Cherry Blossom Warrior Chapter 21 5/9

[kuro808]

Well I think I could keep them for a long while but eventually one will die.  Eri is not horrible but she hasn't seen the battles upfront so you can see why she has been playing around more.

Chapter 14

After a night of continuous mating with each other, we were awaken with the sound of a horn blaring with the sunrise.  Niigaki woke me up and with her usual grin on her she touched my lips again with hers again before standing up and seeing the rest of warriors spectating our actions from the night.

“Takahashi and Niigaki are cute when they snuggle with each other.”  Eri laughed with her usual non-serious tone.

“Kamei, are you jealous?”  I asked with a grin on my face and Eri walks to the ceremony just starting.

After the burning of the bodies, they decided on new commanders within the troops and two stepped up to cut their hair and wrap themselves up for battle.  Michishige cried when her hair was chopped and the other one stood tall and praised the general.

“Who is her?”  I asked Niigaki.

“Tanaka, she was the leader of rebel army who were defeated in the South but Yossie who was battling the same army had joined up with them at the verge of defeat.  Reina swore her alliance to Yossie and was 2nd in command to Tsuji and Kago.”  Niigaki explained and she knew about the history when she was dragged into the town.

Niigaki remembered that Tanaka was meditating and Yossie walked in to observe her new soldier and she was quiet for five hours until she smelled the gruel.  She killed one of the chickens and plucked out all its feathers before cutting of its head.  Yossie was furious and was ready to slash off her head but Fujimoto saw the potential in her and she took her under her wing.

Tanaka came out the tent and stuck out her sword at Ogawa and Kusumi, Konno defended them with her sword.  All the soldiers create a circle around the two leaders.  Yossie ran out and broke up the fight with her sword, both turned away from each other and the split had become evident that Tanaka was the bad apple in the group.  Niigaki took me to the side.

“Beware of Tanaka, she is quite a hot head, and she will attack without warning.”  Niigaki warned me and Tanaka came behind me.

“You are a rookie, eh.  You got lucky killing their bodyguard, if I was there I would kill more and have no remorse on the townspeople.”  Reina bragged with her weapon still in the sheath.  As she walked away, I knew she could kill our whole army if it wasn't for Yossie and that is the shield we need for now.

The evening was a party for the two new commanders and I walked up to Michishige to see her with her smiling face,  She tried to hide the disappointment of her new do but visibly it was hurting her inside that her hair was gone.

“Michishige, congratulations on your promotion.”  I gave her a drink and she held it dainty and she bowed in appreciation.

It was much quieter than my coronation and Tanaka being a bad drunk was ruining the atmosphere and we all watch her swing her sword around to scare off the others.  I knew that she could snap at any time so I took Niigaki out of the party and joined Eri and Jun in the tea room.

“Welcome, is Tanaka causing trouble to you guys?”  Jun laughed off the joke and we were offered tea with the snacks Jun made for all of us.

“Tanaka is a quite woman but she is too hot-tempered to control her feelings but I heard that her last mate was killed by her enemy and she dispatched him in under a minute.”  Jun poured us another cup of tea and told us of the stories that were going around the camp.

“I wonder if she will find someone so she can be controlled.”  Eri asked and we all drank our tea in unison.

“One day she will and it will be good for all of us.”  I added and finished out bowl before walking back to our hut and seeing Tanaka in the corner.

“Am I a bad person for being brutal?  I develop it because of my best friend who was killed by the leader.  I saw her head fall off her body and he was dead when I realized the blade was in my hand.  Is it bad that I did that?”  Tanaka was letting all her feelings out and I rubbed her back.

“Tanaka, you are a good person but a bad event caused you to become this way, you should treat all like you want to be treated, and I think you can be a better person.”  I hugged her and let her sleep in my arms to see her cute face only made me feel welcomed here.   

[kuro808]

More updates...

Chapter 15

Tanaka was quite swordswoman, she was agile and fearless, her sword slashed through the dummies like a hot knife through ice.  Her expression never show the guilt of killing and I was impressed that she would smile after slashing through the straw dummy.

“Oi, Takahashi get over here, I want to teach you proper sword play.”  Tanaka called over the inexperienced captain over to find a sword on the ground.

I picked up the sword and notice the weight was much heavier than I thought and Tanaka giggled as I was trying to lift it.  I was seriously struggling to keep it up and trying to wield the heavy sword and then after a grunt I took off the dummy's head.  Everyone applauded and I wiped the sweat after the attempt and grinned as I dropped the sword and tumbled over in exhaustion.

“Takahashi, you are funny after one swing you caught the dummy's head and just fall over, you need to train with your sword work.  Get up, I am going to help you.”  She looked at Niigaki and Niigaki walked away from the stare.

Niigaki walked toward Kamei and practiced her archery while I was with Tanaka working on my sword work, I picked up the lighter sword, and sparred with Tanaka.  Everytime we locked swords she would wink and slash right at me.  I finally dodged one of her attacks and caught her side, I was mere inches from injuring her, and Tanaka seemed amused at my move.

“Takahashi, you are quite a warrior, you look too cute to be a warrior in this army, why come here?”  I explained that I was an outlaw for killing my master and I ran from the capital to meet up with Niigaki and met Yossie when Eri and I had to hide from her troubles.

“Wow, you guys are outlaws? Seriously I thought I was bad but you guys are quite good at being bad.”  Tanaka laughed loudly as Eri came back with her archery gear.

“You look quite cute when you pout.”  Kamei came by and pinched her cheeks as Tanaka pushed her hands away.

“You are not cute at all.”  Kamei's smile went to a pout and Tanaka stood up and hugged her.

“You are mean.”

“Well, you are cute when you pout too, how was your archery lesson?”  Niigaki came from behind and rubbed my midsection with her smirk on her face.

I left Kamei and Tanaka alone and turned around to see Niigaki grinning like she had something to show me but she was not revealing her secret.  I tickled her until she exposed her arrow that was made from silver, I looked at it and saw the name Abe on it.

“The Goto family is great with making arrows, how did you get it?”  Right after I asked the question, over the hill I saw Yossie with a taller woman and a shorter women.  The setting sun was a perfect scene seeing the three women walking toward us.

“Listen everyone, a monk and an arrow maker will join us for dinner, please be nice and they will pray for us in our next battle.”  Yossie explained and the shorter woman walked toward Niigaki and bowed to Niigaki and I, she had a beautiful smile and nice dimples.

“My name is Goto Maki, call me Gomaki.”  She extended her hand toward me and I shook it with a firm grip.

“I am Takahashi, this is Niigaki, the one who looks like a cat is Tanaka, and the one next to her is Kamei.”  I pointed toward the people and the taller one came by in her uniform and bowed toward all of us.

“I am Iida, I am a priest in Osaka, I heard about your army's mission and I couldn't help to pray for your safety.”  We bowed back and we walked back to the main house with some hot gruel on the table and the soldiers eating their meal.

[kuro808]

Chapter 16

The arrow maker and the priest I realized were schoolmates until they went their separate ways because of their parents' wishes but they exchanged letters with each other talking about their lives and how they view the world differently.  It was clear that the view maybe clear as a blue lake but the dirt is still brown and does not reveal its true self to the world.  Both had different attitudes about Yossie but were clearly behind us in fighting the war as long as we could stay together.

“Niigaki, they seem to like Yossie but they see Yossie as a hero and as a barbarian for leading us to fighting.”  I pulled out my words slowly as anyone could overhear us.

“Takahashi, people like that don't see the reason behind our war, it was meant to persecute the men who took lands by force.”  Tanaka slowly eating her gruel as she was not concentrating on our conversation.

“Tanaka, you always think about the killing but you are as weak as our soldiers' will.”  Michishige spoke up and Tanaka ignored the comment by finishing up her bowl and walking out of the main house.

Every person saw Tanaka walk out, it was courteous to thank the cook but by going straight, it was disrespectful, and Yossie bolted out of her sitting stance.

“Takahashi, watch this, Yossie is going to rip her apart again.”  Ogawa mumbled as she was stuffing her mouth with the hot food.

I watched outside as Tanaka was watching every word come out of Yossie's mouth and all she did was nod as she understood the situation but something was wrong, I felt the cold air passing through, and I wanted to take her to Jun immediately.  However, Yossie approached me before I could make my move.

“Tanaka, is not normal, she has her own agenda, and she may cross you so be careful what you do with her on your daily training.”  Yossie pat my shoulder and held onto her arm.

“Yossie, I think she has been lost for all this time and maybe she wanted to have a person to talk to that had a heart, can I at least try?”  I pleaded my Yossie as Kusumi and Ogawa were passing by and Abe and Yaguchi had been instructing them about their planning.

“Takahashi, you cannot win the battle, she is too hard to mold, she is fearless and can take out multiple people, why soften her up?”  Ogawa nonchalantly suggested and I grabbed her by the collar.

“If I fail, then we leave it be but this is something that she doesn't have to use anger to win, she can balance her ability and knowledge to win battles without the bloodshed.”  I pushed her back and Kusumi caught her as they both left after my speech.

“Takahashi, you have my permission, but no weapons, you must not bring your weapons to where you guys go, understand?”  I nodded and Yossie walked back to the conversation, while I thanked Rika before meeting with Tanaka who was staring up at the sky.

“Takahashi!  Why are you here?  Did Yossie tell you to talk to me?”  I shook my head and let her head rest on my shoulder.

“Tanaka, I don't know what angry is, I have been frustrated at my whole life, I met a nice man, he raped me, and I killed him.  It makes me wonder why I do this for, I am here because I am here and not for anything else.  You have a lifetime to understand what it means to be angry but you need to learn that passion can only carry you so far before you see the light and that means you are dead.”  Niigaki and Kamei were sitting two feet away from me as Tanaka was seeing the message.

“What can I do?”  She asks and I point toward the tea house where a lady had entered.

“Tea?  I never do tea, and never will do the ceremony.”  Tanaka crossed her arms and cutely pouted.

“Just come with me, you will see what I mean.”  I grabbed her hands and she seemed to hold back but Kamei and Niigaki encouraged her to stand up.

Reina slowly stood up and resisted to follow me but she knew that she could trust me and I bowed to Jun in the room.  Reina looked and saw all the art in the room, her jaw dropped as she looked at the color with the candlelight.

“Takahashi-sama, you seem to have an extra guest, let her enjoy the tea while I make more for everyone.”  Jun disappeared from the room, we all sat around the warm fire, as we waited for Jun to return with more tea.

“Tanaka go take the first sip.”  I saw her pick up the cup and slowly sipped it from the cup, she closed her eyes, and put it down fast.

Tanaka smirked at first then grinned as she approved of the tea and Niigaki and Kamei finished up the rest while I joined Jun to make the tea but I noticed the scar on her hand when she placed the tea plate by Kamei.

“What happened?”  I asked and she hid it away from me.

“Nothing it is just a burn from the pot, don't worry, it is all good, Takahashi-sama.”  She nodded and joined us for tea and snacks.

I knew what it looked like, it was a broken bowl piece that sliced her hand and it must have been Rika since I had not seen it before.  But, I didn't dwell on it as it wasn't my concern and we enjoyed the tea and snacks while we learned about Tanaka's life in detail.

[Shipyon]

This is interesting. Btw. I am back with my new fiction 

[Deft-Monkey]

I don't get it. I notice flaws all over the place and yet I'm compelled to keep reading. What is this?

I don't mean to sound insulting, but reading through it there things that were amiss. It feels like you make some situations unnecessarily curt. You go into great detail with certain parts, but you kind of barely graze over others. This isn't a short story, so I was surprised at the rapid development of intimate relationships. I expected Reina's emotional transition to be much more gradual. I'm glad to see you've cut down on the amount of dialogue, it was kind of worrying in the first chapter I find some of the language confusing, as in it doesn't always really fit the situation.

I read from beginning through to where you're up to now and I've really noticed improvements throughout. The development of characters and events has become a lot more intricate and detailed. Many of the bones I had to pick at the beginning are becoming lesser in number. The only things that I'm sort of at odds with are the cutting off of events and the predictability of the plot. There are situations where I can really feel the tension growing and emotions are about to rise, then it just kind of gets resolved suddenly by one character accepting everything. Conversely, I understand that emotions flare sometimes, like with Yossie suddenly unleashing on her soldiers, etc., but try cutting down on them a little, don't get indulgent The plot looks pretty straightforward - Captain dies resulting in Ai's sudden change of character that will probably be resolved in response to some complication involving other characters, I'd assume Rika and/or Yossie. Then there'll be Yossie's death = chaos, soldiers go apeshit, division of powers ensue, Ai comes to save the day. I don't know, I hope there's a twist somewhere.

Despite my complaints, I have to say that this is really addictive. I was afraid that I might just get bored a few chapters in and stop reading, but it was really hard to stop. It's 3PM and I haven't had breakfast or lunch thanks to you, kuro, so I'm going to fill my stomach. I look forward to the upcoming chapters

[kuro808]

^ It is actually done on purpose, the story concentrates on Ai and she is in sorts between her own past and how she is right now, I wanted to have a lack of intimate relationships but that became hard because Ai is still fragile and not yet hardened.  The Reina development was one of those that she was being exposed everytime she is with Ai so Reina is battle tested but like a good chocolate candy you find a soft center.  Now for the predictability, yes it will happen, but its like asking who will lead the way?  That is the main question to the fic and I wanted to work toward that question, that is the goal.  The answer is there but how she gets to that power that is the story to itself, also the working in of historical facts is hard, then again it is more truth than fantasy.  I only hope I can get more into the battles and internal conflict, that will be the big part of the next chapters

[kuro808]

Chapter 17

“My life has been a rough road, I was born to a poor family, and my father was a drunk while my mother was beaten senseless by him.  I grew angry everyday as the boys always had sticks and poke me where ever they want as their masters just saw them as playing.”  We got another cup and listen intently to her story

“One time in front of my father, I snapped, I grabbed the stick and swung wildly toward the boy's head.  It started to gush out blood and his father came to seek his son but his first reaction was to slap him across the face as he stopped crying.  My father apologized and left me hanging upside down for hours until I lost consciousness, all I remembered was waking up to see my nude body on the street with bruises.  I soon realized that I was sold off to pay off his debts but as a thirteen year old, I was scared.”  Tanaka picked up her bowl to sip but she put down her bowl as she was broken.

“It was horrible the first day and everything was just gruesome,  I spent that whole day finding a way to clean myself but I was dirty on the outside and within.  The next day, I got the man's sword and cleanly cut off his head, the next person in line saw me with his head on my lap.  He ran as I acquired the fee and ran far away to Yossie.”  I nodded as we were solemnly looking at Tanaka.

“Was she your teacher?”  Jun asked as she poured another hot cup to Kamei.

“She was actually training me hard and I knew she saw potential as I nicked the wood deep, she took me to the side, and forbid me to fight with a sword until I learned how to control my emotions but it never came as I slashed through the lots of people and they couldn't stop me.”  Tanaka got herself to calm down a bit for some tea.

As I looked at Tanaka, she was unbalanced, but she had been torn and I couldn't blame her for being reckless, she defined herself as a warrior and she finally worked her way up and it was paying off to teach others to be better fighters.  She was the best to fight but the unpredictability was Yossie's big concern and if I was control her own emotions by breaking her down maybe it was an opportunity gain more respect.

“It's getting late, you guys need to rest, I will be back tomorrow for more tea, see you later.”  Jun bowed out as we stretched out to get to our camps.

As we dispersed ourselves from the hall, something felt wrong, and my hunch was correct as a troop of people crashed their horse into the rations house.  I grabbed the first bow and arrow to patiently wait out the next move as the person was struggling to gain his composure.  Yossie walked out and she saw the guy with a sword swung toward her and shot my arrow into his shoulder.  He screamed in pain as Kamei shot the next one and started to convulses on the ground.  Yossie pointed her sword and won the weekend for everybody.

“Nice shot Kamei.”  She smiled and went back downstairs to see the action closer.

As I watched from the top window, Yossie took out the two arrows and stabbed him to finish the job.  She gave me approval before I would walk down  to see her.  I felt more comfortable about killing but not the one to finish people off.  It had become apparent that I was more afraid than ever as I am skilled at archery but not with swords, which meant not killing people before they live for another fight.

“Takahashi, good job, it was a spy, he wanted to find a way to bulldoze right through but thanks to all we got a member with no original skills.”  Yossie joked as I had become the hero again.

“Yossie, Kamei made a shot too, to disable him.”  I added as to promote Kamei but it was to no avail.

“All of you, go to bed, we need everyone to be back at peace before anything more happens.”  Yossie scolded us as we scurried to our houses.

Niigaki quickly went to sleep as the nights before I tended to meditate about my own life and experiences.  It was becoming clear that it was harsh but life is still good.  Sleep had avoided me for a while and learning to cope with my own lack of sleep was taking toll on my body as I have gotten more tired.  However, the calm, cool winds made it easier to sleep tonight.

The morning came as it was early to wake up and I felt quite sluggish to my lack of sleep the previous night.  It was the leader of the seven younger warriors who helped in the last battle but they were more tamed and apologetic for the time being.

“We are sorry for causing a ruckus, we shouldn't have done it and I have been disciplining them for rude behavior.  By the way, my name is Saki and captain of the squad.”  I shook her hand and she prepared for all their people to join up us as a team again.

They talked to Yossie too and were selected to lead the charge as out next battle was quite exhilarating as we gain an upper hand only in that town.  The next move was to strategically place people as Yossie was brought me to pursue your compel the soldiers.  The concern was too many eventually they had to split them to do ground work.

[kuro808]

thank you everybody for reading, I am going to throw this out and hope you and many others will comment.

Is it way out of reach to understand the setting?  If it is I can explain with your comments so go ahead

Chapter 18

The cold wind has been an omen of battle, if it blows behind us, the ancestors will be behind us, but it was going against us.  Konno who was superstitious complained that we should wait and Fujimoto struck her sword to the ground.  As I approached the main house, the three walked out and I hid onto the side of another house.

“Konno, you are stupid in trying to hold us back.”  Fujimoto stuck her finger into her face and Konno slapped it away.

“I just don't want to be mauled, why don't we wait until the wind change, and waiting could help.”  Konno appealed to Yossie and she looked away.

“Fujimoto is right, we need to attack soon, the winds may never change, and opportunity knocks when it comes up, I know you are worried.  However, I have to take on Fujimoto's advice and going with the attack, we are going to take our best commanders, and attack them.  Send the reserves at sun up and round them up.”  Yossie kept her confident attitude, I saw her waking up the other two houses.

I walked back to the living quarters and tried to close my eyes but the wind was too strong to sleep through.  Niigaki wrapped her arm around me and snuggled closer.

“Can't sleep?”  She asked and her appealing voice with her hand on my hips, I felt the comfort of someone understanding my feelings.

“Yeah, I overheard Yossie and the top commanders, seems we might be left behind.”  She wrapped me even harder as I could only think of her health.

“Takahashi, sleep, that is the only thing we can do for now.”  Niigaki whispered and I closed my eyes to force myself to sleep for the little while before marching.

The next thing I could remember was waking up with the sun gleaming into my face and suited up for another battle but this time, we got the news of the army suffering heavy casualties.  I put everything on as fast as I could and was ready to march west from our location.  The swift movement of everybody was the urgency to witness the killings, however I saw something, guns.

“I never seen them before, when they get these weapons?”  I observed the black smoke coming the firing of the weapon.

“I have seen it once and they do not play nice so we have to take on what is needed for now before they turned on us, I turned toward Konno.

“Hold up, for a second, we need to find a way to attack them without wounding warriors.”  I said to the group and I saw a ledge overlooking the area.

The battle had become gruesome,  the bodies were lying all over the lower lands where the opposition were and luckily every commander was still safe.  Konno saw the opportunity to attack them now before they find us in the mountains.

I commanded to shoot an arrow onto the opposing side and luckily the sharpshooters hit them in a different area as one fell from the shot to the head.  They were in a state of panic as the arrow pierced out of nowhere, they shot off their guns but to no avail we scared them off.  Then, the soldier shot Yossie in the shoulder and she fell over while we were celebrating on the ledge.

In my rage of seeing this I shot two more down before they left and I quickly jumped on to check out Yossie on the ground.  I passed through the small forest before seeing the path took to get to her but the smell was getting to me.  The wind couldn't stop the flow, I had gotten there without realizing where their location was and every soldier stood around the wounded leader.

“Don't worry I will be alright, fight them off, and we retreat for now.”  Yossie held onto her shoulder.

“No, we fight on Yossie.”  Fujimoto suggested.  Yossie shook her head.

“Retreat, I need to make sure we don't walk into a trap.” Yossie commanded.

The soldier realized that they still in the line of fire, quickly they picked up and leaned toward the horses.  I waited until one person could lift Yossie back up and finish them but they ran onto other places in the forest, so there were gone for now.  Yossie still had a smile and Fujimoto carried her on her horse and rode us out back to the home base, Yossie felt to assure that they will be in better shape than this battle.  Hours after taking her back to the medical area, Konno would take over but as she is concerned, Fujimoto would make the decision in battles, to even out their capabilities to other commanders.

[kuro808]

Chapter 19

Couple days passed by and Yossie was in good condition but she had lost feeling in her arm as the wound had caused the infection to spread throughout her arm.  She kept smiling as she hid the pain from the wound as the doctor hid the arm from our view.  As we walked out of the medical tent, Yossie stopped me before I left with Eri.

“Takahashi, choose your side wisely.”  Yossie warned as I tried to think of what she was talking about.

“Why?”  I asked as she revealed the arm had become black like charcoal.

“I am not going to live too long, the arrow pierced me deep and they advised to keep the arrowhead in but I told them to take it out as I knew the pain would be torturous.”  Yossie sat back up and stared at the deterioration.

“I see, I am not sure who to side with, I want to actually run away if we have internal conflict.”  I confessed.  Yossie grabbed a stick and whacked me with it.

“Don't give up, you should die with honor, don't run away, if you do, commit suicide and live in shame.”  Yossie warned me with her stern voice.

I saw her eyes, the hard stare into my heart, I couldn't let her down, she knew I would become better if I fought on.  She dropped the stick and went under the sheet again as the doctor came back with her food, she struggled to get it to her mouth, but she asked for no assistance as she carefully scooped it out of the bowl into her mouth.  I turned to head out and she said her final words.

“I will commit seppuku tomorrow, the doctors told me, I will not have my arms back so I am going to tell you to attend the ceremony and choose right away with your friend.  I know Niigaki would love that very much.”  Yossie continued on with her meal as I exited the tent and looked at the area as it has become quiet.

The night fall as the usual chatter had become silent wondering about their leader, I did not have the guts to admit to knowing what will happen tomorrow, so I ran to the secret area where Jun and I had tea.  Surprisingly, Jun was there practicing her tea as she was working to gain her accreditation to become a tea ceremony master.  She had everything laid out as she was testing herself on the tools and the preparation for each step.

“Hey Takahashi-sama, here to help?”  She asked but I shook my head.

“No, I am no good at this, the last time I spilled it and my master got angry.”  Jun went back to her preparation as she was analyzing my demeanor.

“It is about Yossie, right?”  Jun asked and I nodded.

“She will be better, just believe in it.”  Those words had become my hope but Yossie's word echoed her plan for tomorrow.

“She told me that she will give off her leadership to Konno and Fujimoto, as she will commit seppuku tomorrow.”  I calmly mention as she dropped the bowl onto the ground.

“Really?  Is she giving up?”  Jun wondered as I tell her about the arm's condition.

“I see Takahashi-sama, well I hope I still see you one day, I have to go to Kyoto in three days for my test and if you are in Kyoto anytime soon, please say hi.”  I give her a hug and wished her luck as I left the room to go back to the living quarters as Niigaki was being prepared to sleep.

I observed Niigaki as she looked around before slipping under a thin blanket as she wind ominously picked up as to indicate a bad event.  Eri was out early as she never liked to have early mornings so she slept right after dinner to get herself enough sleep.  The silence was an indicator of the divide as they knew about the situation that was happening tomorrow.  Then, a voice whispered into my ear.

“Takahashi, go to sleep, don't worry about Yossie, she will be fine.”  Niigaki had scooted toward my bed.

“Hopefully.”  I said before slipping under to get some shut eye before the big day tomorrow.

[lil_hamz]

Gomene for not commenting earlier. I didn't have access to the Internet for more than a week.

Ok, now on with the story. I've always been rather fasinated with arrows so reading how you incorporated was great

I wonder if Reina will find someone who can tame her and whom she will become less aggressive for.

Wahh now with more people hurt, how will things change?

I love all those subtle actions that TakaGaki share. My love for them has been reignited

Thanks for posting so regularly! I'll be looking forward to the next chapter ^^

[kuro808]

^ thnx for commenting, sorry to hear about your situation

Chapter 20

We woke to the sound of horns as Yossie ascended to the stage in her white coat as she laid the dagger down in front of her.  Fujimoto and Konno were standing right by her side as Fujimoto took out the long sword with the sun fading behind the clouds.  The Niigaki and I stood in front of the army as we both were farther away from the view of the ritual.  Tanaka and Kamei stood next to each other as the other three were to the side with their army watching Yossie slowly swallowed her last breath before opening up her coat.

Rika was in shock when she heard about the decision and she stayed at the main house while the ceremony was going on.  She grabbed the dagger with her good arm and mumbled a prayer before stabbing herself with the sharp weapon and Fujimoto slicing the head off clean.  We all turned and prayed for Yossie path to heaven as they cleaned up the area of the former leader.

The whole day was somber as the noise had died to a silence among the warriors and they mourned for a bit going to the makeshift temple to worship Yossie one last time.  I decided to talk to Rika after the ceremony but she was still in her room and I knocked on the door to see how she was feeling but the door flew as I saw her body on the floor with blood coming from her midsection.  She was non-responsive and I carried to the medical tent but it was too late as she lost too much blood from the wound.

It was hard that Yossie decided on not fighting the infection but it had led to her girlfriend to commit suicide too and now the mourning had escalated to an outpouring of regrets and sadness.  Niigaki and I traveled outside the camp to get away from the depressed feeling of losing both of them.

We managed to get a bottle of sake before everybody pillaged the house and sat in a nearby tavern to discuss our future.  Niigaki felt fine about the deaths but just looking at the soldiers becoming weak was a bad sign and realizing that they were in need of strong leadership, it could lead to the internal conflict but it was solving that without violence that would become the problem.  The alcohol helped us to think deeply but both of us were inebriated and just watching the the dancers perform to the music.

It had only become a distraction to the problem but both of us were just thinking about the what ifs and finished the bottle before walking back to the living quarters.  I saw Reina praying in the temple and walked toward her.

“Tanaka, why are you praying?”  My breath smelling like alcohol as Reina avoided me.

“Wait up, why?”  Tanaka turned as to say something but went back to the living quarters.

I pondered the reasoning but I was not in the mood to answer the question and I could only think about Yossie and how much she helped me to become better as a person and a warrior.  I built the courage to fight and finish it at the end however it was difficult to contend with the standards but it was worth my time to do.

So, I walked up to the makeshift temple and thanked both of them for teaching me the values of being a warrior and becoming a better woman by acknowledging my mistakes and working on my weaknesses.  I never thought that months of preparations only left more of the void to learn but it was now to figure the reality of seeking a power struggle between her two highest commanders.  After, I realized the reason why many did cry about Yossie was not only a warrior but was a mother to all the people and she wanted them to learn their own ways to maintain everything when she was gone.

However, the verge of everyone revolting only increased the senses of everyone thinking about the enemies within and the surrounding areas.  Niigaki walked up to do a quick prayer and we walked back to see everyone sleeping quietly.  So, we laid our heads down to sleep but it was no use as it felt uncomfortable thinking about Yossie not being here any more and it could only mean trouble later.

[lil_hamz]

I cringed when I read about Fujimoto slicing the head off ^^;

Now that both Yossui and Rika are death, what's gonna happen? Who will be in charge? And will things take another dramatic turn from now?

[kuro808]

^ to answer your question it will be an interesting plot ahead

Chapter 21

The image of the sun appeared in front of us, waking up to realize Fujimoto had burnt the temple and took Yaguchi, Abe, and Kusumi with her.  Ogawa was pleading the night before with Fujimoto before the temple went up in flames and her body was left charred in the remains.  Konno was first over there and I saw her tears running down her eyes, I felt the anger coming from her, she had her dagger out but Sayu held her back from stabbing herself with the strength she had and nicked herself instead.  Konno stood over the remains still with the redness in her eyes and the hand on her sword.

“Takahashi, stay back, she will swing if you get close...” Tanaka warned as she saw the smoke and the events that led up to the divide.

I stood outside the door and watch Konno leave her hand on the sword, she seemed ready to draw it but she stood like a statue.  I began to notice that most of the army went with Fujimoto leaving us with a quarter of our army and the seven came around asking for food but we told them to find for us.  They went to the next town and came back with a bunch of containers of rice and bags filled with wheat.

“Sorry, we can't get more.”  The person bowed toward me but I stopped them before they left.

“Who are you going to fight for?”  I asked.

“We fight for Yossie and none of you guys but we hate Fujimoto, she treated us like 2nd-class citizens as we are samurai rank but Yossie killed our master, so we are under her control.”  The seven showed their shorter swords and I nodded in understanding.

“How about you fight for us?”  They looked at each other and huddled to talk about their decision.  Then, they looked at the person by the temple remains.

“Did Fujimoto do that?”

“Yes, she did.”  Tanaka replied.

“We are in, by the way, I am Shimizu.”  She extended her hand and I shook it.  They all went closer to Konno and bowed to her before leaving.

Niigaki and I were staring at Konno until she turned toward us and instructed us to come over.  Her face looked worn out and her expression changed to sadness as she put her head on our shoulders.  I could only stroke her hair as she was still angry at the act but it was something she felt she had to do for her fallen comrade.  She took off her coat and unwrapped the bandage off her.  She threw onto her dead friend and put the coat back on, she meant business after that when she dropped her sword onto the ground and we all followed suit.

Her eyes said what was on her mind, she was the strategic person, but she still had skills to negotiate and it was her plan to ask for men in the surrounding area.  Luckily, Fujimoto didn't talk to the weaker clans and they were on our side for the time being.  She knew that maybe brains could beat strength but rarely it did because Fujimoto had enough training to outflank any army.  Konno could only look at her small army and sigh but she instantly put them into training.

Tanaka did weapons training, Niigaki did equestrian training, and I took the rest to do strategic training with the rest of the troops with the seven wild samurai sending us food every week.  They were easy to mold but without the real life experience we could only imagine the struggles if we went early to attack them but many people hinted toward us that they were doing the same.  Konno could only look at the table and see how far they were from us and the reason behind why she never went to the towns near them to recruit but knowing the area she manage to get herself into, she was getting experienced warriors compared to our peasants.  Then, a woman walked up to Sayu and she ran over to me to ask about her joining.  She walked over to me and bowed down to me.

“Hello I am from the Yajima clan and I want to help, I brought my small army to help the cause as Fujimoto ruined our town when I was born, she killed my father, but luckily my mother was out of town, and gave birth to me.”  The determination from her was giving me the vibe but I asked her to chop the soldier down.  She walked over to the dummy and gracefully slashed the dummy in half.  Her agility and precision impressed me a lot and Tanaka was shocked to see the face.  She went up to Tanaka and bowed deeply to her and gave her a hug, somehow I figured they had a history and it was a master/pupil relationship when I talked to her again.  Sayu took over the cooking and cleaning duties made us gruel every day with care but the weird flavors made us drink tea more and appreciate it more.

[lil_hamz]

Oooh so now the Yajima clan is involved too?    With more people fighting that means the casualties number will increase. dizzy:

For some reason I'm anticipating a really big fight. Possibly one that will end everything?

But something tells me you have more events happening before that stage is reached right? <-- Lol I just wanted to use this emoticon cuz it was too cute