This Is My Battleground

Chapter 5
Episode 1: Scene 5

When the dust cleared away, I pulled my jacket front over my face and Yuki's shirt over hers. She didn't dare to talk and I tried to look over at Len. Where was he? I held Yuki close to me and crawled over to his body. His front looked fine... I placed Yuki down and gently swiped my fingers across his back. My fingers came back bloody with burned pieces of cloth and flesh. Oh no. I dug into one of my compartments and pulled out a radio.

"Base? Come in! We have an emergency!" I said, as calmly as I could. "We have a second rank down, suffering from serious injuries and a little girl. I repeat, second rank down and a little girl!"

"Roger that," Kaito's voice came back. "Gaku and I are heading to your location." I sighed and switched my radio for some gauze I kept just in case of emergency.

"Momma, is his going to be alright?" Yuki asked.

"Just hand me some of your gauze, sweetie," I said, stripping Len's vest off. Yuki handed me her roll and I completely stripped Len of his top half. Don't worry, I've done it before. This kind of burn, if you're untrained, should only be handled by a professional (I'm trained). I sat him up and he groaned in pain. "Yuki, hold him up." She complied and I started to wrap the gauze around his body. Len hissed and bit his lip to withstand the pain. I felt so sorry for him... I pulled out my pistol and told them to stay where they were. Around the junkyard was a small well not many people knew about. It was a great reservoir if we ever needed water. Where was it...?

"Aah!" I heard Yuki scream and then a gunshot. I turned around and saw a giant Creature, dead, next to her. I'm so glad I taught her to use her pistol correctly. I continued to look for the well. It was cleverly hidden behind a pile of trash, but there was a tool shed. There might be supplies... I couldn't risk it. I quickly took the bucket of water back to Len and used his shirt to wash his back. I left a bit of space in the gauze to carefully pore the water through and wash away the damaged skin and blood. Len's face was twisted up in agonizing pain and I frowned.

"Yuki, give me the vial of that healing cream I gave you," I order. Yuki nodded, quickly fumbling in her bad for it. It was two ounces, but that was enough. I pulled the stopper off the vial and dripped it down his back. Instantly, he gave a sigh of relief and his face relaxed. "Better?"

"Y-yeah..." he said, panting.

"Rin! Yuki!"

"Over here Kaito!" I screamed. "Hurry!" I sighed in relief when I saw Kaito and Gakupo jog over to us and looked over at Len. "We have to get him to Luka. Take Yuki back to and make sure Yuki's in Luka's care, understand?" Kaito nodded and Gakupo and Len over his shoulder. "I need to finished a couple of things first. I can't have them here, it's just too dangerous."

"Understood," Kaito said, picking Yuki up.

"M-Momma?" she called. I kissed her cheek.

"Mama will be back in an hour, sweetie," I told her. "Just stay with Auntie Luka, okay?" Yuki nodded and they used the sewage system to make there way back. As for me, I turned back towards the tool shed. My first impulse was that there was something important in there...why not check? I walked back to the tool shed and touched the door's surface. It was rotten wood, considering that the wood broke at my touch. Here goes nothing... I took a deep breath and kicked the door down. On the inside, it looked pretty normal...rot, ivy, etc. What caught my attention was a picture frame. I walked over to a crate propped next to an old mattress and picked up the picture. This picture... I quickly opened the frame and took the picture, along with a small medallion- a wreath encircling a feather. It's time I learned a little bit about this picture.

Gumi POV

I learned pretty soon that this lady I was talking to was the third in command, Luka Megurine. No wonder she had such a powerful presence... We were talking before about the second in command's daughter, but I decided to change the subject to something less despressing. We started talking about how she trained my cousin to stop perving around and how she had to use a gun instead of a whip because Gakupo kept thinking it was pretty kinky. How am I related to this guy again...?

"Luka!" We turned to the side and saw Gakupo and three other people come towards us. Well, technically only two of them were walking. The blue haired guy was cradling a sobbing, black haired, little girl and Gakupo was carrying a beat up looking blonde kid over his shoulder.

"Oh my god," Luka gasped. "Is that Len?"

"Yeah, it turns out his entire back's burned," Gakupo said seriously. "Rin gave him enough of the cream to ease his pain, but it's wearing off. This kid's gonna o down if you don't treat him soon."

"Understood," Luka said, tying back her hair. "Gumi, you want to become a medic like me, don't you?" I looked at her in surprise and nodded. It was a fact that randomly came up. "Then come with me. You'll be my cute apprentice." Gakupo's face twisted into a sort of unsure look.

"You sure? She's only sixteen," he said.

"She'll need practice when she's young," Luka snapped. "Or is it that you're questioning my decision?"

"N-NO MA'AM!"

"I'm sorry to interupt your conversation," a rapsy voice hissed. "BUT THE PAIN ON MY BACK WILL SOON BE IN YOUR BALLS IF YOU DON'T HELP ME." Whoa, pissy little guy. Gakupo quickly rushed him into the operating room and Luka slipped on her gloves.

"Gumi, put some gloves on," Luka ordered. "His burns are pretty bad, I'll need your help." She looked up at the little girl and the blue haired man. "Did Rin tell me to babysit?" The blue haired man nodded solemnly. "Do me a favor and look after her for a bit...is she hurt?"

"Only a few scratches, but I can clean those up by myself," he said.

"Then why are you standing there?" Luka snapped. "Get to it." She looked back at the boy on the table. "Gumi, I want you to get the antiseptic. It's in that closet over there." She went to the sink and started soaking towels in ice water. "Lucky, it's hurting him."

"HOW IS THAT LUCKY?"

"Shut up, Len," Luka snapped. "It's lucky because it's only a second degree burn. A third degree and I'd need to get Miki in here to help me as well. So count your blessings. While you're counting, learn how to shut up, alright?" She carefully placed the towel on his back and I gave her the bottle of antiseptic. "Len, how does your back feel?"

"Like hell came on my back."

"Good," she said. "This will make it as if hell was your back." I won't even describe this scene because it's just screaming and a slight bit of sadistic laughing. "Alright, alright. I'm adding the cream." She went to the freezer and took out a car of white cream that had the label 'toxic'. Was that the right jar?

"Luka?" I asked. "That says toxic."

"That's because it is," she explained. "Too much is toxic and it's almost as bad as radiation poisoning. But if applied in the right amount, it'll heal so quickly, you wouldn't even know he was hurt in the first place." She started coating his burns lightly with the cream and quickly place it back into the freezer and locked it. I was focus on the boy's back, watching as the skin turned from black to red to pink to cream. She was right...! There wasn't a single mark on his back to show about his burn...it's amazing...how did she make that...?

"Aah..." he sighed. "Thanks, Luka..." He sat up on the table and face me. H-holy c-crap... Blood rushed to my face and I covered my mouth. He had the body of...maybe a swimmer? Honestly, it was hot... He was lean, but lightly muscled... His face was...probably angelic and devilish at the same time while having a perminent bad boy smirk on his face... I wonder how old he is...

"No problem," she sighed. "Where's Rin?"

"She stayed behind to check out something," he answered. Luka gave him a looked. "You don't think she found the shed, do you?"

"...you better hope she didn't or else," Luka said, quickly. She spotted me again and for once, her brave, cool composure faltered. "Len, can you do me a favor and take care of Yuki...and not teach her anything that might get Rin pissed off to kingdom come?" Len chuckled and nodded. "Oh and first, go get a damn shirt. Gumi's one flex from a nosebleed."

"Well I do have that affect on the ladies." Crack. I jumped at the sound to see a blonde girl with a whip at the door. In my opinion, she was pretty with a girlish, very powerful charm. I have to admit though, her clothes where pretty trampish...I liked the black bow, though. It's pretty cool. She dragged the whipped behind her and gripped Len's black collar that circled his neck.

"You need to learn respect," she hissed. "You can't talk to Luka or anyone like that, understand? Because I WILL whip your ASS so hard, you'll be visiting her EVERY DAY." He flinched and she smirked. I frowned. Sure he was cocky, but why did she have to be so mean? Was Luka like this to Gakupo too? I walked to her and pushed her way.

"Stop it!" I snapped. "Don't do that! Can't you see he's just recovering?" She looked at me and crossed her arms.

"Who are you?" she asked. Before I could answer, Luka gripped my shoulder and answered for me.

"She's my newest apprentice," she said, calmly. Rin glared at me and curled up her whip.

"Teach her respect," she snapped. "If it wasn't obvious, I'm not in a good mood." She attached a leash to Len's collar and tugged him off the table...like a dog...

"STOP IT!" I shrieked. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HIGH IN RANK HE IS? HE'S GOING TO BE THE SECOND IN RANK'S PARTNER!" She looked at me and laughed. "W-what?" She gave me a good hard look.

"Honey, I am second rank." My voice caught in my throat. What a horrible leader.