Blood Stained Hands

by Tsuyuno

bleh, mines mines mines. do not steal. u know the drill. now on w/ the story.

Laying face up, he looked at the millions of bright twinkling dots of lights in the heavens. They were fireflies, fated to live in the heavens as such for eternity. He sighed. It was a pity he couldn’t paint it. The stars were a basic, simple part of life, but it held such a romantic and magnificent natural beauty. He had put down his paintbrush and picked up a sword for the first time when his country called for him. He didn’t really care about the war though. He only did it to save his family’s honor. War was stupid and it didn’t really resolve anything. All you ended up with was bitterness between two countries and hundreds of thousands of souls floating around. How many limbs of young men had been sacrificed in this meaningless war, this power struggle?

The innumerable numbers of lives affected by this war were so many that no one was left unaffected. The countries that had traded with Aveh or Kirlia were unable to import or export any finished products or raw materials to either country, thus affecting their economies. Trenches had been dug, destroying scenic nature, degrading the splendor of undisturbed natural beauty. Families with even the tiniest bit of blood relation to the opposing sides were persecuted and mercilessly killed. It was war and the leaders of the nation had become extremely overcome with paranoia when an assassination attempt on the king’s life had nearly succeeded. They were willing to do almost anything to force their enemies into submission. But so far, more harm had been done than benefits gained. Everything is connected to everything else. He remembered his old science tutor saying so. Guess it must apply to everything.

He remembered when the summons came five months ago. The legion had waited long enough for people to join the colors so they resorted to the summons, being short of people. They tried to choose only families with an excellent military record, but the number of renowned militaristic families was diminishing. His parents were so shocked and worried when the summons came. They cried and tried to protest to no avail, his mother especially. His mother had cried out in shock, “Satoru’s only 16!â€