Part Seven

The young man climbed over a pile of rubble and knelt next to Hideoshi.
"Takashi!" Hideoshi managed to gasp out with great effort.
Galen's dark face furrowed in puzzlement, bringing his brows close to his coarse, tightly curled hair. Meanwhile, Nevsky silently crept away.
"Are you related to Hideoshi?" Galen asked after a minute.
Glancing up, Takashi replied, "I'm his younger brother."
He looked down again at Hideoshi, one hand on his forehead while the other grasped his right hand. Hideoshi gazed back at Takashi, pain clearly showing on his brow.
"Are you badly hurt?" Asked Takashi. " You keep clinching your teeth and fists, and there's a lot of blood on the snow."
Hideoshi's face became ashen pale, but he quickly assumed a stolid composure, though his voice shook.
"I think I'm going to die."
"Not while I'm with you!" Exclaimed Galen, who began to apply linen bandages with alacrity. "Besides, you've got a whole life to live! Think of how pleased the folks at home will be when you tell them what you've done! Anyway, this wound doesn't look TOO bad. I've seen worse. We'd better carry you back to a cart or to camp, whichever we can get to first."
"Here's a cloth I found that we can use!" Nevsky cried, stumbling over rubble while waving a long, wide linen cloth.
Takashi jerked up his head, then grinned.
"Just what we can use to carry my brother away! By the way, Galen, how did my brother get hurt? And what is this giant of a bird that lies here?"
With avidity Galen told Takashi about the Thunderbird, and how Hideoshi killed it, while both of them, with Nevsky's help, lifted Hideoshi onto the cloth and tied two great knots at the head and the foot.
"Hey!" Called several soldier from the Third Company who were wandering nearby. "We've been sent to gather the wounded, so you can give him to us. The sheriff of Valash just surrendered, so there's not much left for the reinforcements to do."
Galen laughed, saying, "Oh, there'll be stuff to do, like bury the dead."
"Yeah," groaned one of the soldiers as the three handed Hideoshi over, careful to avoid causing further pain. The soldiers trudged off towards a wagon, as Takashi rang out, "We'll see you tonight!" Then a silence settled upon the group, as they watched soldiers drifting about, alone or in groups. Meanwhile, Nevsky shifted his weight from one foot to the other, while his heart beat anxiously. Finally, he asked:
"Could-could you two-possibly-help me bury my cousin Ivan? He was killed yesterday-I think-it seems so long ago."
"Why-"moaned Galen, but Takashi spoke up. " I will. Do you know where his body is?"
"That spot I could recognise ages from now, so seared into my memory is that one second when I saw his-" began Nevsky, but he nervously cut off the flow of anguished words.
Galen sighed, but with resolution said, "I'll help."
Carrying a shovel found at an abandoned house nearby, Nevsky led the others to Ivan's body, singing in a low, soft tone:
'My friend has gone to the world beyond
And I shall some day follow after.
Once we both shared in mirth and laughter
But now I weep alone in sorrow.

My friend has gone to the world beyond
For he lives on, 'tis known in my heart
Though for now in sorrow we do part,
And I feel like I'm lost in the dark.'

"What song is that?" Takashi asked, moved by the calm yet melancholy melody.
Nevsky sighed.
"It's a traditional song we sing back home when going to bury the dead."
"Oh-yikes!" Said Takashi, who tripped unawares over Ivan snow-covered body.
Once more, Nevsky grew pale, and he began to tremble.
"Well," said Galen. "Since I'm a medic and mailman, and since we've got lots of wounded to get around to, I've got to go now. See you both at camp!"
Takashi rang out "See ya!" As Galen waded off through the snow. Nevsky stood as if fossilised, then crept up to Ivan's body, reached out a hand, and drew it back quickly when it was within a foot of the blood-caked body.
He did this several times, each time letting his hand get a little closer before swiftly drawing it back. Finally, he touched the frozen body, and jerked his hand back involuntarily.
Takashi looked towards the west, where an orange glow was sinking under the weight of darkness.
"I wish this grave was already dug," he said.
Instantly, a dug grave with a mound of dirt next to it appeared beside the corpse. Nevsky gasped, but said nothing. Instead, he knelt next to Ivan's body, and placed his right hand upon the forehead of the body. With the hand he traced a circle on the forehead, then he touched his own forehead and traced a circle upon it.
Puzzled, Takashi asked,"Why'd you do that?"
"It's another old custom," replied Nevsky. "It symbolises that the dead live forever, that we will remember the dead, and that we will also die."
"What a way to respect the dead. But, we need to bury him now."
In silence they lowered the body into the grave and covered it with earth. When this was done, Takashi, noticing Nevsky's silence, said "Come on! Let's find Hideoshi and Galen!"