Chapter Text
Having wandered aimlessly for the last six hours, she was beginning to register the fact that she was lost, her only defence being whatever few 7mm bullets she had left with her rifle, a closed pocket full of emergency .45 caliber bullets to go with the emergency pistol in a holster on her left thigh and a pocket knife held in a dark, leather sheath on her right thigh.
She wore a thick coat, a light blueish colour with dark, flecked fur lining the inside of the body and the hood. She wore a pair of trousers over her standard leggings, hoping they were thick enough to keep her legs warm in the swiftly changing temperatures of the environment she had been placed in. There were a pair of snow goggles on her head, not that she knew where and when she was going to use them, but they were handy to keep around, just in case.
Somehow she had gotten separated from her sister, Xiayu, but she could've sworn she had just turned and she had disappeared into the bushes. And it wasn't like she could search for a girl with red and white face paint, she had taken it off before the mission had begun for stealth and had been talking about reapplying it but in shades of brown and green.
The environment they had been thrown into was unknown to them, although, what they did know was that it was somewhere in Asia, they had overheard some of the soldiers talking about it before they had gotten there.
She checked the sky for any sign of an aeroplanes and grumbled something under her breath, before kicking a patch of dirt and trying to continue her work.
The sun was beginning to show it's golden face against the forest trees, turning the sky pink and shades of purple, the wispy, white clouds above stained with golden flecks. The tall trees adopted a shine on their leaves, almost highlighting an exit out of the long, wide forest.
Jianyu couldn't help but admire it, she had never seen a sunrise like this in ages, it almost felt alien.
She finally came to a split in the trees which lead to an open field. Anxiously, she stepped out onto the grass, her feet disappearing into the soft green. She did momentarily question her decision, her targets still hadn't been neutralised and being in an unknown location with little cover and protection was an idea that could get her killed.
That was her job, neutralise the enemy, and go home to Lord Bison.
Usually, she would've stubbornly persisted with her task, but there was something about the unfamiliar sky which prompted her to sit on a nearby stone.
She sat and held her head back, there was a cool breeze. It was as if the season had changed in a heartbeat. From the harsh cold of the early spring to a clear warmth like that of the summer.
If she hadn't been on duty, she would've probably fallen asleep.
Standing back up, she walked over to the edge of the hill, peering over at what was beyond it. A few hundred metres beyond the foot of the hill was a village, or maybe a town. It was quite big and the buildings were beautifully crafted, but even from a distance, it was clearly neglected. The red paint on the tallest, grandest of the builds was beginning to turn into a darker colour with the weathering and battering from the elements. She could tell that, even from her far away location.
But there was an odd, old quality to the town, as if it shouldn't be there. All of her sense told her to avoid it, but her curiosity overrode her sense, as it always did, and told her to rush towards it.
So that's exactly what happened, in a more unconventional fashion than she initially intended.
Having misjudged the gradient of the hill, she began to tumble down it, clinging onto her rifle as if it was going to come alive and save her.
The mound was quite tall, but it wasn't so tall that she just continued to roll down it at ridiculous speeds for ages. She came to a halt at the foot, only just having missed a tall tree by a few inches.
She felt oddly out of place, she shouldn't be so off her feet having had impressive combat training (and years on end of having learnt martial arts prior to joining Shadaloo), maybe having her staff as a key weapon would've let her settle down a bit more, but there was just something, something in the air that would not rest, would not let her rest.
Scrambling to her feet, she brushed off the thick coat. The heat of the upcoming sun was beginning to get to her, but she dared not unzip it, for fears of removing her only protection against bullets. And she felt a bit shy, knowing that if someone was watching, they saw her roll down the hill like a complete idiot.
Shaking off the thought, Jianyu gazed at the town, only about two-hundred metres north-east from her position now. Maybe she could collect supplies? Would there even be supplies there? How long ago had it been since it was built.
Beginning a sprint towards the closest building, she trekked through the grasses, noticing it was slightly damp. It must've been raining recently. But she didn't remember seeing any clouds. Maybe she had missed it?
Only then did she realise she was sticking out like a sore thumb, either that or that rogue strand of hair Enero couldn't sort a few days ago. She gave a low chuckle at the memory.
Struggling to find cover, she ran over to the more shadowy area of the grassland, the edge, which was jaggedly lined with trees.
An unfamiliar sight, this place must've not been made fit for tourism yet.
The shadows lead to what looked like the village entrance, the stone path becoming much more refined the further west it went.
As she came in to about a 50 metre radius of the intended location, she gazed upon the lonely town. It looked as if it were victim to a raid.
The walls were destroyed and lonely, the main middle streets gray and dented. A singular flag wove, although it's sheen was discoloured by a heavy layer of dust. Jianyu wrinkled her nose, there was a faint scent of gunpowder emanating from it all, one which made her hair stand on end.
Walking in, her shoes were the only noise, aside from the singular bird chirping every so often, one which she would've shot had she had Février's temper. Looking from side to side, the damage looked way too new to not have happened a few months ago at the latest.
What had happened? This place looked like something on those world heritage sites, why would someone destroy one of them?
Becoming nervous, she gripped her rifle and held it out front, checking to make sure she had a cartridge loaded before setting it up and placing a shaky finger by the trigger.
The windows were old, or at least what she'd consider old, and were made of a deep, rich wood, decorated with faint colours. Some of the buildings were surrounded by walls, almost like a garden. Some of the streets lined with some kind of bunting.
Yikes, this thing was like walking through a history textbook, either that or some Hollywood film.
If she knew her film tropes correctly, she was about to be ambushed by the enemy. The ashes within the area settled onto her black hair, giving it a matte grey look, and covered her jacket, which she was genuinely contemplating taking off. Light blue was way too obvious in this place.
Swishing the bangs on the one side of her head out of her eyes, she tried to get to grips with the layout of the area.
The buildings were usually about one storey tall, except for a few, important looking ones which exceeded that. The one bearing the dishevelled red paint looked even worse in person, almost as if giant claws had damaged it.
Towards the back of the main road was a decorated temple building, the gate being discoloured and looking quite old, whilst the main building beyond was almost completely destroyed.
Her shoes tapping against the warming stone, she quickly made her way up to the destroyed build.
She still tried to keep to the darker areas, but cover was quickly being eradicated at the morning sun continued to climb the mountains beyond, she groaned at the thought of being both caught and overheating.
But after about ten minutes of searching, nobody seemed to be here, so she finally untensed her muscles and undid the coat, dropping it to the floor with a thud. Jesus Christ, that thing was heavy. With the weight off of her shoulders, she felt a lot more flexible and energetic.
Hiding the coat in a safe place, under the rubble, she continued her search, nonchalantly picking up pieces of gold and metallic objects she could take back, ransacking the abandoned town of all they had left.
She had dropped all form of anxieties and was merely enjoying her new discovery, tempted to mention it over the radio to the others, although she remembered she had damaged it over a day ago, most likely outcome was no signal whatsoever.
At the realisation, once again, that she was lost, she dropped all the gold and began frantically searching her coat for the emergency flare.
Thankfully, it was still where she had put it a day ago, and she contemplated using it immediately. But then she'd risk being found, being compromised. With a sigh, she put it back. Later, she told herself.
However, as she turned, she came face to face with an unfamiliar person. They held an old, rusted Dao, directed at her face. She reeled back, her eyes widening at the sight. Reaching for the Pistol in her holster, the strange person began to question her.
The questions came quick and fast and she struggled to register them, not to mention they barely made any sense.
Although, obviously they had noticed this too and began to lower the weapon, sensing maybe she wasn't a threat.
They wore a cross-collar brown tunic, with a sash and similarly coloured trousers underneath, all woven from the same fabric, looking quite coarse, but comfortable.
She swallowed and gripped the Pistol, taking it out of it's holster, the other narrowing their eyes at the object, clearly confused on what it was.
Raising and pointing the sword-like object at her again, they shouted at her, causing her anger to flare up.
"Put it down!"
"Not until you do the same!" She retorted, spitting a little.
"Why should I trust you, you came from nowhere, wear unfamiliar clothes and wield odd weapons! How am I supposed to know you're not one of them?"
"Who's one of them?" Jianyu shook her head with a light grunt. "Doesn't matter, drop the weapon or I'll shoot! I'm on quite an important task and you're not really helping right now."
"Important task? What are you, some kind of mercenary? Are you here to finish us off?"
"I'm not here for anything-"
"Explain the pile of our stuff then." They rudely interrupted, but Jianyu couldn't be too upset, they did have a point.
"Well, I- uhm- you're dressed weird, is this like some kind of-"
"Calling my attire strange? You're clearly some rich-"
"Rich? God, I wish! Anyway, get out of the way, I've got work to do." She nudged the blade on it's unsharpened, surprising the other.
"Do not move! I can and will take you captive!"
"Mhm, sure you can." She tried walking past, not really expecting to be hit so swiftly and apprehended with such ease. She whined loudly. "I better not have landed myself in some kind of Kung-Fu flick otherwise I really am going to be pissed." She furrowed her brows and knocked her attacker off, throwing them, the Dao landing not too far away from them.
"You speak oddly, you're not from here, are you?"
"Well clearly fucking not! By the way you're dressed I would assume I've gone through time and gotten lost somewhere."
"Well then, what time would you have come from? Which year were you born in?"
"Let's see..." She gave the other a quick kick to the stomach as she thought, making them hack and cough violently.
"I was born in 19-"
"The 19th year?! You must have many years-"
"Oi!" She gave them another kick for good measure.
They vomited before speaking again. "I meant of wisdom! Wisdom! I didn't mean to imply you were old!" They coughed and groaned in pain.
"1971 is what I meant to say. What year is it now, then?" By now, Jianyu had begun to suspect something was up with the timeframe she was in, or at least supposed to be in.
"It is.. the 96th year into the current dynasty."
Jianyu let out a loud scream of pure shock. She had fucked up and gone back in time. No wonder everything was so different, it was because she wasn't in her time. Dynastic rule didn't even exist anymore!
The poor person on the floor looked horrified, they thought about reaching for their weapon, but dared not enrage the odd woman before them.
"May I ask, what is happening?"
Jianyu frowned. "I have no clue. I want to ask the same question."
"So you're not one of the invaders, then?"
"No? Of course not. Well, not one of the ones going after you lot at least. But until I find out what's actually happening, I think I need a job to do..." Jianyu thought for a moment before asking. "...Any chance you could tell me more about these... Invaders?"