a knight of white and a maiden, but her sister really had been trying hard not to coddle her while they were working. A hug she could do, even if the white arrows in the quiver pushed at her cheek.

She had to remind her sister not to push it; sputtering as she was pushed anyways, dragged to make dinner together, only swayed by the promise of rabbit shaped wagashi.

The warmth of that hug and that dinner is the first thing she thinks of when she sees the cream colored arrow sticking out of Kamishiro-san’s chest. The corpse is grueling to look at. His eyes wide and desperate and dead, hand loosely holding the arrow as if to yank it out.

As she walks around, she sees his other hand was drawing a healing spell with his blood.

A near instant death, she thinks. He wasn’t prepared for it.

The knights of white work closely with the four maidens of war, and Shiho has to wonder if they were blind to do so.