Predictor of the Future - Chapter 9
Title: Predictor of the Future
Writer: Tacuma
Pairing: Perfect Pair
Chapter: 9
Genre: AU, romance, friendship, angst
Word count: 1517 words
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Chapter 9
Fuji was summoned by the King more and more often. Most of the time he was used as a second witness to charge someone, but now and then King Atobe asked him for advice. Today was such a day. He had to get up earlier than the other kids, but when he arrived in the conference room all dukes and earls of the country were already there. They were all looking very serious, even the young King was looking serious. It almost scared Fuji.
He was given the last empty chair at the round table. It was round, so everyone would be equal, but the King had made his servants bring his 'throne' into the conference room, while the others were all sitting on simple chairs. Tezuka Kuniharu was there as well, but he had to stand next to the 'throne'. So much for equality.
Fuji sat down on the chair. There was a cushion on it, so he would sit a little higher. Even for his age, he was nine by now, he was small. He felt even smaller between all the tall and very important men around him.
'I called you all here together, because yesterday evening our Southern neighbors have invaded our country,' started the King. 'That is the reason why the Duke of the Southern area is not here today. They took over the biggest city, the one here the Duke lives as well, and closed all the gates. Nobody can go in or out. They are probably planning to take over the next city from there. The City of the South is rich, so they took all the food, money and weapons from the people who live there. Hundreds of soldiers took over the houses of the people who live there and took everything they owned. We have to find a solution to get them out of our country and save the people of the City of the South at the same time.'
'If the Duke was here he could tell us about the strengths and weaknesses of the city,' said Earl Yagyuu. It was the only person Fuji recognized.
'Yes, but he isn't here, because he can't get out of the city,' answered the King. 'Fuji, can you tell me what the enemy is planning to do next?'
'If we don't do anything, the biggest part of their troops will leave the city and go to the next city to take that as well,' said Fuji. 'New troops will come and help to conquer even more of our country. But if we do act up and try to get the city back a lot of soldiers will die and the enemy will kill the people from the city one by one, starting with the Duke and his family.'
'We cannot attack the city then,' said a red-haired man. 'It will take us a long time to take over the City of the South, we know how strong those gates are. If they will kill the citizens we will lose many people. But they also took all the food, so even more people will die from starvation. We cannot sacrifice the entire population of the city!'
'If we do not try to take it back they will take another city and we will have even more problems!' said a man with black hair and a scowl on his face. 'They will kill the people of two cities. If we sacrifice the people of the City of the South the rest of our country will be unharmed.
'There is a ninety-nine percent chance people from other cities and towns in the neighborhood will be affected as well if we attack them,' said a man with spiky black hair and glasses.
'There is a hundred percent chance people from other cities and towns will be affected if we let them be,' said another man with straight brown hair and closed eyes.
'Okay, so we have to do something,' sighed the King. 'But attacking isn't a solution, nor is doing nothing. But what is a solution?!'
'We wait until the seven days are over,' said a man with dark blond hair. His left arm was wrapped in bandages. 'We hide our troops next to the road and once they start their march to the next city we attack them. Part of our troops should enter the city and take down the soldiers who stay there, while other parts will down the rest of their men.'
'People in the city will die. They can live without food for seven days, but not without water. The older people will surely not survive, nor will the kids and the sick people. It might be a small sacrifice compared to the death of an entire city, but the citizens of the City of the South have to go through so much already. We should keep the number of deaths to the minimum.' It was the redhead that had spoken again.
'There is no way we can bring them food or water without the enemy finding out,' said the scowling man. 'Our enemy will once again take the water and the food and nothing will change.'
'Every city has his own secret escaping route,' said the blond man. 'We just have to find the entrance to that.'
'In seven days?' asked the scowling man. 'People will have died before we found it. Only the Duke of the South knows where they are.'
'Then he should use it to come here,' said the redhead.
'An eighty percent chance he won't leave his people,' said the bespectacled man.
'A ninety percent chance they are keeping him hostage so he can't go anywhere,' said the man with the closed eyes. 'Not a chance he will be able to get here.'
'There are tunnels,' said Fuji suddenly. All the men were looking at him and he thought he had done something wrong. He had spoken when nobody had asked him to.
'Where?' asked the King, not angry at all, just eager to know.
'I don't know how to explain,' said Fuji a little shy.
Tezuka pulled a map from wall and put it on the table. He pointed to a city at the Southern part of the map. All men gathered around them. Tezuka stepped back, giving them space.
'That is the City of the South,' said the scowling man. 'I have been there often, so tell me where you see those tunnels.'
'In the woods,' said Fuji. 'There are a lot of trees and somewhere in the middle are huge rocks in a circle. In the middle of that circle is a hatch. If you open it there are stairs and tunnels that will lead to four different parts of the city. The first ends in an empty mill, the second in a very big house, the third in the basement of a bakery and the last one ends under a bridge.'
'I know that place,' said the scowling man. 'A lot of people think it's a sacred place. They would never climb over the rocks to see if something is inside that circle. It's the perfect place to hide a hatch. We can't use the second tunnel though, it will end up in the house of the Duke.'
'The one under the bridge might be dangerous too,' said the redhead. 'If soldier will see you coming out of such a place they will definitely try to find out where you came from.'
'But we can use that one at night and the other two during the day as well,' said King Atobe. 'Will we succeed in that, Fuji?'
'Yes,' answered Fuji. 'If you dress like the people who live there you can get in unnoticed, but don't bring too many people at the same time and hide the food and water carefully. Women should go, the soldiers won't suspect them as easy as men.'
'We should bring soldiers through that tunnel on the seventh day,' said the blond man. 'Once the gates are closed again there won't be much soldiers left there. While we attack the ones who travel to the next city, we can take the ones in the city down by bringing a troop of soldiers through the tunnel. Would that work?'
Fuji nodded. 'But they have to attack before the ones who are waiting outside will attack. The enemy troops will be confused when they hear the sounds of fighting from the city and at that moments the soldiers that were hidden in the woods have to attack.
'Which tunnels do we have to use for that?' asked the redhead.
'All four of them, but send the most men through the second tunnel,' answered Fuji. 'Most of the enemy soldiers are using the house of the Duke and live there until they get new commands.'
'So it will be,' said King Atobe.
'Thank you very much,' said the scowling man. He looked less angry by now. 'Let's prepare the food and water and the people who will have to bring it to the City of the South.