Things weren't looking so good. Hell, things hardly looked better than this anyway. Blood soaked the pink soil and only deepened the red. About fourty good warriors lost and all for nothing. This battle was lost and Lord Tristan knew that it would be lost before he sent his son on the front lines. He insisted that Kahseh get no special treatment as he was a Viking just like the rest of their people. If he died here, Tristan would have to live with that forever. Now only him and a handful of warriors remained, it was important that they get to safety so that at least some of them would be alive. Kah hid behind a destroyed piece of concrete. Once, this place was a thriving village with walls made out of hard material unlike the other villages they raided before. The young Raider looked down at his chest. There was an arrow deep into his breast just above his heart luckily. If He took the arrow out now he could probably stop the bleeding. Barely being able to move, he used his hand to grab the arrow, and without another thought ripped it out of his breast with a grunt. "Retreat!!" He shouted to the men who also hid behind broken pieces of stone on both sides of him. He was the son of a great Viking Lord so despite how young he was, they looked to him for leadership. On his call, the man began to move, sprinting as fast as they could to the forest of pink trees as arrows were shot towards them. Only 12 of them remained.

"Agh!" 11 now... Kahseh didn't look back. There was no time to look back, the dead were gone.
"Uggh! Help!" Just as he made it to the safe zone, out of the battle field he heard the cry of one of his warriors. That one was still alive. The Bronze fighter turned to see that it was the newly recruited boy who'd been the same age as him...he couldn't just let him die after hearing him shout for help. "My Lord." Bunda began, "We must go now." K turned to face the navigator. Though he didn't know him well he knew that his father respected him very much. "Go...all of you. I'll catch up." "But My lord-" "I'm not asking you. I said go. I won't die today." Kahseh and the other 10 warriors made it safely behind the pink trees but they were in a hurry. No doubt the enemy wouldn't leave them alone here. The men nodded and sprinted through the forest to find their way to camp. "Alright." he whispered to himself. "Dynast, don't move a muscle. You have to pretend to be dead or you'll really die, got that?" The boy looked at Kahseh with desperate widened eyes and gave him a slight nod. The Lord took a deep breath before sprinting back onto the battlefield, dodging arrows and bullets to reach his ally but from the other side, the enemies began to run towards them. "He's their leader! Bring him in alive!" Kah moved as fast as he could to the boy but his enemies moved even faster. "My lord, stop!" The boy shouted as his eyes began to water. "We'll both die, j-just go!" Kahseh stopped and watched the boy for a split moment. This boy had already accepted his death. He was right. Even if K somehow did make it, they'd both never be able to leave anyway. "Go!" Dynast shouted.

K nodded and turned immediately, sprinting back into the forest using his maximum speed. Surely they were following him, after all he was the one in charge here. He swerved around trees, dashed through bushes and jumped over logs before falling to his knees out of breath and losing blood. "I gotta get back to camp." he told himself as he coughed blood. He didn't have the energy to move further but he absolutely could not die here.

"hey!"

Kahseh lifted his head to see who'd been calling out to him before he died and when his eyes laid on her he froze. Whoah he thought as his eyes met with the woman's. She was unbelievably beautiful and for a second he could feel no pain. Her cheeks blushed with a bright red color but Kahseh stared blatantly into her eyes. She stuttered but eventually managed to tell Kahseh that she could help him and so he allowed her too. Her softened voice broke him out of his gaze. K gave her his hand as she pulled him up, throwing his arm over her shoulders. "We have to leave, NOW....They're coming." He spoke looking directly at the woman with saddened, hurting eyes. Still he remained strong, he wouldn't look weak in front of this woman he had to protect her. "Thank you." He stated, eyes still intact with hers. "Come on, let's hurry. My people are up ahead." He finally said after breaking his gaze. Lord Tristan would repay this girl for helping her son, he was an honest and kind man with an iron fist. A perfect leader really. Kahseh didn't understand what he was feeling but for some reason he felt as if this woman was someone special to him and he didn't know a thing about her. It had to be some form of magic, perhaps a devil fruit or poison.

It isn't take the two long to reach their destination, but Kah wasn't feeling well. His mind was blurry but he had to fight it. He didn't understand though, why was this woman going through all of this trouble just to save him? He watched as the woman pulled out her tools and got to work, beginning with cleaning the wound. He rested his head on tree and waited for the woman to do what she thought was best. Kahseh grunted from the stings of the cleaning, nothing he couldn't handle though. "w-why are you h-helping me?" he managed to whisper to Sofia. He needed to know why she was doing this, why she was wasting her materials on a man she didn't know, jeopardizing her life for a complete stranger. The gods sent her for a reason and he was thankful that she did help him but she could get hurt being around here. The fight wasn't over, the enemies would be making their way over here soon to kill them all and now that they see they can win they'll never stop. If she was still here when they arrive there was no doubt that she'd die. "It's not safe...here, I have to warn my people." he breathed before trying his hardest to move his arms to lift him. He was far too weak to do that, he only succeeded in lifting his butt off the ground. Why was she still here dammit?! Not only did he have to worry about his people but now he also had to worry about her If this girl was harmed it would be his fault an he couldn't live with that. She was wasting too much time on him and his people would never take her along to keep her safe - not that she would want to go anyway. Still the young Lord was considering all possibilities despite him being pretty fucked up.

There. It was all done. Kahseh gazed upon her as she successfully patched him up. Her hands were quick, she had to be a professional. She insisted that Kah don't worry but that was all he could do at this very moment. "Thank you, for a second there I thought I was going to die." He stated with a warm smile, still looking directly at her. It seemed that her job wasn't done though. She wanted to go with Kahseh since he couldn't walk just yet but she had no idea what that meant. Vikings weren't like ordinary people or like any pirate. They were different. She wasn't his people so people would want her as a slave or even worse... a sacrifice to the gods. That's just how it was and that's how it will be for a long time unless someone is brave enough to reform that system of thinking. Quickly she tucked her supplies away and didn't even give k a chance to respond before saying she'd go warn them instead. His eyes widened. He reached out his hand to grab hers quickly but gently, he didn't want her doing anything too silly. "No.. we have to go together. My people don't know who you are, they wouldn't even trust you." He held her hand tighter but nowhere near tight enough to hurt her, gently pressing his lips against her hand to show his gratitude."I owe you my life." He said before picking himself up using every ounce of his strength. Most of it seemingly returning to him. "Come on, there down there." He pointed to the camp just below them. The shores were right beside the land perfect to ensure their escape or death if they weren't in time. Kahseh pushed himself up with all his strength, most of it seemingly returned to him. "You're putting your life in danger, are you sure you want to be here?" He paused before looking down at his people. "What kind of man would I be if I allowed the woman who saved my life die?"

The woman was braver then he expected. She was eager to help him get back to his people knowing the consequences. Kahseh nodded at her reply as she helped him to his feet. "Alright..." he whispered. "Up ahead." he continued. The pain was bearable but too much of it could be bad for Kahseh, who knew if he would have to fight again. As the girl brought him into his camp people peered through their doors watching their lord accompanied by a complete stranger. The warriors of the camp ran towards Kahseh and aimed their weapons towards the woman who carried him. "It's fine. She's with me." The warriors put their arms down. "Kahseh!" a voice from behind shouted. It was Lord Tristan, his father. The man ran up to his son and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're alive, my son." K smiled before pointing to the woman beside him. "Thanks to her." All eyes landed on Sofia. Lord Tristan raised an eyebrow as he looked at her turning his head as if he was trying to understand her before lifting his hand and gently touching her face. His eyes widened as if he'd made an alarming discovery. "She...she resembles your mother. Thank you for saving my son." Tristan smiled before turning to walk away. "They're coming!" He shouted at his father. "There's too many of them, we'll never be able to survive this we have to leave." There was a moment of silence for a split moment, only breathing could be heard. "Fine, then we leave now...but she can't come with us." "But she saved my li-" "She is not our people, Kahseh. She is an outsider." Kah looked at the woman. He still didn't know her name but now she knew his. He didn't know what to do. If he didn't get her out of here she would die. Quickly he grabbed her face and spoke directly at her. "I won't let you die."

Tristan walked away as the girl introduced herself as Philipa Sofia... Sofia...that sounds so familiar. Kahseh remembered his mother saying once or twice that when she was younger she traveled to an island called Sofia and ironically it was the same island this woman was from. Her last name was the same as the islands, which usually meant that she was apart of the family in charge? Maybe just a coincidence but that was unlikely. Tristan's decision was as clear as day. Everyone knew that once Tristan made a call there was no going back, he was stubborn just like his son, and his wife. Kahseh had to think quickly. "Everyone pack your things, we're leaving! Kahseh, don't take too long!" Tristan shouted as he gripped his sword, walking towards the boat to get everything in order. The young raider's hands slowly dropped from Philipa's face as she asked how they were going to get out of here. She was stuttering but Kah couldn't pay attention to that now. He looked around frantically before his eyes landed back on the woman. "Hey, you aren't alone here are you? Do you have people on this island? Someone I can bring you back to?!" His words came out in a rush and his eyes widened with adrenaline. It wouldn't be long before the enemies came and people were already packing up. "If you have family or friends here I can bring you to them...but if not I'll have to beg my father to bring you back to your home - or at least let me do it." Eagerly he awaited Philipa's response.

Kahseh turned away for a second to think harder. Sofia said she hadn't had any one to return to which made this all the more difficult. Suddenly, the woman started acting weird. Kah turned around to her fishing in her bag to pull out what ended up being a baby den den mushi. Philipa forced to thing into his hand, telling him to keep it as quietly as she could. "Wh-what are you doing?" he whispered confusingly. She was done speaking. She didn't bother to give Kahseh an answer either she just "had to go". The young Raider was confused mostly but a there was a drop of disappointment in there to. He looked down at the Den Den Mushi before turning around with a sigh. What an unpredictable woman...who was she? Kahseh cleared his throat before shouting. "Alright everyone let's get a move on! Everyone onto the boat!" Lord Tristan looked back at his boy before realizing the woman he was with wasn't there. With a nod towards his son in approval, he began helping the warriors onto the boat. Kahseh turned to face the forest Philipa left from, acknowledging the pinkness of this weird world and what coming here brought him; War, Pain, Death, Love, and confusion. What a trip this was indeed. The bronze man turned back around and made his way onto the ship, being the last one of his people to do so. "Alright, let's go home." The ship was quiet. The only one here who took a win was Kahseh, everyone else lost friends and brothers.