Kingdom of Power, of Courage, and of Wisdom

Dragmire's War - Wounds

Yet Ouki Mitagi defeated it.

Though not without a cost, it would seem. Link heard rumors saying Ouki was wounded, even dying. The thought frightened him, and rumors flourished throughout camp. Men wept, men feared, men fled, and men yelled for answers. Sadly, the inner camp was closed, and no response was forthcoming. Hope dwindled at the thought that the Great Bird of Qin, The Pillar, was dying. In the same breath as many feared, others hoped. Men tried to rouse each other and speak against the rumors. Ouki was declared The Great White Fire, The Ashwalker (for he reduced the demon to ash upon walking on it), and there was no chance he would die after winning. They breathed the belief that he was the Hero of old reborn and the Triple Goddesses themselves stood among them.

Conflicting gossip made it all very hard to tell what was what.

Link entered the crowd. He struggled and pushed his way to the front where much-taller men would not block his view. Still, he saw nothing. The personal guard did not allow anyone through the barricades, let alone some teenager temporarily at the lowest officer rank. Link focused his Gift so a seamless moment passed by. During that brief time, he was able to move literally before anyone saw him. Afterwards, Ouki's men were so busy looking beyond the barricade they did not think to look behind. No one stopped Link's path until he was at Ouki's tent. A guard posted in front grabbed Link in a grip of iron and tried throwing him out. However, Link isn't the quietest of prisoners.

Ouki heard the yelling and peered out. He ordered the guard to allow Link in.

"Sir, he is a 100-man officer!" The guard protested.

"I said, allow him in," Ouki repeated himself.

"There is only so much leniency one can allow for one so low!"

"And I will decide how much is too much," Ouki assured him. "Allow the boy in. He answers to me and me alone."

The guard looked between Ouki and Link, huffed his frustration, and let go of Link's arm. Link then rubbed his arm, gave the guard an equally frustrated glance, and entered Ouki's tent.

"Here to check up on me, Link?" Ouki wondered.

Around Ouki were doctors, servants, personal guards, and the Englishman. The commanders weren't even present, only a few men. Ouki was in his undergarments while being attended to. Were it not for the nauseating amount of muscle on him, or the awe-inspiring number and intensity of scars covering his body, Link might have been squeamish over the man just short of naked.

"How can I not? First, I hear my idol is dying, but then I see hope being restored in your achievement. Yet in the same breath, others continue to lower hope due to your injuries," Link replied.

"Yes, morale is a hard thing to balance. The truth is simple: I am not dying, but I am injured," Ouki said. "However, even admitting injury, with hope and morale in such a delicate state, can be a fault of its own far beyond just mine."

Link gulped, "How bad is it?"

"As you can see, I have burns. The burns are unnatural, but not extensive. I can be healed by our new Fae allies on my return. Their water's healing is a miracle given form. This is the greatest injury, and the other is to my arm. In wielding the Spear of Nayru to its-my greatest-potential, and throwing it as far as I did, I pulled my shoulder."

Now that he mentioned it, Ouki held his arm and winced whenever a doctor attended to it. They inserted needles into his nerves and applied ointments to aid in the healing.

"Doesn't sound so bad," Link said hesitantly.

Ouki smiled widely, assuring Link. "You're right! It's not. Still, it must be attended to. So be appeased, young Link. I will make my triumphant return shortly and all will be put to rest. I cannot allow the army to see me in this state. Just the sight of me... almost naked... in front of so many young, strapping men... Hmmmmmmmm," He hummed sensually.